Hello Alice Grants 2026: Programs, Odds and How to Apply

Hello Alice grants open now: 5 programs checked November 12, 2026

Grantsights read the official rules for 5 Hello Alice programs on November 12, 2026, and none was taking applications; Hello Alice's live funding page listed no active programs the same day.

Recently closed: the eBay Live x Up & Running window on June 25, 2026, the last 2026 deadline among the terms Grantsights could read. An older Wells Fargo Equitable Access Boost Camp ran January 27 to February 21, 2025, per its terms page.

Grantsights' read: Hello Alice is a real route to small business money, but it's a stream of short contests, each with its own sponsor and rules. Treat it like a lottery you can improve your odds in, not a funder you can build a plan around.

Who qualifies for Hello Alice grants: 4 rules most programs share

The 4 terms pages from 2026 share 4 rules, though every program adds its own.

1. For-profit only. Three of the 4 programs required a for-profit business located and registered in the 50 states and D.C., and eBay's required an active eBay seller account instead. Allstate, eBay and NAACP x L'Oréal also accepted owners in Puerto Rico; the Confidence Collective didn't. A Hello Alice FAQ page says grants are "only open to U.S. residents" for now.
2. The owner applies. The person entering must be the business's leading executive, such as the founder, president or CEO, and at least 18 (19 in Alabama and Nebraska; eBay's terms add 21 in Mississippi).
3. Real revenue, often $25,000. Allstate and the Confidence Collective required at least $25,000 in 2025 revenue and an existing product or service. eBay set its own floor: $10,000 to $1,000,000 in gross merchandise value. A pre-revenue idea won't qualify for most of these.
4. Industry limits. Allstate excluded adult entertainment, firearms, alcohol (restaurants excepted), gambling, marijuana dispensaries and multi-level marketing, plus "religious or political affiliations." The Confidence Collective excluded aesthetics, cannabis, supplements and products made only for children.

Some programs also state a preference. The NAACP x L'Oréal terms say "preference will be given to entrepreneurs of color," and the Confidence Collective terms give preference to female entrepreneurs. Allstate's terms add a Boost Camp rule: you can't be in a Hello Alice Boost Camp now or have finished one in the past 12 months.

How Hello Alice picks winners: 3 scored criteria per program

Every terms page Grantsights read scores entries on 3 weighted criteria, judged by a panel of Hello Alice, the sponsor and their agencies. The weights shift by sponsor:

The pattern is plain: a specific plan for the money carries 35% to 40% of the score in 3 of the 4 programs. "We need $20,000 for marketing" scores poorly next to "we'll spend $12,000 on a second oven and $8,000 on a catering van to fill the 40 orders a month we turn away." Allstate's terms break ties on the first criterion, founder experience, so a thin founder story costs you twice.

All 4 terms pages carry the same line on odds: they "will depend on the number of eligible Entries received." Hello Alice doesn't publish applicant counts on the terms pages, so you can't calculate your chances in advance.

Who actually gets Hello Alice grant money

Grantsights analysis of GEN's 2023 Form 990 gives the clearest public view of how this money is split. GEN, a nonprofit co-sponsor named in the Allstate terms, paid $10,536,000 in grants to recipients in the U.S. that year, all of it reported on Schedule I as assistance to domestic individuals, which is how the return lists grants to small business owners.

According to the GEN program description on the return, GEN's grant and access-to-credit work "through its partnership with the Hello Alice platform" also offers credit and technical help aimed at bank and SBA loans. The program spent $11,638,187, including $10,355,000 in grants. GEN's total grants rose from $6,914,780 in 2022 to $10,536,000 in 2023, per the same return.

Two takeaways. First, $20,000 is the most common grant size: 293 of the 474 grants were Small Business or Reach grants averaging exactly that. Second, the money is spread thin: 474 grants across a whole year is a small number next to the scale of the platform's marketing.

FedEx's own figures show the same shape. According to the FedEx Cares program page, 150 entrepreneurs went through the 2026 FedEx Entrepreneur Fund & Boost Camp, a 12-week digital accelerator run with Hello Alice and GEN, and 30 of them received $10,000 grant packages. FedEx says the program has awarded $1,200,000 since 2022. One in 5 participants got cash; the other 120 got training.

