SCORE is America’s leading source of FREE and confidential small business advice for entrepreneurs, offering both online and in-person counseling out of its more than 350 locally based offices nationwide.  The non-profit’s 13,000-strong volunteer team of mentors represents more than 600 business skills combined and includes retired business owners, executives and corporate leaders who are willing and able to share their hard-earned wisdom and expertise with others.  To date, SCORE has helped roughly 9 million new and existing small businesses, assisting as many as 20,000 businesses to get off the ground each year.

Those already impressive numbers are guaranteed to grow substantially thanks to a newly announced partnership between SCORE and The Deluxe Corporation Foundation, which has awarded more than $90 million to education, arts and human services programs since its creation in 1952.  The Foundation has provided a $285,000 grant to SCORE that will ensure it can expand its trained volunteer base by 50 percent, or 11,000 mentors, over the next three years.  Thanks to this increased counseling capacity, SCORE will be prepared to support the start-up or expansion of an estimated ONE MILLION additional small businesses in the U.S. by 2017.

Citing his company’s dedication to facilitating small business growth in the U.S., Deluxe Corporation CEO Lee Schram said in a statement dated March 29, “The Deluxe Foundation grant, directed to the growth and development of new SCORE mentors, is an excellent investment in the future success of more small businesses.”  More specifically, the grant will enable SCORE to undertake a whole range of activities designed to grow its mentoring capabilities, including the development of effective recruitment materials, a national database to better match mentors with small businesses, various assessment tools, national and local partnerships and public service and social media marketing campaigns, among others.

If you’re an entrepreneur who is in any stage of buying, owning, growing or even selling a home-based or other small business or entrepreneurial opportunity, you may want to avail yourself of SCORE’s incredible array of fee-free services.   Just click here on SCORE and you’ll be directed to the organization’s website so you can get the wise advice, counsel and guidance you need today!