CDFI Program: Certification, Assistance Types, and How to Apply

Applying to the CDFI Program is a two-track process run by the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund inside the U.S. Department of the Treasury: your organization must be a certified CDFI (or on a documented path to certification), and it must submit a full application package through the CDFI Fund’s Awards Management Information System along with a Standard Form 424 filed separately through Grants.gov. Awards come as grants, loans, equity investments, deposits, or credit union shares, capped by statute at $5 million per institution over any three-year period.¹ Roughly 1,426 institutions held active CDFI certification at the end of fiscal year 2024.²

Who Can Apply

Certification is the gate. Certified CDFIs may apply for Financial Assistance; both certified CDFIs and institutions working toward certification may apply for Technical Assistance. Four kinds of institutions make up almost all certified CDFIs:

Community development banks, which are for-profit, FDIC-insured depositories regulated by some combination of the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, the OCC, and state banking agencies.
Community development credit unions, which are member-owned nonprofits regulated by the National Credit Union Administration. Federally insured low-income credit unions can use a streamlined NCUA pre-screening path into CDFI certification.³
Community development loan funds, generally nonprofits that lend to small businesses, affordable housing developers, and community facilities.
Community development venture capital funds, which make equity and equity-like investments in businesses in distressed areas.

Federal, state, and local government agencies cannot be certified, though tribal governments are exempt from that restriction. Individuals cannot be certified.⁴

What Certification Requires

The CDFI Fund’s certification application tests seven criteria:⁴

Legal entity status at the time of application.
A primary mission of community development, not a side activity.
Financing entity status, meaning the predominant business activity is providing financial products or services in arm’s-length transactions.⁵
A qualifying target market. At least 60 percent of both the number and dollar volume of lending must serve one or more approved Investment Areas or Targeted Populations, which include low-income individuals and specific underserved groups such as African Americans, Hispanic communities, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and persons with disabilities.⁶
Development services (technical assistance or financial counseling) alongside financing.
Accountability to the target market through a governing or advisory board.
Non-government status (with the tribal exception noted above).

The Revised Certification Application

On December 7, 2023, the CDFI Fund released a substantially overhauled certification application, the first major revision in over 25 years.⁷ It adds clearer responsible-lending standards, collects demographic data on board members and executives, and treats regulated and unregulated business models differently. All currently certified CDFIs must eventually reapply under the new application, and missing an assigned reapplication deadline results in loss of certification with no grace period.⁸

Every applicant and certified CDFI now submits a Transaction Level Report covering loans and investments originated in the most recently completed fiscal year. New applicants submit an abbreviated version before filing the certification application. Certified CDFIs with an active assistance agreement submit the full-length TLR; those without one submit the abbreviated version.⁸

What You Can Apply For

The CDFI Program offers two award types, and they answer different needs.

Financial Assistance

Financial Assistance capitalizes lending. Awards come as grants, loans, equity investments, deposits, or credit union shares depending on the recipient’s structure.⁹ Institutions use the money for loan loss reserves, capital, or expanded lending volume.

Statutory limits apply. Total assistance is capped at $5 million per institution (including subsidiaries and affiliates) over any three-year period. A CDFI that sets up a new subsidiary to serve an investment area outside of any state or metro area it currently covers can receive up to an additional $3.75 million in that same window.¹ When the Fund takes equity, it cannot own more than 50 percent of the institution, cannot control operations, and holds only transferable, nonvoting shares.

Every Financial Assistance dollar must be matched at least one-to-one with non-federal funds, comparable in form and value to the federal award. The Fund will not disburse assistance until firm commitments for the full match are in place.¹ Match can come from private foundations, state or local governments, or the institution’s own retained earnings; the CDFI Fund publishes separate methodologies for calculating retained earnings as match.¹⁰

A narrow safety valve exists. The Fund can cut the match in half, or accept an alternative form of match, for institutions with total assets under $100,000 that serve rural or nonmetropolitan areas and request no more than $25,000. No more than 25 percent of all funds disbursed in a fiscal year may use these reduced-match provisions.¹

Technical Assistance

Technical Assistance builds internal capacity rather than the loan book. For the FY 2025 round, TA grants were available up to $150,000.¹¹ TA grants require no match.¹ Typical uses: staff training, hiring, consulting, technology upgrades. Both certified CDFIs and entities on a documented path to certification can apply.

