CDFI Fund Opens FY 2021 CDFI Program and NACA Program Application Round

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) opened the fiscal year (FY) 2021 funding round for the Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program) and Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program) today. The awards from these programs will support Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) that provide 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 $204.5 million in FY 2021 awards as authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the Act, P.L. 116-260), to be divided as follows:

• $140.2 million in CDFI Program Financial Assistance (FA) and Technical Assistance (TA) awards.
• $14.85 million in NACA Program FA and TA awards.
• $20.45 million in Persistent Poverty County-Financial Assistance (PPC-FA) awards, which includes $18.8 million in PPC-FA awards for CDFI Program applicants and $1.65 million in PPC-FA awards for NACA Program applicants.
• $23 million for Healthy Food Financing Initiative-Financial Assistance (HFFI-FA) awards, which both CDFI Program and NACA Program applicants can apply for.
• $6 million for Disability Funds-Financial Assistance (DF-FA) awards, which both CDFI Program and NACA Program applicants can apply for.

A detailed overview of the CDFI Program, the NACA Program, and the types of awards available can be found in the FY 2021 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for those programs.  To learn more, please view the CDFI Program NOFA and NACA Program NOFA.

Please note that these NOFAs refer to the annual FY 2021 application rounds for the CDFI Program and the NACA Program. More information about how to apply to the CDFI Rapid Response Program, which was also authorized by the Act, will be released soon. As there will be overlap between the application periods for the two programs, the CDFI Fund will provide two weeks more than in previous years to complete the FY 2021 CDFI Program and NACA Program applications. Please refer to the application timeline below for more details. 

Please read on to learn more about the FY 2021 CDFI Program and NACA Program application round.

FY 2021 CDFI Program and NACA Program Application Materials

Reference copies of the NOFAs and all application materials can be found on the CDFI Fund’s website at:

• CDFI Program: www.cdfifund.gov/cdfi, under Step 2: Apply  
• NACA Program: www.cdfifund.gov/native, under Step 2: Apply   

Applicants are strongly encouraged to read and view all application materials, including the NOFA, application guidance, webinars, and presentations.

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.

Required Application Systems

All applicants must be registered and have active accounts in SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and the CDFI Fund’s Awards Management Information System (AMIS) to apply for funding by March 22, 2021, or their application will be considered ineligible. All applicants are also required to have the correct EIN and DUNS numbers attached to the relevant SAM.gov and AMIS accounts by March 22, 2021. As soon as possible, organizations should either create these accounts if they don’t exist, or confirm that their existing accounts are up-to-date, in order to avoid potential application submission problems.  Detailed information is available in the FY 2021 NOFA for each program.

New applicants are encouraged to begin the registration process for each of the systems now, and registration guidance is provided on each website.  The CDFI Fund provided an initial overview of the steps to register in SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and AMIS on its Impact Blog in December 2020.  However, the CDFI Fund does not manage SAM.gov or Grants.gov, and processes for these systems may have changed since then.  Please review each system’s requirements carefully.  

Both new and repeat applicants should allow ample time to complete the entire registration and submission process well in advance of the application deadline. Please see the applicable NOFAs for more information on submitting the CDFI Program and NACA Program applications.

Timeline

• 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 22, 2021.
  • CDFI Program Grant.gov Funding Number: CDFI-2021-FATA
  • NACA Program Grants.gov Funding Number: CDFI-2021-NACA
• Complete CDFI Program and NACA Program funding applications, including any supplemental applications, must be submitted electronically through AMIS before 11:59 p.m. ET on May 3, 2021
• 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 2021 application round after 5:00 p.m. ET on April 29, 2021. Technical support for AMIS will not be available after 5:00 p.m. ET on May 3, 2021.

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 conducting four live webinars to inform applicants about the FY 2021 CDFI Program and NACA Program applications. Two of the webinars will cover an in-depth overview of the applications. The other two webinars will provide a forum to answer applicant questions.  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.

Questions

For more information on the CDFI Program or the NACA Program, please contact the CDFI Fund’s Help Desk by e-mailing cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov or by calling (202) 653-0421 (option 1) (please note this is not a toll free number).