CDFI Program (FA + TA Awards)
Funds Certified Community Development Financial Institutions to expand lending, investing, and capacity building in underserved United States communities.
⚠This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.
The CDFI Program is administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's CDFI Fund and awards Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance to certified community development financial institutions. Financial Assistance awards are flexible instruments — loans, grants, equity investments, deposits, or credit union shares — that certified CDFIs use to expand lending and investment activity in low-income and underserved communities. Technical Assistance grants build organizational capacity. A supplemental Healthy Food Financing Initiative track provides additional FA awards to CDFIs expanding healthy food access in underserved markets. The program runs as a recurring annual competitive cycle with a combined Notice of Funds Availability covering both the CDFI Program and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program.
For FY2025, the application window opened January 16, 2025 and closed March 21, 2025, with awards announced in Fall 2025. Financial Assistance awards require a dollar-for-dollar non-federal match: applicants must demonstrate committed matching capital before award. FA eligibility is limited to Certified CDFIs; Technical Assistance eligibility also covers Emerging CDFIs that can demonstrate a credible path to full certification within three years. According to the CDFI Fund, the program has financed more than 109,000 businesses and funded more than 45,000 affordable housing units, with originations exceeding $24 billion in a recent reporting cycle. Award minimums and maximums are not publicly published; they are specified within each annual NOFA PDF.
The FY2026 NOFA had not been announced as of late May 2026. Organizations preparing to apply should obtain CDFI certification in advance through a separate process and should monitor cdfifund.gov for the FY2026 NOFA posting, which historically opens in January. Strong applications articulate the geographic or demographic target market served, demonstrate the dollar-for-dollar matching commitment, and quantify projected lending or investment impact in underserved communities.
Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance awards to Certified and Emerging CDFIs that expand lending, investment, and capacity for community development finance in underserved communities.
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