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Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community
Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) opened the fiscal year (FY)
2018 funding round for the Community Development Financial Institutions Program
(CDFI Program) and Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program). The
awards from these programs will support Community Development Financial
Institutions (CDFIs) providing affordable financing and related services to
low-income communities and populations that lack access to credit, capital, and
financial services.
The CDFI Fund plans to award approximately $196.5 million in
FY 2018 in Financial Assistance (FA) and Technical Assistance (TA) awards (subject
to Congressional appropriation) to be divided as follows: $181 million for CDFI
Program awards and $15.5 million in NACA Program awards, including awards for
investments in Persistent Poverty Counties and $22 million for Healthy Food
Financing Initiative Financial Assistance (HFFI-FA) awards. In addition, the
CDFI Fund also plans to award $2.5 million in Disability Financial Assistance
(DF-FA) awards.
As of today’s release, the CDFI Fund is operating under a
continuing funding resolution as enacted by the Extension of Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2018 (P.L. 115-120). The total amount of funds available
for the FY 2018 CDFI Program and NACA Program round is contingent upon passage
of final FY 2018 appropriations legislation. Assistance levels outlined in the
Notices of Funding Availability (NOFAs) for the CDFI Program, including the
Healthy Food Financing Initiative, and the NACA Program reflect FY 2017 funding
levels, but are subject to revision or cancellation based upon enactment of a
final FY 2018 appropriations bill. The CDFI Fund will update applicants when
final budget authority is available for the FY 2018 round.
CDFI Program Overview
Through the CDFI Program, the CDFI Fund invests in and
builds the capacity of CDFIs to serve low-income people and communities lacking
adequate access to affordable financial products and services. The CDFI Fund
invests in certified CDFIs by providing FA awards to applicants that have
demonstrated the financial and managerial capacity to deliver financial products
and services to a low-income target market and to leverage additional resources
effectively. Through TA awards, the CDFI Fund enables certified CDFIs and
emerging entities working toward CDFI certification to build their capacity as
lending institutions. For additional details about eligibility, application
requirements, and available funding under the CDFI Program, please view the
CDFI Program NOFA.
NACA Program Overview
Through the NACA Program, the CDFI Fund encourages the
creation and strengthening of CDFIs that primarily serve Native American,
Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities (Native Communities).
Organizations funded serve a wide range of Native Communities, and reflect a
diversity of institutions in various stages of development – from organizations
in the early planning stages of creating a CDFI, to tribal entities working to
certify an existing lending program, to established CDFIs in need of further
assistance. The CDFI Fund makes both FA and TA awards under the NACA Program.
For additional details about eligibility, application requirements, and
available funding under the NACA Program, please view the NACA Program NOFA.
Healthy Food
Financing Initiative-Financial Assistance Overview
In FY 2018, HFFI-FA will serve as a supplemental funding
opportunity under the CDFI Program and NACA Program for eligible CDFIs and
Native CDFIs that express an interest in expanding their healthy food-focused
financing activities and are selected to receive FA awards under the FY 2018
rounds of the CDFI Program or NACA Program. For additional details about
eligibility, application requirements, and available funding under the HFFI-FA
program, please view the CDFI Program and/or NACA Program NOFAs.
Disability Funds-Financial
Assistance Overview
In FY 2018, DF-FA will serve as a supplemental funding
opportunity under the CDFI Program and NACA Program for eligible CDFIs and
Native CDFIs that express an interest in expanding financing activities and
services for persons with disabilities and are selected to receive FA awards
under the FY 2018 rounds of the CDFI Program or NACA Program.
Applicants must indicate their interest in applying for DF-FA
funding in their CDFI Program and/or NACA Program Financial Assistance
application. Those applicants that successfully submit an FA application and
indicate their interest in DF-FA will receive supplemental instructions
regarding how to apply for DF-FA funding after the close of the FY 2018
application submission period. For additional details about eligibility, application
requirements, and available funding under the DF-FA program, please view the
CDFI Program and/or NACA Program NOFAs.
Application Materials
Reference copies of the NOFAs and all application materials
can be found on the CDFI Fund’s website at:
The CDFI Fund will be adding guidance materials on a rolling
basis to the website. Applicants are strongly encouraged to read and view all
application materials, including the NOFA, application guidance, webinars, and
presentations.
