The COVID-19 pandemic has forced event producers and small businesses around the country to postpone or cancel their in-person plans. We know this is a uniquely challenging time for you, as it is for all of us. We’re here to help. We’ve gathered as many resources as we can, whether you need emergency funding or ideas to help you innovate your way through this storm.

Our team will continue to update this page with resources and information to help events and ticket-based businesses adapt and respond to the rapidly changing situation we all find ourselves in.

Table of Contents

• Passage Clients: Rescheduling, Canceling, or Postponing Your Event
• Virtual Events
• Emergency Funding, Grants, and Loans
  • CARES Emergency Aid Package
  • Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Relief
  • Facebook Small Business Grants
  • Verizon Small Business Recovery Fund
  • WaFd Bank Small Business Lifeline
  • Opportunity Fund COVID-19 Small Business Relief Fund
  • Mainvest by the Main Street Initiative
  • Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation
  • James Beard Foundation Food & Beverage Industry Relief Fund
  • Small Business Support by State
• Federal and State Guidelines for In-Person Gatherings
  • CDC Recommendations for Large Community Events and Mass Gatherings
  • WHO Q&A on Mass Gatherings and COVID-19
  • State and Local Policy Tracker
  • What is an “Essential Business”?
• Local Resources and Mutual Aid

Rescheduling, Canceling, or Postponing Your Event

Making the decision to reschedule or postpone your event is not an easy one, but it’s an understandable outcome amidst this global pandemic. Please know that our support team is here for you, and we’d be happy to help discuss your options and re-issue tickets for a future date or refunds if necessary.

A refund is NOT your only option. There will be a world beyond this situation, and we all will need entertainment and ways to connect more than ever.

• You can transfer your customer’s tickets to a future event, or provide them a promo code for a free ticket to a future event of their choice. Here’s how to edit a ticket date or make other changes to an order.
• Promo codes can be created in bulk to save time. Here’s how.
• Create a Virtual Event! Your fans and supporters still want to connect with you. See the section below for details on how to do this.

Let us know if we can help! Drop us a line at support@passagesports.mystagingwebsite.com.

Virtual Events

In-person gatherings are canceled. Events don’t have to be. 

Your fans and supporters still want to connect with you. Set up your virtual event in under 5 minutes at zero cost to you. 

Emergency Funding, Grants and Loans

Passage Capital

Passage Capital offers event producers and venues the opportunity to receive an up-front infusion of cash (from $1K to $100K) NOW to help your business weather this storm. There are no credit checks and no payback. All we ask is that you continue to trust us with your business when things take a turn for the better.

CARES Emergency Aid Package

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act allocates $350 billion to help small businesses keep workers employed amid the pandemic and economic downturn. Known as the Paycheck Protection Program, the initiative provides 100% federally guaranteed loans to small businesses.

Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Relief

The SBA provides low-interest disaster loans to help businesses and homeowners recover from declared disasters, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Facebook Small Business Grants

Facebook is offering $100M in cash grants and ad credits for up to 30,000 eligible small businesses in over 30 countries. Click here to learn more.

Verizon Small Business Recovery Fund

Verizon is offering grants to help small businesses fill urgent financial gaps until they can resume normal operations or until other more permanent financing becomes available. Click here to learn more.

WaFd Bank Small Business Lifeline

WaFd Bank is offering 5-year business lines of credit with 90 days interest free to businesses affected by COVID-19. Those who have seen a 10% or greater drop in revenues can apply to receive up to $200,000 on business lines of credit with 90 days interest-free, and they’re expediting the process for lines up to $30,000. Click here to learn more.

Opportunity Fund COVID-19 Small Business Relief Fund

Opportunity Fund is offering financial assistance to existing and new customers. Contact them directly for information about eligibility and available loans. Click here to learn more.

Mainvest by the Main Street Initiative

Mainvest is offering a $2,000 zero-interest loan to brick-and-mortar businesses that launch a capital raise on their platform. Click here to learn more.

Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation

partnering with Southern Smoke Foundation to distribute direct crisis relief to individual restaurant workers, nonprofit organizations serving restaurant workers in crisis, and loans for restaurants to get back up and running. Apply online or view the FAQs on their website.

James Beard Foundation Food & Beverage Industry Relief Fund

The James Beard Foundation Food and Beverage Industry Relief Fund provides financial assistance to small, independent restaurants that, due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) national disaster, have an immediate need for funds to pay set operating expenses and keep from going out of business. The foundation has suspended the application due to overwhelming response, but you can keep checking back for information when/if they re-open applications. 

Small Business Support by State

To find information and resources specific to your state or local area, check the U.S. Chamber of Commerce state-by-state guide.

