Maricopa County Small Business/Nonprofit Relief Grants- Phase 2

Maricopa County is offering grants up to $25,000* to small businesses and nonprofits experiencing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Relief grants are intended to support the continued viability of small businesses and nonprofits across the Valley. For-profit businesses and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations located in Maricopa County are eligible**. 

*While funding is available; applying for a grant does not guarantee funds will be awarded. Program administered by the Arizona Community Foundation.

**Organizations that formed prior to January 1, 2019 are eligible for this program. If your organization began operating between January 1, 2019 and March 1, 2020, you may be eligible for the New Business/Nonprofit Relief Grant Program.

Deadline

Applications for Phase 2 will be accepted beginning Monday, August 17 through Friday, November 13, 2020. Grants will be awarded on a rolling basis until funding is exhausted or the grant period closes.

Qualifications

To qualify, small business and nonprofits must meet all of the following requirements:

• In operation in Maricopa County prior to January 1, 2019 (If your organization began operating between January 1, 2019 and March 1, 2020, you may be eligible for the New Business/Nonprofit Relief Grant Program).
• Employs 50 or fewer full-time equivalents as of March 1, 2020.
• Did not generate more than $5 million in gross revenues between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019.
• Gross revenues declined by at least 25% as a result of COVID-19 from March through June 2020 as compared to March through June 2019.
• Meets required zoning and regulatory requirements including:
  • Having the proper zoning entitlements.
  • Not having any active enforcement actions against the applicant by Maricopa County or their respective city/town government.
  • Being in substantial compliance, meaning that the County or respective city/town has not taken any enforcement action authorized by law for any deficiencies.
  • Is in good standing with the Arizona Corporation Commission.
• Complies with the following provisions:
  • Not an adult-oriented business as defined by A.R.S. § 11-811 (E)(5).
  • Not engaged in the growth, harvest, storage, transport, distribution, use or otherwise providing cannabis for medical or recreational purposes.
  • Not owned, in whole or part, by a Maricopa County official or employee who, in their official capacity, participates in the oversight, development or implementation of the Maricopa County Small Business/Nonprofit Relief Program.

Required Documents

As all businesses are unique, it is recommended that each applicant provide as much financial information as possible to support their gross revenue schedule. Bullet 2 provides examples of acceptable supporting documentation. Balance sheets are not required. 

1. Schedule of monthly gross revenues, beginning with January 2019 and ending June 2020. The schedule should be formatted the way the organization normally does business (cash or accrual basis of accounting). Gross revenue is an organization’s revenue before deductions for cost of goods sold, sales allowances, discounts, sales returns, etc. Please use the template provided here.
2. Documentation of 2019 and 2020 monthly totals. Examples of acceptable supporting documentation include: 
   • Income statement or profit and loss statement, prepared monthly. These reports should be uploaded and used to report 2019 and 2020 gross revenue by month. The income statement or profit and loss statement can be internally prepared or prepared by an outside party, such as a bookkeeper. Note: annual summary reports are not sufficient; monthly reports are required. 
   • TPT (Transaction Privilege Tax) reports filed with the State of Arizona, prepared monthly or quarterly depending upon the frequency of required reporting. Please include the first page of the TPT report showing the business name and supporting schedules showing gross sales (usually located on page 2). The TPT reports should be uploaded and used to report 2019 and 2020 gross revenue by month.
   • Summarized Point of Sale (POS) or cash register terminal receipt/report by month. The POS reports should be uploaded and used to report 2019 and 2020 gross revenue by month. 
   • Gross revenue by month based on payments from customers, often referred to as the cash receipt report. The cash receipt reports should be uploaded and used to report 2019 and 2020 gross revenue by month.
   • Transaction detail report by month demonstrating gross revenue (billed/invoiced accounts for accrual basis accounting or collected revenue for cash basis accounting). The transaction detail report should be uploaded and used to report 2019 and 2020 gross revenue by month. Note: a line item transaction report without monthly subtotals is not sufficient as we cannot manually recalculate.
   • Or any combination of the above which demonstrates gross revenue by month.
   • Do not provide IRS Form 1040 Business Income or Loss as reported on Schedule C, as this does not demonstrate monthly gross sales.
      
   Note: Supporting documentation must reflect the same numbers as the monthly gross revenue schedule; for example, if an organization provides an income statement for May 2019 yielding $50,000 in revenues, the monthly gross revenues template should show $50,000 for May 2019. If the documentation does not match, the application will be denied. 
    
3. To facilitate the evaluation process, it is requested that applicants provide a screenshot of their business registration on the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) website for either a Corporation or LLC. The ACC website is located at https://ecorp.azcc.gov/EntitySearch/Index. The screenshot should show: 
   • Formation date (Should be formed prior to 1/1/2019)
   • Status (Should say “Active” and “In Good Standing”)
   • Business name (Should match to the business name in the organization’s application)
4. Most recent IRS Form W9 or, for sole proprietors with no employees, social security number. Please use the template provided here if you do not currently have a copy.
5. Affidavit from applicant attesting to meeting each of the eligibility criteria
6. IRS Tax Exemption Determination Letter (for nonprofit applicants)
7. Other supporting documentation, as necessary, to demonstrate hardship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Check out the answers to some frequently asked questions related to this grant program.

Program Guidelines

Read the program guidelines before applying.

Application is now closed

Thank you for your interest in the Maricopa County Small Business/Nonprofit Relief Grants Program. The application closed on Friday, November 13 at 5:00 p.m. We are reviewing submitted applications and expect to award grants in the coming weeks. To check on the status of a grant, please email maricoparelief@azfoundation.org.