CARES Grant Application Instructions

Application 

Published link:
www.citrusbocc.com/cares 

Registration 

Applicants need to create an account when they follow the link to the SurveyMonkey Apply (Apply) screen.  

Applicants need to create an account in Apply in order to proceed to the CARES grant application. This account is with Apply which is tied to our Grant application system. 

After creating an account and logging in applicants will see our grant landing page. This will allow them to select a Grant Application. At the time of writing this document we have only one, but it can be setup for additional applications using the same address and same account login to apply for various County grants.

After the applicant clicks on “more” it will bring them to the following page.  Here applicants will click on Apply.

Eligibility

Select the available grant and be taken to an eligibility page.

If ANY question is answered that is a disqualifying statement, the applicant will be disqualified and will not be allowed to proceed to the application.

Applicants are permitted to go back in and edit their responses by logging in and answering the eligibility questions again.

CARES Small Business Grant Program Application

Every field that isn’t marked as optional is required. Applicants can come and go as they please. We've stated multiple times what the required documents are, so there shouldn’t be much confusion.

Once you have passed the eligibility section and are working on the actual application, there are three phases:

• Business Information for your check and some basic demographics.
• The upload section is a series of business documents.
• Certification/signing section

 

After filling out the initial page, the list of tasks to complete is listed on the left side and you see your progress.

Collaborators

At any point in the application process, the applicant can invite collaborators to help in the process. This is useful for inviting administrative staff, a partner, bookkeeper or accountant to provide documents the applicant may not have available.

Collaborators will need to create an Apply account to have access to applications. However only the Applicant is able to submit the final application.

Document Uploads

Applicants will need to have digital copies of their documents. While scanned PDFs are preferred, they are not required. We have allowed most document types like PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, XLSX, PPT, PPTX, GIF, JPG, PNG. The image needs to be clear and readable, but not necessarily scanned for the sake of our review.

Proceed through each of the document types until they have all been uploaded. The information on these documents will be compared by staff to the list of qualifications. The eligibility questions, the business info questions, and these uploaded documents all need to lineup with the CARES Small Business Grant requirements. The system doesn’t validate the contents of the document, only that a document has been uploaded. 

When you upload a document click on “Attach File”, select the document you want to upload, and click Open. The system will start uploading the document and when it is 100% complete click on “Mark As Complete”. You will get a message like below showing the upload is complete.

Certification/Signing

This application is subject to perjury if signed under false pretense. Read this section carefully. Typing your name, title and dating the application is what is required to sign the document. Applicants may also choose to use their mouse or pointing device to affix a signature to the application.

Once the applicant is satisfied with their application, all the data has been inputted, the correct documents have been uploaded, and the application has been signed, the applicant may submit the application. Once submitted, the applicant will not be able to edit their submission further.

Checking the status of an application

After an application has been submitted, applicants may sign into the application portal and check on the status of their application. The stages and statuses are:

• Initial Review
  • Applications may be approved to the second review
  • Applications may be denied due to not being eligible and no further review will be done and will be moved to the Declined stage.
   

• Second Review
  • Applications that pass this stage move to the Approved stage.
  • Applications that were mistakenly moved to this stage may be marked as declined and moved to the Declined stage.
   

• Approved
  • Applications that are approved will be process for approval and payment.
   

• Declined
  • No further action will be taken.
   

• Awarded
  • The business information as been sent to Accounts Payable for payment.
  • Payment batches are made once each week so checks may not be received for up to two weeks after it reaches this stage.