U.S. Department of the Treasury: Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Program

The Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program) works to address the lack of access to capital that many small businesses or critical community projects face. It also works to provide unbanked or underserved Americans with affordable financial products and services. The CDFI Program invests federal resources, which are matched with private funding, in CDFIs working to serve low-income and under-served people and communities. CDFIs are financial institutions that specialize in serving individuals and communities that are under-served by traditional financial institutions. The CDFI Program offers both Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance awards to CDFIs. These competitive awards support and enhance the ability of these organizations to meet the needs of the communities they serve:

• Financial Assistance awards are made in the form of loans, grants, equity investments, deposits, and credit union shares, which CDFIs are required to match dollar-for-dollar with non-federal funds. This requirement enables CDFIs to multiply the impact of federal investment to meet the demand for affordable financial products in economically distressed communities.
• Technical Assistance grants are offered to CDFIs and Certifiable CDFIs (see eligibility below) to build their organizational capacity.

Both Financial and Technical Assistance awards empower CDFIs to grow, achieve organizational sustainability, and contribute to the revitalization of the communities they serve.

Amount: Varies by type of award:

• Financial Assistance Awards: Up to $2,000,000.
• Technical Assistance Awards: Up to $125,000.

Eligibility: Certified or Certifiable CDFIs. Certifiable CDFIs are entities that submit a Certification Application to the CDFI Fund by the applicable deadline, but are not yet officially certified at the time of Financial Assistance application submission.

Link: https://www.cdfifund.gov/programs-training/Programs/cdfi-program/Pages/default.aspx

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