H&R Block’s Fund Her Future grant is putting $180,000 directly into the hands of women business owners this year, with four winners at $45,000 each, landing at a moment when the numbers on women in business tell two very different stories. Women now own 15.7 million businesses across the United States, a jump of more than 12% since 2022. Those businesses make up over 40% of every company in the country. Yet they bring in less than 5% of total business revenue and employ under a tenth of the national workforce. The gap is not about ambition or output. It is about capital, and specifically about the right amount of it landing at the right time.
Even when women business owners are approved for financing, the amounts rarely match what the business actually needs to grow. Many end up leaning on personal savings and credit cards to fill the difference, a pattern that slows expansion long after the loan paperwork is signed.
H&R Block is putting real money behind closing that gap. The company has opened applications for the third annual Fund Her Future grant, and this year’s version comes with its most ambitious commitment yet to the long-term success of the women who apply.
What the 2026 Grant Offers
Four winners will each receive $45,000 in funding, for a combined $180,000 in awards. Every winner also receives a full year of small business services from Block Advisors, including tax preparation, bookkeeping, payroll, and a business structure analysis. New for 2026, every single applicant, not just the four winners, will receive a year of community-focused programming built around needs surfaced in last year’s applicant survey.
That survey data shaped the redesign. Nearly a third of past applicants said what they needed most was a mentor, and close to 60% pointed to a specific operational task- tax prep, bookkeeping, compliance, payroll, or incorporation- as the area where they needed the most support.
“For entrepreneurs, the difference between thriving and surviving often lies in building a strong foundation for growth,” said John Towle, director of global retail operations at H&R Block.
Past winners have used the grant to move past exactly that kind of bottleneck. Heather Jiang, founder of the New York based accessory brand Allégorie, took home a Fund Her Future grant in an earlier cycle and used the accompanying business services to free up the time she had been spending on bookkeeping. She hired new employees, launched a new product collection, and expanded her marketing, changes she credits directly to having an accountant handle the financial side of the business.
The grant has grown every year since its 2024 launch. That first cycle awarded a combined $100,000 across five winners, with one grand prize of $50,000 and four honorable mentions of $12,500 each. The 2026 version restructures the math entirely, spreading $180,000 across four equal $45,000 awards so that every winner receives the same significant sum instead of a single standout taking home the bulk of the funding.
Where to Apply: Hello Alice
H&R Block is routing every 2026 application through Hello Alice, the Houston-based fintech platform built specifically to connect small business owners with capital they might otherwise never find. Hello Alice was founded in 2017 by Carolyn Rodz and Elizabeth Gore with a simple premise: small businesses, especially those owned by women, veterans, and other historically underrepresented entrepreneurs, need one place to find credit, loans, grants, and real business planning help, instead of hunting across dozens of scattered websites.
The platform has grown into one of the largest funding hubs in the country. Hello Alice now serves more than 1.5 million small business owners and has distributed over $50 million in grant funding since it launched, backed by partners including Mastercard, Wells Fargo, and Progressive. Beyond grants, the platform offers AI driven business planning tools, a Small Business Funding Center that matches owners to relevant credit and loan products, and a broader Equitable Access to Capital initiative aimed at making sure funding does not just flow to the businesses that already have the easiest path to it.
“We’re a small business helping small businesses,” said Elizabeth Gore, president and co-founder of Hello Alice.
Eligibility and How to Apply
The grant is open to full-time or part-time small business owners, whether they are sole proprietors or run a team. Applicants must be at least 18 years old, a U.S. resident, and own a business that has generated a minimum of $20,000 in revenue in 2025. Nonprofits are not eligible. The application window opened September 1, 2026, and closes September 22, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
After the window closes, H&R Block selects a group of finalists for personal interviews with the Block Advisors team before choosing the four winners, who will be notified in October. Applicants who are not selected still walk away with a year of the community-focused programming introduced this cycle, meaning no one who applies leaves empty-handed.
Applications are open now through Hello Alice, where business owners can review full eligibility details and submit before the deadline.
