Apply NOW for COVID-19 Stimulus Funds: CDFI Rapid Response Program

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 CDFI Rapid Response Program (CDFI RRP) today. The program will provide $1.25 billion, authorized by the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 (P.L. 116-260), to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to help their communities respond to the economic hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CDFI Fund is opening the program for applications today in anticipation of the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) publication in the Federal Register on February 26, 2021.

Through the CDFI Rapid Response Program, the CDFI Fund will provide awards to Certified CDFIs to support, prepare for, and respond to the economic impact of the coronavirus. All awards provided through this NOFA are subject to funding availability. CDFI Rapid Response Program grant funds may be expended for eligible activities such as financial products, financial services, loan loss reserves, development services, capital reserves, and certain operational activities as defined by the NOFA.

The CDFI Fund is committed to awarding these funds as soon as possible. As a result, the application round for this program will only be open for one month. All applications must be submitted to the CDFI Fund by March 25, 2021. Review the NOFA for the program for more details.

Please note that this NOFA refers to the CDFI Rapid Response Program. The FY 2021 funding rounds for the Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program) and Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program) are also currently open and accepting applications. More information about how to apply to those programs is available on the CDFI Fund’s website.

Please see below for additional details on how to apply to the CDFI Rapid Response Program.

Eligibility

Only Certified CDFIs who have received Certification from the CDFI Fund as of February 26, 2021, the day the NOFA will be published in the Federal Register, are eligible to apply for CDFI Rapid Response Program funds.

Please note that uncertified organizations may still be eligible to apply for a FY 2021 CDFI Program or NACA Program Technical Assistance award instead; please review the requirements for those program applications to learn more.

Application Materials

Reference copies of the CDFI RRP NOFA and all application materials can be found on the CDFI Rapid Response Program page on the CDFI Fund’s 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 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 the program.

Timeline

• Applicants must 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 Rapid Response Program Grants.gov Funding Number: CDFI-2021-RRP

  Please note that the Grants.gov SF-424 submission deadline for CDFI RRP, March 22, 2021, is the same as the SF-424 submission deadline for the FY 2021 CDFI Program and NACA Program application rounds. Organizations applying for funds under multiple programs must submit an SF-424 for each program by the deadline. Applicants should carefully review the NOFA for each program as well as the detailed application information on the CDFI Fund’s website to learn more.

• The complete CDFI Rapid Response Program funding application must be submitted electronically through AMIS before 11:59 p.m. ET on March 25, 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 CDFI Rapid Response application round after 5:00 p.m. ET on March 23, 2021.  Technical support for AMIS will not be available after 5:00 p.m. ET on March 25, 2021.

Please see the NOFA for more information on submitting the CDFI Rapid Response Program application.

Learn About Applying to the CDFI Rapid Response Program

The CDFI Fund is conducting two live webinars to inform applicants about the FY 2021 CDFI Rapid Response Program application.  Please view the CDFI Program Rapid Response Program webpage for the dates, times, and access information for each webinar.  Advance registration is not required to participate in the webinars.

The CDFI Fund also held a pre-application webinar about the CDFI Rapid Response Program on February 18, 2021. The recording and presentation from that webinar is also available on the CDFI Fund’s website.

Questions

The CDFI Fund will be answering questions about the FY 2021 CDFI RRP application until 5:00 p.m. ET on March 23, 2021.  Contact the CDFI Fund’s Help Desk by submitting a Service Request through your AMIS account; by e-mail to cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov; or by phone to (202) 653-0421 (please note this is not a toll free number).

To learn more about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please visit www.cdfifund.gov.