Annie’s Action AI
Small Town Grants

Apply to the AI Business Accelerator

For businesses that are already open, already serving their town, and already carrying more than their share of it.

Before you spend time on this

This program is narrow on purpose. Read these two lists first — if you are not in the first one, we would rather you know now than after you have written four paragraphs.

This is for you if

  • Your business is open and operating today — not planned, not reopening
  • You are in a small town, and your town is short of what you do
  • You could not write a cheque for professional marketing and business help
  • You are willing to do coursework, meet with a coach, and be measured
  • You are willing to have people from your town visit you and ask questions
  • You are willing to have your results published — including if it doesn't work

This is not for you if

  • You do not have an operating business yet — we will point you to the right place
  • You want a discount rather than a program
  • You do not want to be visited, interviewed, or measured
  • You are looking for cash — no money is paid to any business
Applying does not obligate you to anything, and neither does receiving a grant. No business in this program is ever required to buy anything from Annie's Action AI, during the grant or after it. That is written into the agreement, and it is not negotiable in either direction.

How it works

  1. You apply. This form. Fifteen minutes, honestly answered.
  2. We check the basics. Your town's size and economic measures, and whether your business fits. If it doesn't, we tell you which test and why.
  3. You are interviewed by We Help People Everywhere and by a board of people from your own town.
  4. That town board recommends, and the Foundation's main board decides.
  5. You sign an agreement with the Foundation — what you will do, what we will do.
  6. You do the coursework at Annie's Training Center, with trainers alongside you. That unlocks the first $1,000 of your account.
  7. You get a coach and decide together what to fix first. Then the work gets done, and your account draws down as it does.
  8. You keep earning the rest as you hit milestones — up to $5,000 in all.

Application

Everything marked * is required. Write plainly — this is read by people, not scored by a machine.

The business

The business as it exists today.

You
Your town

This section matters more than any other. The grant is made because a town needs something — tell us what your town is short of.

What you need
Disclosure
What you are agreeing to by applying

Every one of these is required, because every one of them is how the program actually works.

What happens next — and where this honestly stands. You'll get an email confirming we have your application. Then we check your town against the criteria and, if it fits, arrange an interview with you and a board of people from your own town.

We're being straight with you about timing: this program is being built right now. Town boards are being formed and the first grants haven't been made yet. So we won't promise you a date. What we will do is read every application, tell you honestly where things stand, and come back to you as this opens — and if you don't fit the criteria, tell you which one and why rather than leaving you wondering.

Small Town Grants is a program of We Help People Everywhere, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity, which makes the grants, holds the agreements, and oversees the work. Services are donated in kind by Annie's Action AI, a for-profit company. The two organisations are related and say so openly.

We do not promise rankings, traffic, leads, revenue, or that any business will succeed. We provide work, training and support, and we report honestly on what happens.