FedEx Small Business Grants 2026: What Replaced the Contest

FedEx small business grants: 7 routes checked November 9, 2026

Grantsights checked 7 routes a small business owner might mean by "FedEx grants." Two take applications or sign-ups now, and FedEx doesn't run either one itself. The table shows what each pays, who can use it, and its status on the check date.

Recently closed: the 2026 Hiring Our Heroes cycle (5 awards announced April 29, 2026) and the 2026 Boost Camp cohort (30 grant recipients announced in May 2026).

Ended: the FedEx Small Business Grants Program. Its last application window ran from noon ET March 1 to noon ET April 1, 2024.

Our reading: if you're a veteran or military spouse with a few employees, the Hiring Our Heroes grant is the only FedEx-funded cash you can apply for this year, and the deadline is close. Everyone else should register for R4R, which costs nothing and takes about 10 minutes, then spend real effort on state and local programs.

What happened to the FedEx Small Business Grant contest

FedEx ran the contest for 12 rounds, from 2012 to 2024. Its Small Business Grants Program page (opens in a new tab), checked November 9, 2026, says the program helped entrepreneurs "starting in 2012 and continuing through 2024" and calls it retired. Each recipient page from 2017 to 2024 now carries a banner saying the program is retiring and pointing readers to "other ways to compete and win."

Grantsights checked 3 more signals against that statement:

1. The old address forwards. On November 9, 2026, fedex.com/smallbusinessgrants, the address FedEx gave applicants in 2024, redirected to the retired program page. The old grant-contest address does the same.
2. No later newsroom release. FedEx's newsroom has the 2024 launch and recipient releases for the 12th round, and Grantsights found no release for a 13th round. The address a 13th-round launch release would use, following FedEx's 2024 pattern, returned page-not-found.
3. No rules page. The official rules address on fedex.com returned a 404 error.

One confusing leftover: the retired page's code still contains an old "Apply between March 1 and April 1" timeline block. Don't read that as a 2027 window. FedEx's own text says the program is retired, and many grant lists still show it as open. That's a red flag for the list, not a sign the contest is back.

How the last contest worked

According to FedEx's 2024 launch release (opens in a new tab), the 12th round was open to U.S.-based FedEx customers that were for-profit small businesses with 1 to 99 employees, had been selling a product or service for at least 6 months, had opened a FedEx account before September 1, 2023, and were currently shipping with FedEx. Applicants entered their FedEx shipping account number, wrote a short business profile, explained how they'd use the grant, described their experience with FedEx, uploaded up to 4 photos and sent a short video.

That eligibility list matters for how you read the contest's history. It wasn't an open grant for any small business. It was a program for FedEx shipping customers, and the application asked about your experience with FedEx.

Who won FedEx small business grants: 42 winners from 2021 to 2024

FedEx's recipient pages name 42 winners across the last 4 rounds, and the published prize tiers add up to more than $1 million in cash in those years. According to FedEx's 2024 recipients release (opens in a new tab), nearly 80,000 businesses applied over the program's 12 years, and FedEx awarded more than $2 million in grant money and printing credits combined.

Sources: FedEx's 2021 to 2024 recipient pages, plus the 2024 newsroom releases for the 2024 amounts and the 2023 entry count. The 2022 page doesn't state an amount for its Entrepreneur Choice Award winner.

For example, Bombi received the $50,000 grand prize in 2024; it makes strollers in Greenville, Rhode Island. Jasper Yeast of Sterling, Virginia, was one of the 9 businesses that received $20,000. In 2022, Copper River Fish Market in Cordova, Alaska, received $20,000 plus $1,500 in print services as a first place winner.

What the winners had in common

Grantsights analysis of FedEx's 2021 to 2024 recipient pages found 3 patterns:

• Physical products won. 39 of the 42 winners sold goods that ship: food, toys, pet products, apparel, beauty products, instruments and farm supplies. The 3 exceptions were a virtual team events company, a VR therapy company for children's hospitals and a remote patient monitoring service.
• California led. The 42 winners came from 23 states. California had 7, then New York, Texas and New Jersey with 3 each. Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Virginia, Washington, Georgia and Missouri had 2 each.
• Mission stories stood out. FedEx's write-ups stress recycling, veteran hiring, cultural heritage and give-back programs. The 2022 round added Distinction Awards for healthcare, minority-owned, sustainability, veteran-owned and young entrepreneur categories.

The odds were long. In 2024, 10 winners from over 3,900 applications works out to about 1 in 390. In 2022, it was 10 from almost 18,000, or about 1 in 1,800.

The FedEx-funded grant that's open now: Hiring Our Heroes, due December 15, 2026

The 2027 Hiring Our Heroes Small Business Grant Program pays 5 grants totaling $65,000, and it's the one FedEx-backed cash grant taking applications on November 9, 2026. The FedEx Cares small business page (opens in a new tab) lists it first, says it's "powered by the FedEx Founder's Fund," and links to the application with the note "deadline is December 15."

