CDFI Program Awards: Insights into Funding Decisions, Celebrating Success
On September 10, 2015 the CDFI Fund announced awards to 195 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) totaling $202 million in grants and loans through the latest rounds of the Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program), the Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program) and the Healthy Foods Financing Initiative ( HFFI).
Those receiving assistance from FUND Consulting performed well overall in this funding round, with 30 organizations receiving $38,368,334 in awards.
The FUND Consulting team conducted an analysis of both awardees and those who did not receive funding in order to gain insight on any key trends:
Common Characteristics of Awardees in the FUND Consulting Cohort:
- Awardees met either all MPS or fell short in only one MPS.
- CORE awardees had an historic and projected deployment ratio of over 70%.
- All awardees had conducted a market study or created a formal planning document within the past two years.
Key Trends in Unfunded Applications:
- Overall, unfunded applications were more likely to score lowest in the Policies and Partnerships sections.
- Scoring in the highest quintiles did not always result in funding.
- Many perennial awardees did not get funded in this round.
According to the award announcements, the FY2016 round is slated to open in early 2016.