Steps to Apply

Register on SAM.gov

Every applicant needs an active registration on SAM.gov, which generates the Unique Entity Identifier required for all federal grant recipients. The registration must be renewed every 365 days.¹² Organizations applying for CDFI certification must complete a full SAM.gov registration, not just obtain a UEI.¹³

File the SF-424 Through Grants.gov and the Full Application Through AMIS

The CDFI Program uses two separate portals with two separate deadlines. Applicants submit the Standard Form 424 (the federal grant cover sheet) through Grants.gov, and the full application through the CDFI Fund’s Awards Management Information System.¹⁴ The FY 2025 round, for example, required the Grants.gov form by February 18, 2025, and the AMIS application by March 21, 2025. Miss either deadline and the application generally waits for the next round.

Build the Application Contents

The application must include a strategic plan with at least a five-year business plan showing the institution can stay viable without ongoing federal support. It also requires an analysis of the target market’s needs, a coordination plan with other public and private programs, and a detailed description of matching fund sources.¹⁵ Institutions that previously received CDFI Fund assistance must show they substantially met their earlier performance goals and are expanding into new areas, populations, or products.

Review and Award

The Fund announces each funding round through a Notice of Funds Availability published in the Federal Register, which sets all relevant deadlines. After the deadline, federal staff evaluate each application on financial viability and projected community impact. Review takes several months. Successful applicants receive notification through AMIS and then execute a formal Assistance Agreement before any funds are disbursed.

After You Win an Award

An award triggers reporting obligations that run through the entire period of performance in the Assistance Agreement.

Recipients file annual reports covering both financial condition and performance. Performance goals are negotiated with the CDFI Fund based on the institution’s business plan and can address financial soundness, internal controls, and specific lending or investment targets.¹⁶ Missing a report or failing to notify the Fund of a material event can put the institution in noncompliance with its Assistance Agreement.¹⁷

Certification carries its own separate reporting track. Every certified CDFI must file an Annual Certification and Data Collection Report to keep its status. CDFIs certified under the revised application have 180 days after fiscal year end to submit; those not yet recertified have 90 days. Failure to file can end the certification.¹⁸

Award recipients with an active Assistance Agreement also file the full-length Transaction Level Report through AMIS, capturing every loan and investment originated or purchased during the fiscal year. Institutions with multiple financial assistance awards file only one TLR per fiscal year.¹⁹

Watch the Deadlines and the Funding Outlook

Timelines have been unstable. The FY 2025 CDFI Program application saw multiple deadline extensions, with a second amendment pushing the deadline for qualified Financial Assistance applicants as late as March 2026.¹⁴ Confirm the current Notice of Funds Availability on the CDFI Fund’s website before committing serious time.

Funding itself is not guaranteed. The President’s FY 2026 budget request proposed eliminating the CDFI Core Program, the Bank Enterprise Award Program, the Native American CDFI Assistance Program, and several other Fund initiatives, for combined proposed cuts of roughly $289 million against an FY 2025 enacted budget of $324 million.²⁰ Congressional appropriators decide whether those cuts take effect, and as of early 2026 the outcome remains unclear.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 4707 – Assistance Provided by Fund
2
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. SNAP STAT: A View of the Certified CDFI Universe
3
National Credit Union Administration. First CDFI Certification Round Now Open
4
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. CDFI Certification
5
eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1805 – Community Development Financial Institutions Program
6
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Pre-Approved Target Market Assessment Methodologies
7
U.S. Department of the Treasury. U.S. Treasury Department Updates Certification Application for Community Development Financial Institutions to Promote Responsible Lending to Financially Underserved Communities
8
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. CDFI Certification – Apply Step
9
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. CDFI Program
10
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. FY 2025 CDFI Program and NACA Program Matching Funds Guidance
11
Grants.gov. Fiscal Year 2025 CDFI Program
12
System for Award Management. Entity Registration
13
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Does an Applicant Need to Fully Register With SAM.gov to Apply for CDFI Certification
14
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. CDFI Program – Apply Step
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 12 USC 4704 – Applications for Assistance
16
eCFR. 12 CFR 1805.801 – Assistance Agreement, Sanctions
17
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. FY 2024 CDFI Program and NACA Program TA Assistance Agreement Template
18
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. CDFI Certification – Reporting Step
19
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Abbreviated Transaction Level Report Data Point Collection Guide
20
U.S. Department of the Treasury. CDFI Fund FY 2026 Congressional Justification