The program is run by Hiring Our Heroes, part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, not by FedEx. According to the Hiring Our Heroes program page (opens in a new tab), the grant is made possible by the FedEx Founder's Fund, part of the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis.

Who qualifies

The official rules (opens in a new tab), checked November 9, 2026, require all of these:

1. Location. You're a legal resident of, and live in, the contiguous 48 states, Alaska or Hawaii.
2. Military connection. You own at least 51% of a for-profit business, and you're an honorably discharged veteran, a current Guard or Reserve member, or the spouse of a current service member.
3. Size. The business has 3 to 20 people, counting the owners, full- and part-time employees and 1099 contractors.
4. Revenue and need. Annual revenue is under $5 million, and the business sits in a zip code with a Distressed Communities Index stress score of 40 or more, or can show financial need from hardship beyond the owner's control.

The rules exclude nonprofits, government bodies, franchise brands with more than 25 corporate-owned stores or more than 50 stores in total, gas stations, direct sellers, and businesses in categories such as cannabis, tobacco, firearms and gambling.

How winners are picked

Senior Hiring Our Heroes leaders choose up to 20 semi-finalists, weighing 3 criteria equally (33.3% each): leadership and impact in the local community, contributions to local economic growth, and an effective path to business success. A judging panel then picks 5 winners. Winners are notified on or before March 29, 2027, must prove military service, and are honored at a spring 2027 event. No application can be changed or withdrawn after January 1, 2027, and the rules say winners pay any taxes due on the prize.

What earlier rounds paid

According to the FedEx Cares story on the 2026 awards (opens in a new tab), more than 1,240 businesses applied for the 2026 cycle and 5 were chosen: Rail Haus of Dover, Delaware, received the $25,000 grand prize, and 4 others received $10,000 each. The same story says the program has awarded more than $160,000 to 15 military-connected businesses over 3 cycles. The 2025 FedEx Cares Report says 5 businesses each received $10,000 in 2025. According to the Hiring Our Heroes program rules, the odds depend on how many eligible applications arrive. Five winners from 1,240 applicants in 2026 is about 1 in 248, better odds than the old FedEx contest, but still slim.

The disaster grant you register for now: Readiness for Resiliency

Readiness for Resiliency (R4R) pays $5,000 after a disaster, but only to businesses that signed up before it hit. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation runs it. Its R4R page (opens in a new tab), checked November 9, 2026, says the program is offered in partnership with Verizon and made possible by founding partner FedEx.

The 3 steps are simple: review FedEx's emergency preparedness checklist for small businesses, register (the page says it takes about 10 minutes), and wait. If a qualifying disaster hits your county, the Chamber Foundation emails an invitation to apply.

To receive a grant, the business needs 500 or fewer employees, an EIN, a U.S. or territory location, a county with a state emergency order or disaster declaration, and uninsured disaster losses of at least $5,000. Franchise brands with more than 25 corporate-owned stores or more than 250 stores in total are out, and so are nonprofits of any type. Funds can cover recovery costs such as rent, utilities, payroll and inventory, and each owner can get only one $5,000 grant a year.

Set your expectations by the numbers. According to the 2025 FedEx Cares Report, R4R has helped nearly 5,000 businesses prepare since 2022 and gave grants to 37 businesses in 2025, after events like the Los Angeles wildfires and storms in Texas and Washington. The FAQ says that when eligible businesses outnumber the money, grants are allocated at random. R4R is cheap insurance, not a plan. For real disaster money, the SBA disaster loan program (opens in a new tab) offers low-interest loans to businesses of all sizes after declared disasters, and Grantsights compares the two in SBA disaster loans vs. grants.

What FedEx's Grant Pages Don't Tell You

FedEx's small business pages say "a legacy of helping" and point to "grant opportunities," but 6 points don't appear on them plainly. Grantsights compared the retired program page with the newsroom releases, the FedEx Cares pages and the partner rules to find them.

The contest was a customer program. The 2024 rules required a FedEx account opened before September 1, 2023, and current shipping. If you didn't ship with FedEx, you couldn't enter. The application even asked about your FedEx experience.

FedEx doesn't pick today's winners. The open grants are run by Hiring Our Heroes and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, with FedEx money behind them. Apply on their sites, under their rules. Contacting FedEx customer service won't help.

Solo founders can't get the veteran grant. The Hiring Our Heroes rules require 3 to 20 people, counting owners and contractors. A veteran running a one-person business doesn't qualify. A common mistake is applying without checking the size rule and the zip-code stress test, since either one can rule a business out.

R4R pays only if you registered first. You can't sign up after the flood. And it won't activate for a disaster declared more than 45 days after the event.

The amounts are small next to the attention. The old contest drew almost 18,000 entries in 2022 for 10 prizes. Don't underestimate the time a video application takes against odds like that. A state or local grant with 50 applicants is often a better use of a week.

