CDFI Fund Opens FY 2024 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) 2024 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 FY 2024 round of the CDFI Program and NACA Program will consist of funding provided under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Pub. L. 117-328), as well as forthcoming FY 2024 appropriations. Pending final Congressional appropriations, the CDFI Fund plans to award approximately $462 million in FY 2024 awards to be divided as follows:

• $302.8 million in CDFI Program Financial Assistance (FA) and Technical Assistance (TA) awards. 
• $43.7 million in NACA Program FA and TA awards.
• $47.5 million in Persistent Poverty County-Financial Assistance (PPC-FA) awards, which includes $41.2 million in PPC-FA awards for CDFI Program applicants and $6.3 million in PPC-FA awards for NACA Program applicants.
• $48 million for Healthy Food Financing Initiative-Financial Assistance (HFFI-FA) awards, which both CDFI Program and NACA Program applicants can apply for. 
• $20 million for Disability Funds-Financial Assistance (DF-FA) awards, which both CDFI Program and NACA Program applicants can apply for. 
   

Please note that, as of the date of these NOFAs, the CDFI Fund is operating under a continuing funding resolution as enacted by the Further Continuing Appropriations and Other Extensions Act, 2024 and Other Extensions Act (Pub. L. 118-22). The CDFI Fund reserves the right to contact applicants to seek additional information in the event that final FY 2024 appropriations for the CDFI Program or NACA Program change any of the requirements of the FY 2024 Notices of Funds Availability (NOFAs).

For the FY 2024 CDFI Program and NACA Program Application round the CDFI Fund has implemented a one-time process change allowing organizations with pending CDFI Certification Applications to apply for an FY 2024 FA award. The CDFI Fund usually requires FA Applicants to be Certified CDFIs as of the date the NOFAs are published in the Federal Register. This shift allows organizations seeking CDFI Certification to apply for an FA award while they also apply for CDFI Certification, utilizing the new CDFI Certification Application. Additional information and deadlines related to this process change is included in the FY 2024 NOFAs.

A detailed overview of the CDFI Program, the NACA Program, and the types of awards available can be found in the FY 2024 NOFAs for those programs. To learn more, please view the CDFI Program NOFA and NACA Program NOFA. 

Please read on to learn more about the FY 2024 CDFI Program and NACA Program application round. 

FY 2024 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. 

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. 

New Title VI Worksheet Requirement! 

All Applicants must be compliant with federal civil rights requirements in order to be eligible to receive federal financial assistance awards from the CDFI Fund. New for this round of the program, the CDFI Fund is now requiring all grant program applicants complete a Title VI Compliance Worksheet once annually with their applications. This requirement applies to applicants, as well as their prospective subrecipients that are not direct beneficiaries of federal financial assistance (e.g., Depository Institutions Holding Company and their Subsidiary Depository Institutions). Completion of the Worksheet is required for the Bank Enterprise Award Program, Capital Magnet Fund, CDFI Program, NACA Program, and the Small Dollar Loan Program. The Title VI Worksheet is not required for the New Markets Tax Credit Program or the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program.

The CDFI Fund Title VI Compliance Worksheet Training Manual can be accessed here CDFI Fund Title VI Training Manual. The deadline to submit the Title VI Compliance Worksheet in AMIS is February 15, 2024.

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) by January 16, 2024, or they will be ineligible to apply for funding. All applicants are also required to have the correct EIN and DUNS numbers attached to the relevant SAM.gov and AMIS accounts by January 16, 2024. As soon as possible, organizations should either create these accounts if they don’t exist, or confirm that their existing accounts are current, in order to avoid application submission problems. Detailed information is available in the FY 2024 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 in its Impact Blog on November 1, 2023. 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 January 16, 2024. 
  • CDFI Program Grant.gov Funding Number: CDFI-2024-FATA
  • NACA Program Grants.gov Funding Number: CDFI-2024-NACA
• Complete CDFI Program and NACA Program funding applications, including any supplemental applications and the Title VI Compliance Worksheet, must be submitted electronically through AMIS before 11:59 p.m. ET on February 15, 2024. 
• CDFI Certification Applications for FA Applicants that are currently not Certified as CDFIs must be submitted electronically through AMIS before 11:59 p.m. ET on March 5, 2024. 
• The CDFI Fund strongly encourages applicants to submit materials 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 2024 application round after 5:00 p.m. ET on February 13, 2024. Technical support for AMIS will not be available after 5:00 p.m. ET on February 15, 2024.

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 will conduct three live webinars to inform applicants about the FY 2024 CDFI Program and NACA Program applications and one additional webinar for Applicants to each (CDFI and NACA) Program to answer applicant questions. Applicants are highly encouraged to attend these webinars to understand recent updates to the FA and TA Applications and evaluation process. 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 emailing cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov or by calling (202) 653-0421 (option 1) (please note this is not a toll-free number).