The Downtown Mobile Alliance is piggybacking a grant program onto a GoFundMe initiative, giving small businesses and nonprofits a way to turn $1,000 in donations into as much as $2,000.

GoFundMe’s small business relief initiative was started “to help small businesses that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and empower their communities to rally behind them.” Partners investing in the program include Yelp, Intuit QuickBooks, GoDaddy and Bill.com.

Small businesses impacted by coronavirus are invited to start fundraisers at GoFundMe.com. If the business raises $500 and meets certain requirements, it becomes eligible for a $500 grant.

The Downtown Mobile Alliance’s Downtown Strong Small Business Impact Fund sweetens the pot a bit. It’s open to businesses and non-profits “located at street-level within the Hank Aaron Loop or [that are] a Downtown Mobile Alliance member non-profit.”

An eligible business or nonprofit that raises $1,000 from at least 15 distinct donors in its GoFundMe campaign is eligible for one of 20 $500 Downtown Strong grants. Of those, 10 are for businesses throughout Downtown while 10 are limited to businesses within the Business Improvement District.

Participating businesses and nonprofits must raise their funds by May 5 and must submit program applications by May 20. Full eligibility requirements and other details can be found at downtownmobile.org.

“While not large, the Downtown Strong grants may leverage up to $2,000 in capital that these small businesses and organizations are able to use for overhead costs that continue even after the doors are closed,” Elizabeth Stevens, president and CEO of the Downtown Mobile Alliance, said in announcing the program. “When downtown is once again open for businesses, we want to ensure the shopping, dining and arts scene is as lively as before this current disruption.”