Lowcountry Marketing Momentum Grant

The Marketing Momentum Small Business Grant Program provides Lowcountry, South Carolina small businesses with in-kind marketing services (rather than cash) delivered by professional marketing partners in the community. Administered by Lowcountry Local First (LLF), a nonprofit that supports independently-owned local businesses across the Charleston area, the program connects a small number of qualifying local businesses each year with marketing, branding, design, and PR experts who donate their services to help each recipient tackle a specific marketing challenge or opportunity.

Because the grant is delivered as pro bono professional services, project deliverables vary based on the partner and the recipient's needs, with past recipients receiving support in areas such as brand development, PR strategy, communications planning, and customer targeting. To qualify, applicants must be the owner of a for-profit business (501(c)(3) and 501(c)(6) entities are not eligible), be at least 18 years old, have been in business and making sales for two years or less (or preparing to launch within the next six months), employ fewer than five full-time employees, and meet LLF's local business membership criteria: privately held, based locally in the Lowcountry with no corporate or national headquarters outside the region, majority owned by individuals who live in the Lowcountry, and operating independently in decisions about the business's name, purchasing, practices, distribution, marketing, and other expenses.

Applications are evaluated by an outside review committee based on eligibility, the clarity of the potential project impact on the business's growth and success, and the strength of the business's mission or community give-back. Recipients and their project partners are recognized each year at LLF's annual Good Business Summit in Charleston.