CDFI Fund Update: Sources Sought Notice for the CDFI Rapid Response Program, CDFI Equitable Recovery Program and Emergency Capital Investment Program

On June 15, 2023, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) released a Sources Sought Notice for a multi-year evaluation of the CDFI Fund’s CDFI Rapid Response Program (CDFI RRP), CDFI Equitable Recovery Program (CDFI ERP), and the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s (Treasury) Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP). Industry and subject-matter experts are encouraged to review the Sources Sought Notice, which outlines the scope of this procurement.

The CDFI Fund will require a contractor to perform a multi-year evaluation of the CDFI RRP, CDFI ERP and ECIP programs, and their impact on financially underserved communities, including: (1) Award Recipients/Participants; (2) borrowers, and other individuals or institutions that utilize financial products and services and/or development services offered by the Award Recipients/Participants; (3) beneficiaries of the projects and businesses financed by Award Recipients/Participants, as employees of businesses, residents of housing or users of community-real estate; (4) geographic communities where Award Recipients/Participants focus their products and services; and (5) the overall field of mission-driven financial institutions that includes community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs). 

This evaluation will require: project management; research and evaluation design and execution; data base management; statistical analysis; and writing of reports. It may also involve survey design and implementation, gathering and utilizing publicly available data, focus groups and/or interviews, qualitative analysis and longitudinal analysis. The CDFI Fund and Treasury see the potential for this evaluation to inform industry-wide performance benchmarks for Award Recipients/Participants. Evaluation results could also inform the development of future programs for CDFIs and MDIs at the CDFI Fund and Treasury.

The CDFI Fund is interested in procuring a contractor to conduct this evaluation. The Sources Sought Notice published on June 15, 2023, requests that interested vendors provide the following in their response:

1. The name, location of your company, contact information, and identify your business size and type (Large Business, Small Business, Disadvantaged Business, 8(a), Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business, HubZone, etc.), and Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number;
2. A brief capabilities statement, which includes a description of the respondent firm’s standard line of business, experience in providing services similar to those outlined in the requirements summary document (Attachment 1), and a list of the three (3) most recent customers/references for which the respondent firm has provided similar services;
3. A White Paper (10 pages or less) outlining the respondent firm’s concepts and strategies for implementing the vision included in the requirements summary document, as well as identifying any gaps within the requirements;
4. Responses to items (4) and (5) in Section 9 of the requirements summary document (Attachment 1).
5. Feedback on the Performance Work Statement;
6. A rough, budgetary estimate (cost estimate), and;
7. Respondent firm’s business size under NAICS 541611, 518210, 541720, 541910, or SIC 8732.

Industry and subject-matter experts are invited to view the Sources Sought Notice on SAM.gov. Responses should be submitted electronically to the following email addresses: Purchasing@fiscal.treasury.gov and cc: Cory.Ohse@fiscal.treasury.gov and Todd.Ashcroft@fiscal.treasury.gov. Respondents should reference “SSN/RFI SS-CDFI-23PROGEVAL ATTN: COhse/Tashcroft” in the subject line of the email. 
Responses are due no later than 12:00 p.m. EDT on July 17, 2023.
To learn more about the CDFI RRP Program, please visit the CDFI Fund’s website at https://www.cdfifund.gov/programs-training/programs/rrp or view the program’s fact sheet.
To learn more about the CDFI ERP Program, please visit the CDFI Fund’s website at https://www.cdfifund.gov/programs-training/programs/erp or view the program’s fact sheet.
To learn more about the ECIP Program please visit Treasury’s website at https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-small-businesses/emergency-capital-investment-program.