Red Letter Grant Program

Red Letter Grant is a Certified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization governed by a Board of Directors made up of women entrepreneurs and community leaders throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Red Letter Grant supports women entrepreneurs in western Wisconsin who are starting new businesses. For the Fall 2026 grant cycle, the program serves an 18-county region divided into two geographic regions. Region 1 includes Buffalo, Clark, Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson, Pepin, Pierce, St. Croix, and Trempealeau counties. Region 2 includes Barron, Burnett, Polk, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, Taylor, and Washburn counties. Applicants must be women starting a new business within the 18-county service region. The preparation guide further specifies that the business must be majority woman-owned and located within the service area. Red Letter Grant considers the start-up phase to be a business that is three years old or younger. Expansions of businesses older than three years, franchises, and nonprofit organizations are not eligible. A previous Red Letter Grant recipient may not apply again for the same business, but may apply for a different new start-up. These requirements focus the program on early-stage, majority woman-owned businesses operating within the designated western Wisconsin counties. For the Fall 2026 cycle, Red Letter Grant will make eight awards across its two regions. In Region 1, three $2,000 grants and one $4,000 grant will be awarded in November 2026. Region 2 will likewise receive three $2,000 grants and one $4,000 grant in November 2026. This results in six $2,000 awards and two $4,000 awards, for $20,000 in stated funding across the two regions. Applicants are specifically asked to explain how they will spend the grant dollars if awarded. The provided materials do not state a required matching or cost-share contribution, although applicants must identify how much they will personally invest in the business and what other resources they are considering for capital. Application preparation requires substantial information about the proposed business. Applicants must provide a business plan between 1 and 20 pages. Identified business plan elements include a business description, market research and competitive analysis, target market, organization and management, marketing plan, and three customer profiles. Financial projections are also required. Applicants must answer questions addressing why they are passionate about starting the business, how they will specifically spend the grant dollars, what other resources they are considering for capital, how much they will personally invest, what community needs the business will help meet, and where they see the business in five years. Red Letter Grant encourages applicants to spend time preparing their applications and to seek assistance from available community business-development resources. Applications for the Fall 2026 cycle open September 8, 2026. The application deadline is Monday, October 12, 2026 at 11:00 p.m.; late applications will not be accepted. A virtual information session is scheduled for August 25, 2026 from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. via Microsoft Teams, but the materials do not identify attendance at that session as an application requirement or advancement gate. Judges will review applications from October 12 through October 31. Finalists will be invited to interview during November 2 through November 6, and the program expressly notes that not all applicants will advance to the interview round. Applications are evaluated based on the applicant's passion for the project, the applicant's need for the money, community need for the project, and business viability. Celebration and awards activities for Region 1 and Region 2 are scheduled for November 9 through November 13, 2026, with separate events at which grantee announcements will be made live; exact dates and times are to be determined. The existence of both Spring 2026 and Fall 2026 grant cycles demonstrates that the program operates on recurring grant cycles. No individual program contact name, email address, telephone number, explicit performance period, or explicit PDF URL is provided in the supplied source materials.

Spend time developing a well-prepared application and consider assistance from local business-development resources; demonstrate passion for the project, need for the money, community need for the project, and business viability.