Update December 7, 2022: View the pre-application webinar recording and presentation here.
Interested in applying for a Capital Magnet Fund Award? You may find the following information helpful in getting started. The CDFI Fund is tentatively planning to open the fiscal year (FY) 2023 application round in early 2023.
If you are new to the Capital Magnet Fund or simply need a refresher, the Capital Magnet Fund team will hold a pre-application webinar for potential applicants on December 5, 2022. The webinar will provide an overview of the Capital Magnet Fund program and explain how applicants can prep for the round in advance by setting up the essential System for Award Management (SAM), Grants.gov, and Awards Management Information System (AMIS) accounts. View how to access the webinar and additional useful information below.
Pre-Application Webinar
The Capital Magnet Fund Pre-Application Webinar will take place on Zoom on Monday, December 5, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Please register in advance for this meeting:
https://www.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsf-6qrTwsG1ayUvasrMknoi8hU0NPjao
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
First Steps to “Get Ready to Apply”
The below information has been previously released. As always, the CDFI Fund encourages you to thoroughly review the information provided on SAM.gov and Grants.gov in advance, as the CDFI Fund is not responsible for maintaining those systems and processes may change.
To successfully submit a Capital Magnet Fund funding application, your organization will need to have account access for several different federal government websites. You can act now to speed things up for your organization when the application period opens.
Completing the following will ensure that you will be able to access required forms and information in SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and AMIS. Please note that while the CDFI Fund has done its best to compile useful links to help you, the CDFI Fund is not responsible for maintaining links or the accuracy of the information on other organizations' websites.
Step 1: Create or Update Your SAM.gov Account
SAM.gov is an official website of the U.S. government that collects, validates, stores, and disseminates business information about the federal government's trading partners in support of the contract awards, grants, and electronic payment processes. You must have an active registration in SAM.gov to do business with the federal government.
Registration in SAM.gov is required as part of the Grants.gov registration process and for all applications submitted for the Capital Magnet Fund.
Applicants that have previously registered with SAM.gov must verify their accounts are current and active, as they need to be renewed annually. Even if your organization has registered with SAM.gov previously, you should not assume that your account is still active. Also, the process to reactivate your SAM.gov account may take longer than you anticipate. If your SAM.gov account is not active, you will be unable to submit the Grants.gov portion of your application. Additionally, if your organization is selected to receive a Capital Magnet Fund Award, the funds from your Award will be paid to the bank account you have on file with SAM.gov. Therefore, it is important to have accurate bank information in the system.
- SAM.gov requires the public to have a Login.gov account to use SAM.gov. Here's additional information about how to use Login.gov to access SAM.gov.
- Here’s a useful link on how to register a new entity with SAM.gov. Please note that as of April 4, 2022, the U.S. federal government no longer requires organizations to obtain a DUNS Number to register in SAM.gov. Applicants can complete the registration using a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI).
- This process may take three weeks or longer for both new applicants and applicants that need to re-activate an existing SAM.gov account. Applicants are encouraged to begin this process as early as possible to ensure they do not miss time sensitive deadlines that can impact an organization’s eligibility to apply for a Capital Magnet Fund Award in the upcoming funding round.
Step 2: Obtain Your UEI and EIN Numbers
All entities wishing to do business with the federal government must have a UEI. Each application submission for a federal award must include a UEI. Applicants without a UEI will not be able to register in Grants.gov, nor submit a Standard Form (SF)-424 Mandatory in the Grants.gov system. Further, the UEI in your SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and AMIS accounts must all match and must be the correct UEI for the organization submitting a Capital Magnet Fund application.
- If you are registered in SAM.gov, you have already been assigned a UEI. It is viewable on your entity registration record. Learn more about how to find your organization’s UEI in SAM.gov here.
Applicants must also have an Employer Identification Number (EIN) to register in SAM.gov, which is a prerequisite to submit a SF-424 Mandatory via Grants.gov. Applicants that do not have an EIN number must apply to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to obtain the number. Further, the EIN number in your SAM.gov and AMIS accounts must match and must be the correct EIN number of the applicant.
- Please allow sufficient time to obtain your organization's EIN.
- To obtain an EIN, please visit the IRS.gov page here.
Step 3: Create or Update Your Grants.gov Account
Applicants must have a Grants.gov account and submit the appropriate SF-424 Mandatory by the deadline listed in the applicable program Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) published in the Federal Register.
The appropriate SF-424 Mandatory must be completed and submitted electronically via Grants.gov before the application materials are due in your AMIS account. You will not be able to submit the SF-424 to the CDFI Fund directly. If you upload the SF-424 Mandatory to your AMIS account, it will not be reviewed. An SF-424 Mandatory must be submitted separately for each program applied to on an annual basis, in accordance with each program's NOFA.
- Please allow sufficient time to register for a Grants.gov account. This step may take one week or more.
- Here's a useful link on how to register for a Grants.gov account
Step 4: Create or Update Your AMIS Account
Make sure your AMIS account is up-to-date: verify that the contacts for your organization are current and assign them the proper permissions. Only a user designated as an “Authorized Representative” in AMIS can sign the Capital Magnet Fund application. Make sure that the person signing the application as the "Authorized Representative" has authority to sign legal documents on behalf of your organization. Consultants working on behalf of your organization cannot be designated as authorized representatives. Be sure to include e-mail addresses and phone numbers for each contact. Also, make sure that your organization's mailing address is correct and up-to-date.
In addition, your organization must have EIN/Tax ID and UEI numbers recorded in AMIS in order to submit your application when the applicable funding round is opened. These numbers should reflect those recorded in the SF-424 Mandatory.
- Please allow 1-2 business days to create or update an AMIS account.
- Learn how to establish an AMIS account here.
Please note:
*Applicants are advised that the stated durations are estimates only and represent minimum timeframes. Actual timeframes may take longer. We encourage you to begin, and end, early!
