The CDFI Fund is a critical source of funding for many CDFIs. The CDFI Fund Financial and Technical Applications (FA and TA) are the applications that allow many CDFIs to continue and grow their work. This is why responding to Treasury’s and the CDFI Fund’s comments on CDFI Program and NACA Program Applications is an opportunity that PRT and our Partners are not going to let pass without sharing our expertise and insights on the strengths of the FA and TA applications while offering recommendations on how to direct awards to the CDFIs with an established positive history of serving rural and persistent poverty regions to ensure capital lands where it is needed most.
In 2020, Rural serving financial institutions received a decreased percentage of capital investment from banks (31%) than their urban counterparts (51%). This makes the CDFI Fund FA and TA awards much more critical to rural-serving CDFIs dedicated to moving capital through persistently poor regions that have faced decades of disinvestment. CDFIs serving persistently poor and rural communities acquired $213m in bank-borrowed funds to translate these percentages into numbers. In contrast, urban and metropolitan-serving CDFIs received $4.6b in bank-borrowed funds in 2020.
This is why CDFI Fund FA/TA awards are more crucial to rural-serving CDFIs and communities.
PRT appreciates the opportunity to share with the CDFI Fund and Treasury and is eager to uplift the strengths of the NACA Program FA and TA applications and looks forward to sharing the experiences of the Partnership in our comment we will submit on May 12. Check out our website’s blog on May 13 for our full comments!