Across the 5 programs in the first table, the published grant pools add up like this: Allstate 63 to 100 grants of $20,000 ($1.26 million to $2 million), Confidence Collective 20 of $20,000 ($400,000), FedEx 30 of $10,000 ($300,000), NAACP x L'Oréal about 20 of $10,000 (about $200,000) and eBay about 10 of $10,000 (about $100,000).

How to apply for Hello Alice grants, step by step

The Allstate 2026 terms and Hello Alice's help center describe the same 7-step process, checked November 12, 2026.

1. Find the program while its window is open. The help center says grants and programs appear under "Opportunities" in your Hello Alice account, alongside accelerators, partner offers and events, and that what you see on the public site can depend on whether you're signed in.
2. Read that program's terms first. Revenue floor, location, industry exclusions and Boost Camp rules differ by sponsor. The help center says to check each program's terms for eligibility.
3. Create or sign in to your free Hello Alice account. The terms say there's "no purchase necessary or other cost to enter."
4. Complete every section of the application. Allstate's terms ask for answers about the business and the owner, and the full question list sits in the application form.
5. Write to the scoring criteria. Put a dollar figure, a purchase and a result in your plan, since the plan carries 35% to 40% of the score in most programs.
6. Submit once, before the posted time. Allstate's deadline was 6 p.m. Eastern; eBay's was 7 p.m. Eastern. Only 1 entry per business and per owner counts, and an entry can't be changed after you submit.
7. Watch your email and phone after the window closes. A winner must sign an eligibility affidavit and releases within 48 hours of notification, or the grant may go to the next-ranked entry.

The help center adds that every new round needs a new application. Hello Alice pre-fills answers from your earlier entries, but you have to review them and accept the new round's terms.

Common mistake: applying to every Hello Alice program you see. Eligibility is narrow (an eBay seller, a beauty business, a business with $25,000 in revenue), and an ineligible entry is simply disqualified. Two well-matched applications beat ten generic ones.

What Hello Alice's Grant Pages Don't Tell You

Grantsights checked Hello Alice's terms pages against its help center, FedEx's page and GEN's return, and 6 things stood out.

1. Your entry stops being private. Each terms page Grantsights read gives the sponsors (and in Allstate's case Allstate) a "royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, global, nonexclusive license" to use the information in your entry, and says the sponsor treats what you disclose as nonconfidential. Allstate's terms also say the sponsor may share your entry data with another party under Allstate's privacy policy. Don't put trade secrets or numbers you wouldn't publish in an application.

2. The terms pages contain copy errors. The Allstate 2026 page opens with "submitted no later than DATE at 6PM ET," a template blank, and gives both "approximately 100 grant recipients" and "the 63 Grant Recipients." The NAACP x L'Oréal 2026 page lists a March 23 to April 23, 2026 window in its table, but its text says the period ends "March 29, 2024." When the details conflict, trust the dated table and ask Hello Alice in writing.

3. The Boost Camp is the consolation prize. Allstate planned about 250 Boost Camp seats against 63 to 100 grants, and the Confidence Collective 250 seats against 20 grants. Many "recipients" get a virtual course, not cash. Read "recipient" counts carefully.

4. The tax answers don't match. The help center says the payments are "better classified as gifts" and not taxable to recipients. The Allstate terms say each grant recipient is responsible for applicable federal, state and local taxes. Don't underestimate this: ask a tax preparer how to book the money before you spend it.

5. The platform is also a business that sells to you. Hello Alice's help center describes a personally guaranteed Hello Alice Small Business Mastercard, with a personal credit check, plus AI advisors and a 0 to 100 Business Health Score built from your business data. The help center also says the more complete your profile and the more you engage, the more opportunities surface. None of that is required to win a grant under the terms, but it's the trade the platform is built on.

6. Scammers borrow the name. The terms say entry is free. A red flag is anyone who asks for a fee, a bank login or a "processing charge" to get you a Hello Alice grant, or who contacts you about a grant you never applied for. The FTC's government grant scams page (opens in a new tab) says "Don't pay for a list of government grants" and not to pay any up-front fees, and the same logic applies to private grants.

Hello Alice versus federal help for small businesses

Federal money for a typical small business is mostly loans and free advice, not grants. The SBA's grants page (opens in a new tab) is blunt about it: the agency doesn't fund "starting and expanding a business" with grants. According to SBA guidance on that page, its grants go to nonprofits, resource partners and educational organizations that run counseling and training, plus research and development programs and a few specialized programs such as manufacturing and export grants.

