Facebook announced a $100 million program to help small businesses as governments throughout the country urge gyms and restaurants to close their doors to slow the coronavirus pandemic.
In a blog post announcing the grants, Facebook said, “We know that your business may be experiencing disruptions resulting from the global outbreak of COVID-19. We’ve heard that a little financial support can go a long way, so we are offering $100M in cash grants and ad credits to help during this challenging time.”
For the small businesses, the financial assistance will come in the form of cash grants and ad credits. Those are meant to help businesses stay afloat as more customers stay home, and Facebook intends for the aid to be used to pay workers who can’t come to work, help with rent costs, enable businesses to connect with more customers and contribute to overhead costs.
Facebook will begin taking applications in the coming weeks. In the meantime, interested businesses can sign up to receive more information, and Facebook has made its Business Hub available to all. There, businesses can find ideas and advice for managing during the downturn that the coronavirus pandemic has led to.
“Small businesses are the heartbeat of our communities, and many of the people who run these businesses are heavily affected by the crisis — especially as more and more people sensibly stay home,” Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg wrote in a statement. “The longer the crisis goes on, the greater the risk to small businesses and to the livelihoods of their owners and employees.”
COO Sheryl Sandberg announced the program in a Facebook post. “We’ve listened to small businesses to understand how we can best help them,” she wrote in part. “We’ve heard loud and clear that financial support could enable them to keep the lights on and pay people who can’t come to work.”
Facebook also has added information to its Business Resource Hub site about managing business operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. That will include “new virtual training to support businesses operating in this new and unsettling environment,” according to Sandberg.
In addition, the Facebook Journalism Project announced that it will offer $1 million in grants to U.S. and Canadian local news organizations covering the coronavirus crisis, in partnership with the Lenfest Institute for Journalism and the Local Media Association (LMA). The fund will provide grants of up to $5,000 to local newsrooms to “help cover unexpected costs associated with coronavirus reporting.” Organizations can apply for the grants at this link.
