CU@Soup
Join us for CU@Soup! Attendees will get soup, salad and beverages for $8 per-attendee in advance, or $10 at the door. Funds collected from CU@Soup will form a micro-grant which will be given to the winning pitch. Attendance is limited to the first 70 people to respond. All attendees must...
How to Maximize Your Funding Opportunity
CU@Soup is a community dinner hosted by Christian Financial Credit Union featuring - you guessed it - soup (and more)! Each attendee will pay a $5 cover charge in exchange for a full meal and voting privileges.
This dinner is an opportunity for CFCU members who have been thinking about starting a business or have an existing business they are looking to expand upon/change in some way to get their idea out in exchange for possible funding!
Up to 4 members will be selected to pitch their ideas over dinner. Members in attendance will get to vote at the end on their favorite. The cover charges collected in the beginning will be pooled to form a micro grant to one lucky pitch, which will be awarded at the dinner!
Submitting Your Plan for Pitch Consideration
To be considered, please draft a business plan that is between 5 - 10 pages in length. It should address:
- What you’re planning to offer/sell
- What makes it unique
- What your projected expenses will be and how much
- Where you plan to do business
- Who your customers would be
- How you plan to promote yourself
Deadline
All ideas that wish to be considered for the first CU@Soup event should be received by Christian Financial by 5/20/2011. Ideas that don’t arrive by the deadline unfortunately won’t be eligible for review.
Where to Send
Your plan can be sent electronically to lvance@cfcumail.org (.pdfs only please) or by mail to the following address:
Christian Financial Credit Union
Attn: CU@Soup Committee
18441 Utica Rd. Roseville, MI 48066
STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS ON THE FIRST DINNER. THEY WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON!
In addition to the micro grant, more funding could be available to those members pre-selected to pitch their ideas. Christian Financial has partnered with the City of Roseville’s REDI program to provide an even bigger opportunity for those that pitch. Everyone who pitches will be reviewed by Christian Financial and the City of Roseville to assess eligibility for a combination of grant and loan dollars to really get your business off the ground!
REDI Grant Info
Through the Roseville Entrepreneurial Development Initiative (REDI) program, small business owners (new or existing) who are interested in having operations in the city of Roseville could be granted start-up funding up to $25,000! To be eligible, businesses must:
- Have 5 or fewer employees, one of whom owns the business; and
- Be located in a properly zoned commercial and/or industrial site (home-based businesses are not eligible for this program)
- Provide income documentation to fit one of these criteria:
- The entrepreneur does not exceed a household income level of $39,100 if single or $44,700 - $73,750 if household includes 2 - 8 people (click here for more info); or
- If the entrepreneur's income exceeds the allowable income guidelines, the eligibility is based on the creation of new jobs where 51% of all new jobs created are provided to individuals who fit this income criteria prior to employment with the new business.
Each plan will receive funding approval recommendations from a business review team committee, including Christian Financial Credit Union.
How will REDI grant funding work?
Grant dollars will be disbursed as reimbursements to vendors for costs identified in the business plan you submitted for CU@Soup. The amount of your grant will be made for up to 2/3 of the costs you identified (the remaining 1/3 of your costs could come from a CFCU Small Business loan based on eligibility if you do not have those funds available).
If selected for grant dollars, the entrepreneur would be required to complete a REDI application and submit income verification documents as well as a credit report.
How much $ would you need to bring to the table for the grant?
In order to get the full amount of funds available, you have to show evidence of being able to provide a 2:1 match from your personal finances. For example, if you are eligible for $25,000 in grant dollars, you would need to have $12,500 in personal funds. If you do not have those funds available today, Christian Financial may provide assistance in the form of a Small Business Loan, which would require only a minimal amount of funds out-of-pocket from you up-front.
How will a CFCU Small Business Loan work?
Entrepreneurs may receive a Small Business Loan to cover initial out-of-pocket funding requirements for the REDI grant. Entrepreneurs will need to meet basic lending standards (assessed by a review of your credit report and payment history).
How to Maximize Your Funding Opportunity
The CU@Soup program will not only provide the chance to win a micro-grant, but also get you in front of decision makers who could potentially provide loan funding and award larger grant dollars based on eligibility. To maximize the funding potential from this event:
- DO write a well thought-out business plan
- DO establish what you expect your costs to be
- DO consider occupying commercial space in Roseville
- DO plan on using grant dollars to purchase equipment/inventory/supplies
- DO explain what makes your idea unique
Meeting the eligibility requirements for grant funding could mean the difference between a few hundred dollars and several thousand!
Up to 4 submissions will be selected to pitch at the CU@Soup dinner. While pitches do not have to meet the REDI grant eligibility requirements to pitch at the dinner, pitches submitted that do fit the eligibility requirements will be given preference.
Bottom Line
CFCU would require a down payment from the entrepreneur of 3.5% of the loan amount requested, which would be the entrepreneur’s only up-front cost to receive loan and grant dollars (if the loan request is intended to simply fulfill the REDI match requirement, this would mean a maximum of $500 out-of-pocket). Some or all of this 3.5% could come from the CU@Soup dinner, leaving little if any money that would actually need to come from the entrepreneur to get up to $38,000 in funding through the CU@Soup program!
*PLEASE NOTE: Being selected to pitch at the CU@Soup event does not guarantee REDI grant funding or Christian Financial loan dollars. Winning the votes at the event does, however, guarantee walking away with the micro-grant collected that evening (the amount of which is based on the number of attendees at the dinner event).
The event is an opportunity to get in front of the decision makers who have access to those funds. Grant and loan dollars will be awarded based on the quality of the plan, as well as meeting the eligibility requirements.
Questions? Write us by clicking here (make sure you write "RE: CU@Soup in the comments box) or call Lauren at 586.498.1582.