CDFI Fund: Too many grant requests, too little money
CDFI Fund officials say they will not be able to fulfill all requests
Although FY24 funding levels have not yet been set, certified Community Development Financial Institutions have submitted grant requests that likely will far exceed the amount Congress is expected to provide for the program, Treasury Department officials said Friday.
In total, 948 organizations have requested about $1.55 billion in awards. That is three times the amount of money expected to be available for grants.
“This has been another record-breaking round of the CDFI Program with an overall increase of 42% in Financial Assistance (FA) applications and an 18% increase in Technical Assistance applications,” CDFI Fund Director Pravina Raghavan said. “This historic level of demand through this combined round underscores the continuing critical need for capital and credit in economically distressed and underserved communities across the nation.”
Treasury Department officials recently overhauled the CDFI application and certification process. As a result, the agencies have not yet awarded grants using funds appropriated in FY23. They expect to combine FY23 funds with the FY24 funds to award grants. While the FY24 funding level has not been set, the program received $324 million in FY23.
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