Federal and State Guidelines for In-Person Gatherings

CDC Recommendations for Large Community Events and Mass Gatherings

The U.S. Center for Disease Control strongly encourages event organizers and staff to continually assess, based on current conditions, whether to postpone, cancel, or significantly reduce the number of attendees (if possible) for mass gatherings such as conferences, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events, weddings, and other types of assemblies.

WHO Q&A on Mass Gatherings and COVID-19

The World Health Organization also publishes recommendations for international mass gatherings, guidelines for whether your even should be canceled, and how to reduce the risk for participants.

State and Local Policy Tracker

Lobbying and government relations agency MultiState has compiled a dashboard of state and local government responses to COVID-19. The quick reference guide includes information and links to health department COVID-19 websites, key contacts, state of emergency declarations, executive orders, changes to legislative sessions, limits on mass gatherings, school closures, mandatory curfews, restaurant and retail closures. There is also a map of states that have issued stay-home orders and their respective definitions of “Essential Businesses.”

What is an “Essential Business”?

Several states and local governments have issued stay-home or shelter-in-place orders, directing non-essential businesses to temporarily suspend in-person operations. How do you know if your business qualifies as essential? It varies depending on your location, and MultiState created a state-by-state guide to help figure it out.

Local Resources and Mutual Aid

We will regularly update this list as we learn about locally available resources around the country. If you know of resources for events or small businesses in your area, please let us know in the comments or send an email to kat@passagesports.mystagingwebsite.com and we will add it to this page.

Mutual aid societies crowd-source assistance from people in their own communities who have extra resources, connecting them with neighbors who need help.

Small Business Development Centers

In partnership with the SBA, Small Business Development Centers are located throughout the U.S. and provide small businesses with resources to grow. There are nearly 1,000 local centers available to provide no-cost business consulting and low-cost training to new and existing businesses. Visit their COVID-9 resource page or find your local SBDC chapter online.

Detroit/Wayne County COVID-19 Small Business Relief Fund

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation, through the Michigan Strategic Fund, granted Detroit and Wayne County $1.6 million in grant funds to small businesses. The DEGC, Detroit City Council and Economic Development Corporation of the City of Detroit approved a $3.1 million COVID-19 Grant Relief Fund for Detroit Small Businesses.This brings the total funding pool to $4.7 million, which Detroit and Wayne County will administer through a single unified team.  Applications will be accepted and awards will be made on a rolling basis subject to availability of funds. First payments are expected to be processed by April 10, 2020. Click here for more information or to submit your application.

Detroit Based COVID-19 Mutual Aid

Anyone can add to this shared spreadsheet which contains resources where you can go for help with anything from transportation to child care, food and housing assistance, to mental and spiritual health. It also contains a tab where folks who need monetary assistance to cover things like rent, utilities, and groceries can request donations. If you need help or want to help, please check it out.

New Orleans Mutual Aid Response Network

This public group created by Imagine Water Works is part of a longer-term Mutual Aid Response Network that activates during floods, storms, and other similar events in the Greater New Orleans Area. Group members can “Offer” or “Request” assistance in their neighborhood, or post links to available resources. The topics covered include everything from grocery assistance to baby clothes, meal deliveries for families, and support for unemployed and undocumented workers. Visit the page here.

Tacoma Mutual Aid Collective

Tacoma Mutual Aid Collective works in solidarity with Tacoma communities to support resource, knowledge, and skill sharing. Their open Facebook group shares plenty of resources for seniors, immunocompromised individuals, and families to who need help getting groceries, picking up laundry, or filling prescriptions as well as support for unemployed and undocumented workers. Visit the page here.

Seattle Small Business Stabilization Fund

To mitigate barriers to capital for Seattle’s most vulnerable businesses, the City of Seattle is committing approximately $2.5 million in Federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to the Small Business Stabilization Fund. The Small Business Stabilization Fund is an emergency fund that provides working capital grants in amounts up to $10,000 to qualifying small businesses. Click here to learn more.

Pugit Sound COVID-19 Mutual Aid

This Seattle-area collective is updating their resource guide daily in a public Google Doc, with links to volunteer signup forms, donation requests, and more. The guide also includes links to state and national news, with a focus on social justice efforts and community support. Click here to view the resource guide.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors Philly

This group of community members and organizers is offering support getting folks groceries, medicine, and supplies with a particular focus on sick, elderly, disabled, undocumented, single parents, queer, Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color, those quarantined without pay, and those limited in work. Submit a request for assistance here.

Los Angeles Mutual Aid

Ground Game LA compiled an open Google Doc with tons of resources and helpful tips for folks living in the greater Los Angeles area. The list includes advice for assembling neighbors’ contact information in case of emergency or mandated quarantine, how to prepare for rolling blackouts, information on the city-wide text alert program, and more. Click here to view the doc.

Don’t see what you’re looking for? Suggest additions to this page in the comments section or reach out to our team. We’d be happy to help in any way we can.