Sweepstakes aren't grants. FedEx's sweepstakes page offers trips, such as a Super Bowl LXI package. They're prize drawings for customers, not business funding, and some "FedEx grant" lists blur the two.

FedEx grants for nonprofits: invitation only

FedEx's corporate giving to charities is closed to unsolicited requests, as checked November 9, 2026. The FedEx Cares nonprofit funding page (opens in a new tab) says FedEx accepts funding proposals by invitation only and is "unable to respond to individual/new nonprofit requests for funding."

According to FedEx's January 2025 charitable giving guidelines, linked from that page, FedEx considers proposals from U.S. 501(c)(3) organizations and registered Canadian charities during 2 grant cycles. Proposals should fit one of 4 pillars (disaster relief, support for entrepreneurs, climate solutions, and people and communities) and show active engagement by at least 1 FedEx team member. The guidelines list what's generally not funded, including individual churches and denominational programs, individual K-12 schools, athletic groups, endowments, mission trips, scholarships for individuals, and in-kind printing.

So the honest route for a charity is relationship first: a FedEx employee who volunteers with you is the clearest path to an invitation. If you don't have that, Grantsights' guide to corporate grants for nonprofits covers companies with open local programs, and Walmart grants and Target grants explain two retailers that do take applications.

How to apply for FedEx-backed grants: 5 steps

Since the contest is gone, "applying for a FedEx grant" now means one of 2 partner programs. Here's the order Grantsights suggests, based on the rules checked November 9, 2026:

1. Check the Hiring Our Heroes tests first. Confirm 51% veteran or military spouse ownership, 3 to 20 people, revenue under $5 million, and your zip code's Distressed Communities Index score (or a documented hardship).
2. Apply online before December 15, 2026. The rules accept entries only through the form on hiringourheroes.org, until 11:59 p.m. EDT on December 15, 2026. Focus your answers on the 3 scored criteria: community impact, local economic growth and your path to success.
3. Download the R4R checklist and register. Any eligible business can do this now. Keep your EIN handy.
4. Keep loss records ready. If a disaster hits, R4R asks for proof of loss and your business bank account for direct deposit.
5. Build a list of grants you can actually win. Use the alternatives below and Grantsights grant search for programs with current deadlines in your state.

Alternatives to FedEx small business grants

The SBA itself doesn't give grants to start or grow a business. According to SBA's grants page (opens in a new tab), checked November 9, 2026, "SBA does not provide grants for starting and expanding a business," and its grants go to nonprofits, resource partners and educational organizations that run counseling and training. What the SBA does fund is free help: its resource partner network (opens in a new tab) includes Small Business Development Centers, Women's Business Centers, SCORE mentors and Veterans Business Outreach Centers. An SBDC adviser can often point you to local grants faster than any national list.

Grantsights guides that pick up where the FedEx contest left off:

• Start here: best grants for small businesses in 2026 ranks programs open this year, and small business grants: the complete guide explains how the money works.
• By state: small business grants by state covers state programs, which usually have far fewer applicants than national contests.
• Federal money: federal grants for small businesses explains SBIR, STTR and other programs that do fund businesses directly.
• By owner: grants for veteran-owned businesses, grants for women-owned businesses, the Amber Grant and grants for women, and best grants for Black-owned businesses.
• Disasters: disaster recovery grants for businesses.
• Beyond grants: free money for small business covers pitch competitions, tax credits and other sources.

How Grantsights Checked This Guide

Grantsights read 21 pages and documents on November 9, 2026, and checked every status, amount and eligibility rule against the page that states it. No figure comes from a news story, a grants blog or a search snippet.

Sources

• FedEx: Small Business Grants Program (retired) (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx: 2024 Small Business Grant recipients (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx: 2023 Small Business Grant winners (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx: 2022 Small Business Grant Contest winners (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx: 2021 Small Business Grant Contest winners (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx Newsroom: FedEx to Launch 12th Annual Small Business Grants Program (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx Newsroom: FedEx Awards More Than $230,000 to 10 Small Businesses (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx Cares: Small Business Resources (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx Cares: Entrepreneur programs (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx Cares: Nonprofit Funding (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx Cares: 2026 Entrepreneur Fund and Boost Camp graduates (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx Cares: Hiring Our Heroes 2026 Small Business Grant Program Awards (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx Cares: 2025 FedEx Cares Report (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx: Sweepstakes (opens in a new tab)
• Hiring Our Heroes: Small Business Grant Program (opens in a new tab)
• Hiring Our Heroes: Small Business Grant Program official rules (opens in a new tab)
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation: Small Business Readiness for Resiliency (opens in a new tab)
• SBA: Grants (opens in a new tab)
• SBA: Resource partners (opens in a new tab)
• SBA: Disaster assistance (opens in a new tab)