The Amber Grant awards three $10,000 grants every month to women-owned businesses, and applying takes a $15 fee plus a short written application on the WomensNet website. There’s no lengthy business plan required, no pitch deck, and no financial statements to upload. Here’s what you need to know before you apply.
What the Amber Grant Awards
WomensNet gives away at least $30,000 each month through three separate $10,000 Amber Grants. These are split across general business grants, startup grants, and business category grants that rotate based on industry focus. You can apply for more than one category if your business qualifies.
The bigger prize comes at the end of the year. All monthly grant winners become eligible for one of three $50,000 year-end grants, meaning a single $15 application could ultimately lead to $60,000 in total funding. The year-end grants are not a separate application. You’re automatically considered if you win a monthly award.
Who Can Apply
You’re eligible if you’re a woman, 18 or older, who owns at least 50% of a business based in the United States or Canada. The grant is open to businesses at every stage: idea-stage concepts you haven’t launched yet, pre-revenue startups, and established companies already generating income. Revenue-generating nonprofit organizations can also apply, though nonprofits whose primary activity is charitable giving are not eligible.
There’s no minimum revenue requirement and no restriction on industry type, which makes this one of the more accessible grants available to women business owners.
What the Application Asks
The application is entirely narrative. You won’t need to submit tax returns, profit-and-loss statements, or a formal business plan. Instead, you’ll answer a series of writing prompts that focus on your story, your motivation, and your vision for the business. The core questions cover five areas:
- Your business story: Why does this business matter to you? How did you come up with the idea, and what has your experience been in starting it?
- Your personal motivation: Who are you as a person beyond the business? What drives you, and what’s your personal connection to this idea? You can include facts and figures here, but the reviewers want to understand the entrepreneur, not just the company.
- Opportunities and challenges: How large is your market? How much demand have you uncovered? Be honest about obstacles you’ve encountered or expect to face. Reviewers want to see that you’ve thought realistically about growth.
- How you’d use the money: Be specific about what the grant would fund and how it would help your business grow, expand, or reach an untapped market.
The prompts are conversational, but don’t treat them casually. This is the only material reviewers use to evaluate your application. Every answer should be specific to your business rather than filled with generic statements about entrepreneurship or passion.
Tips for a Stronger Application
Since the Amber Grant doesn’t weigh financial documents or credit scores, your writing carries all the weight. A few things that strengthen an application: grounding your answers in real numbers (how many customers you’ve served, what your first month of sales looked like, the size of the market you’re targeting) rather than vague aspirations. If you’re pre-revenue, describe the concrete steps you’ve already taken, even if those steps are research, prototyping, or customer interviews.
For the “how you’d use the money” question, break down the $10,000 into specific line items. Saying you’d spend $4,000 on inventory, $3,000 on a website redesign, and $3,000 on a first marketing campaign is far more convincing than saying you’d “invest in growing the business.” Specificity signals that you’ve done the planning work.
Be genuine about challenges. Glossing over obstacles can make your application feel less credible. Naming a real problem and explaining how you plan to address it shows the kind of clear thinking grant reviewers look for.
How to Submit and What It Costs
You apply directly on the Amber Grant website (ambergrantsforwomen.com). The application is online, and you’ll pay a $15 non-refundable fee when you submit. That fee helps fund the grants themselves.
One important detail: grants run on a month-to-month cycle, and applications do not roll forward. If you apply in June and don’t win, your application won’t carry over to July. You’d need to reapply (and pay another $15) to be considered in a future month. The upside is that you can refine your answers each time you resubmit.
Timeline After You Apply
The WomensNet team reviews applications on a rolling basis throughout the month. After each monthly cycle closes, five finalists are announced by the 15th of the following month. The winner is announced by the 23rd of that same month. So if you apply in March, expect finalist announcements by April 15 and the winner by April 23.
If you’re selected as a finalist, you’ll be notified before the public announcement. Winners receive their grant funds directly and are featured on the WomensNet website. Monthly winners then enter the pool for the $50,000 year-end grants, which are announced after the final monthly cycle of the year.
Making the Most of a $15 Opportunity
At $15 per application with no complex paperwork, the Amber Grant has one of the lowest barriers to entry of any legitimate business grant. The key investment is your time crafting thoughtful, specific answers. Before you start writing, read through all the prompts so you can plan a cohesive narrative rather than repeating yourself across questions. Draft your answers in a separate document, edit them, and then paste them into the application form. A polished, well-organized submission stands out in a pool where many applicants rush through the process.