Required Application
Systems
All applicants must be registered in SAM.gov, Grants.gov,
and AMIS to apply for funding by March
2, 2018, or their application will be considered ineligible. Organizations
should either create these accounts if they don’t exist or confirm that their existing
accounts are up-to-date as soon as possible in order to avoid potential application
submission problems.
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SAM.gov: Applicants must have an active System for Awards Management (SAM) account. Each applicant is advised to first make sure its SAM.gov account is active and valid before beginning its preparation of the other application materials in Grants.gov or AMIS. The SAM.gov website is www.SAM.gov.
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Grants.gov: All applicants are required to submit a Standard Form (SF)-424 electronically through Grants.gov before beginning their FY 2018 funding application for the CDFI Program or NACA Program. The SF-424 can be found in Grants.gov under the funding opportunity number for each program.
CDFI Program: CDFI-2018-FATA
NACA Program: CDFI-2018-NACA
Applicants that do not submit an SF-424 electronically through Grants.gov by the stated deadline will not be eligible to submit application materials in AMIS.
Please note: Grants.gov has recently changed the user interface of its website. Both new and repeat applicants should allow extra time to navigate the changes to Grants.gov.
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AMIS:
After submitting the SF-424 through Grants.gov, all applicants must use the CDFI Fund’s Awards Management
Information System (AMIS) to create, complete, and submit the final
application materials for the FY 2018 CDFI Program and NACA Program application
rounds. The FY 2018 application is currently live and available in AMIS. Please
see the NOFAs for more information on submitting the CDFI Program and NACA
Program applications.
New applicants are encouraged to begin the registration
process for each of the systems now and will find registration guidance on each
website. Applicants should allow ample time to complete the entire registration
and submission process well in advance of the application deadline. The CDFI Fund provided an initial overview of
the steps to register in SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and AMIS on its Impact Blog
earlier in January.
Please see the applicable NOFAs for more information on
submitting the CDFI Program and NACA Program applications.
Deadlines
- Applicants must both submit their SF-424 electronically
via Grants.gov and create an AMIS account before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time
(ET) on March 2, 2018.
- Complete CDFI Program and NACA Program
applications must be submitted electronically through AMIS before 11:59 p.m. ET
on April 4, 2018. The FY 2018
application is already available in AMIS as of January 31, 2018.
- The CDFI Fund strongly encourages all materials
to be submitted at least three days before each corresponding deadline for
Grants.gov and AMIS.
- The CDFI Fund will not respond to any applicant
questions about the FY 2018 application round after 5:00 p.m. ET on April 2, 2018.
Please see the applicable NOFAs for more information on
submitting the CDFI Program and NACA Program applications.
Learn About Applying
to the CDFI and NACA Programs
The CDFI Fund is providing the following opportunities to
learn more about the FY 2018 CDFI Program and NACA Program funding round:
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In-Person
Application Workshops: CDFI Fund staff will conduct five in-person FY 2018
CDFI Program and NACA Program Application Workshops in Washington, DC. Registration
for these workshops is now open. Due
to security requirements at the federal facility where the workshops will be
held, anyone wishing to attend the in-person application workshops must register through the online
registration system links provided on the CDFI Fund’s website. Individuals who
do not register before the applicable registration deadlines may not be
admitted. View all information about the workshops, including registration
information, on the Application Materials section of the CDFI
Program and NACA
Program webpages.
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Q&A
Webinars: The
CDFI Fund is conducting six targeted live webinars to provide a forum to answer
applicant questions about the FY 2018 CDFI Program and NACA Program
applications. Please view the Application Materials section of the CDFI
Program and NACA
Program webpages for the dates, times, and access information for each
webinar. Advance registration is not required to participate in the webinars.
Additional Guidance
Materials
In the coming weeks, the CDFI Fund will continue to update
the Application Materials section of the CDFI
Program and NACA Program webpages with additional guidance materials and
presentations. Keep an eye on the CDFI Fund’s website for updates.
Questions
For more information on the CDFI Program, the NACA Program,
the Q&A webinars, or the application workshops, please contact the CDFI
Fund’s Help Desk by e-mailing cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov or by calling (202)
653-0421 (option 1).
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