That makes the SBA's resource partners the practical complement to Hello Alice. The SBA's resource partners page (opens in a new tab) describes Small Business Development Centers as providing counseling and training to existing small businesses and pre-venture entrepreneurs, including help to access capital, and links a locator to find the nearest one. An SBDC adviser can review your Hello Alice application plan and your financials at no cost, which helps with the 35% to 40% of the score that rides on your plan.

Is a Hello Alice grant worth it? A 5-question check

1. Is your business for-profit and registered in the U.S.? If not, stop here.
2. Did it make $25,000 or more in 2025? Several 2026 programs required it.
3. Do you fit a sponsor's niche? eBay seller, beauty business, Allstate-style Main Street business, woman-owned or owned by an entrepreneur of color where a program says it prefers them.
4. Can you name the purchase, the price and the result in two sentences? That's the biggest scored item.
5. Are you comfortable with the license and publicity terms? If you're not, don't enter.

Plausible fit: a salon owner with $80,000 in 2025 revenue who applies to a beauty-focused fund with a plan to spend $10,000 on 2 more chairs and booking software. Poor fit: a pre-revenue startup, a nonprofit, or a business owner outside the U.S.

Where to look if Hello Alice isn't a fit

Hello Alice contests pay a few dozen businesses at a time, so most applicants need other routes. Start with the best grants for small businesses in 2026, then check federal grants for small businesses for the research and export programs the SBA points to, and small business grants by state for state and local programs. Free money for small business covers contests, pitch competitions and other non-loan cash.

Women owners should read grants for women-owned businesses and the Amber Grant guide, which covers a private award that pays $15,000 grants every month but, unlike Hello Alice, charges an application fee. Owners of color who missed the NAACP x L'Oréal window can start with grants for minority-owned businesses.

Other corporate small business grants: Verizon's Small Business Digital Ready grants are the closest thing to a steady Hello Alice-style program, with $10,000 grants tied to finishing free online courses. FedEx's small business grants explain how FedEx retired its own contest and now funds owners through partners, including the Boost Camp it runs with Hello Alice. Comcast RISE is a reminder that these corporate programs can end without notice; its last round was in 2025.

Between contests: Grantsights' grant database searches federal programs and private funders by focus area, small business included, with their past award records, so you can line up steadier routes while you wait for the next Hello Alice window.

How Grantsights Checked This Guide

Grantsights checked 5 official terms pages, 6 help center articles, 1 Hello Alice FAQ page, 1 sponsor page and 1 Form 990 on November 12, 2026. ProPublica's records list the Global Entrepreneurship Network in Arlington, Virginia under EIN 52-2315929, the same EIN on the 2023 return's header.

Hello Alice's own grant listing on helloalice.com answered with a security checkpoint during these checks, so this guide doesn't state which programs appear there today. Check that list while signed in, and use each program's terms page for the rules.

Sources

• Hello Alice: Allstate Main Street Grant Program 2026 Terms & Conditions (opens in a new tab)
• Hello Alice: eBay Live x Up & Running 2026 Terms & Conditions (opens in a new tab)
• Hello Alice: The BOTOX Cosmetic Confidence Collective Boost Camp & Grant Terms & Conditions (opens in a new tab)
• Hello Alice: NAACP x L'Oréal Inclusive Beauty Fund 2026 Terms & Conditions (opens in a new tab)
• Hello Alice: Wells Fargo Equitable Access Boost Camp Terms & Conditions (opens in a new tab)
• Hello Alice Help Center: Applying for a grant or program (opens in a new tab)
• Hello Alice Help Center: Applying again in a new round (opens in a new tab)
• Hello Alice Help Center: Taxes on grants (opens in a new tab)
• Hello Alice Help Center: Are grants open to businesses outside the U.S.? (opens in a new tab)
• Hello Alice: Do you accept applications from businesses outside the United States? (opens in a new tab)
• Hello Alice Help Center: What the Business Health Score measures (opens in a new tab)
• Hello Alice Help Center: Credit checks for the Hello Alice card (opens in a new tab)
• FedEx Cares: 2026 FedEx Entrepreneur Fund and Boost Camp program graduates announced (opens in a new tab)
• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: Global Entrepreneurship Network filings (opens in a new tab)
• SBA: Grants (opens in a new tab)
• SBA: Resource partners, including Small Business Development Centers (opens in a new tab)
• FTC: Government Grant Scams (opens in a new tab)