The facts
- Year
- The 2nd year of the NBLK Small Business Build Grant
- Who can apply
- US small businesses making less than $100,000 a year, and nonprofits, open at least 6 months and serving their community
- Grants
- 5 grants of $1,500 each
- What it covers
- One NBLK build, planned with you in a 2-hour consultation
- What it doesn't cover
- Work above $1,500, add-ons after the build, hosting, and the one-time $35 code transfer fee
- Cost to apply
- $0. No purchase needed.
- Apply by
- January 4, 2027, at 11:59 PM New York time
- Winners told
- January 15, 2027
- Consultation by
- February 14, 2027
- Build finished by
- March 31, 2027
- Offered by
- NBLK LLC, New York
We build it. You own it. It's yours to keep.
This season, we're giving 5 small businesses and nonprofits a $1,500 build grant for the tool they need most. In your 2-hour consultation, we'll learn how you work and plan exactly what to build. Not sure what's possible? Tap below for some ideas. If you don't see what you need, tell us anyway.
Just some of the things you can build with the NBLK Small Business Build Grant65 ideas to get you thinking, from booking to dashboards
Get booked and paid
- Online booking and appointments
- Class and session sign-ups
- Table reservations
- Waitlists
- Reminders by text or email
- Instant price quotes
- Estimates that turn into invoices
- Invoice generator
- Deposits taken at booking
- Automatic monthly billing
- Memberships and plans
- Gift cards and vouchers
- Payment reminders
- Online ordering
Know your customers
- A customer database you own
- Client intake forms
- Digital waivers and consent forms
- Surveys that send an automatic email
- Customer feedback forms
- Review requests after each visit
- A client portal
- Loyalty or rewards tracker
- Referral tracker
- Email list sign-ups and newsletters
- Contact forms that go to the right person
Run your day
- A dashboard of your numbers
- Reports that build themselves
- Staff scheduling and time clock
- Employee hours log
- Inventory tracker
- Order and job tracking
- Project and task tracker
- Contract and document generator
- E-signatures for your forms
- Automatic emails and texts
- File and photo sharing with clients
- Expense tracker
- A private team portal
Get found
- A website you own
- A web app
- Your own app idea, brought to life
- SEO, so people find you on Google
- Google Business Profile setup
- An online menu or service list
- Promotion and landing pages
- Event pages and sign-ups
- Reviews and testimonials page
- Blog or news page
- Mobile-friendly pages
Fix or upgrade what you have
- Update an old website or app
- Move off WordPress, Wix or Squarespace to a site you own
- Speed up a slow site
- Fix broken forms or booking
- Make your site work on phones
- Connect tools that don't talk to each other
- Move spreadsheets into a real database
- Clean up messy customer lists
For nonprofits
- Donation forms
- A donor database
- Volunteer sign-ups and scheduling
- Program sign-ups and attendance
- Grant reporting dashboard
- Event registration
- Member directory
- Impact reports
Just some of the tools you can stop renting with the NBLK Small Business Build Grant60 apps small businesses and nonprofits often pay for every month
If you pay for any of these every month, ask us whether we can build you one you own.
Forms and surveys
- Typeform
- Jotform
- SurveyMonkey
- Formstack
- Cognito Forms
Booking and scheduling
- Calendly
- Acuity Scheduling
- Square Appointments
- Vagaro
- Mindbody
- Booksy
- Setmore
- SimplyBook.me
Restaurant reservations
- OpenTable
- Resy
- Tock
- Yelp Guest Manager
Websites
- Wix
- Squarespace
- WordPress hosting and paid plugins
- GoDaddy Website Builder
- Weebly
- Shopify, for simple shops
Email and texting
- Mailchimp
- Constant Contact
- Klaviyo
- SimpleTexting
- EZ Texting
Customer databases
- HubSpot paid plans
- Salesforce
- Zoho CRM
- Pipedrive
- Keap
Quotes, jobs and invoices
- Jobber
- Housecall Pro
- HoneyBook
- Dubsado
- FreshBooks
- Invoice2go
Contracts and signatures
- DocuSign
- PandaDoc
- Dropbox Sign
Staff scheduling
- When I Work
- Homebase
- Deputy
- 7shifts
Reviews and loyalty
- Birdeye
- Podium
- Smile.io
Trackers and workflows
- Airtable
- Monday.com
- Smartsheet
- Zapier
- Paid Trello and Asana plans
Nonprofit tools
- Bloomerang
- Little Green Light
- Donorbox
- SignUpGenius
- VolunteerHub
- Eventbrite fees
Some of these are good tools. The question is whether you need to rent them forever. Bigger builds may cost more than the grant, and we'll tell you in your consultation. Payment providers still charge their own processing fees. Product names belong to their owners, and NBLK isn't connected to them.
Who can apply
This grant is for small businesses and nonprofits that serve a community. As NBLK grows, we make sure we help other small businesses grow too.
We especially welcome immigrant-owned and veteran-owned businesses, owners who were formerly incarcerated, first-time owners, nonprofits, and businesses in underserved neighborhoods.
- A small business making less than $100,000 a year, or a nonprofit
- Your work serves your local community
- Legally registered in the US or a US territory
- Operating for at least 6 months, and serving customers or people
- Not a current NBLK client, and no paid work with NBLK in the past 18 months
Why we give this grant
A business should own its tools, not rent them.
NBLK was built to end the subscriptions and fees that drain small businesses. That has been our mission since the day we started.
So we fund this grant ourselves. We take what we earn and give it back to the businesses and nonprofits building up our communities, and we grow a circle of small businesses that work together.
We don't succeed in isolation. Our communities need us, and we need them too.
Anthony "Kuma" WashingtonFounder and Managing Director, NBLK
How it works
- By January 4Apply
It takes about 12 to 15 minutes.
- January 5 to 14We read every application
A person reads each one.
- January 15Winners are told
We email all 5 winners.
- By February 14Your 2-hour consultation
Book it within 30 days of winning. We plan your build together.
- February and MarchWe build it
We schedule your build and finish it by March 31.
Questions
Is this cash?
No. It's $1,500 toward one NBLK build. It has no cash value and can't be transferred.
What if my build costs more than $1,500?
We'll tell you in your consultation. You can trim the plan to fit or pay the difference. It's your choice.
What isn't covered?
Work above $1,500 and add-ons after your build aren't part of the grant. If NBLK hosts your tool, hosting is a small separate monthly cost. Moving your code to your own account is a one-time $35 fee.
Do I have to buy anything to apply?
No. Applying is free, and you don't need to buy anything to be chosen.
How do you choose?
We look at how you serve your community, how much you need the tool and whether you're ready to use it.
Can NBLK clients apply?
Current clients can't, including businesses we host for. Former clients can if nothing has been ongoing with us for 18 months.
Will I owe taxes on it?
A grant like this can count as income, so ask your tax preparer. Winners handle their own taxes.
Can I change my application after I submit it?
No. Once you submit, your application is final and can't be changed. Save and finish later as many times as you like before then.
Once you submit, your application is final and can't be changed.
Ready to own your tools?
Applications close January 4, 2027, at 11:59 PM New York time.
Begin application