The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) opened today the fiscal year (FY) 2016 funding round for the Capital Magnet Fund.
Through the Capital Magnet Fund, the CDFI Fund provides competitively awarded grants to CDFIs and qualified non-profit housing organizations. These awards can be used to finance affordable housing activities, as well as related economic development activities (including community service facilities), with the objective of revitalizing low-income communities and underserved rural areas. Funding for the Capital Magnet Fund comes from allocations made by the Government-Sponsored Enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The total amount of funds available for the FY 2016 round will be determined in early 2016. Currently, the CDFI Fund estimates that approximately $80 million will be available for the FY 2016 round.
Capital Magnet Fund awardees are able to utilize funds to create financing tools such as loan loss reserves, revolving loan funds, risk-sharing loans, and loan guarantees. Recipients are required to leverage private and public funds to finance affordable housing and economic development activities that yield a minimum ratio of 10:1.
In order to provide potential applicants with as much time as possible, the CDFI Fund is posting the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and application materials for the Capital Magnet Fund on the CDFI Fund’s website today in advance of the publication of the NOFA in the Federal Register later this week.
Deadlines
- The deadline for submission of the Capital Magnet Fund application materials due through Grants.gov is 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Wednesday, March 16, 2016.
- The deadline for submission of the Capital Magnet Fund application materials due through the CDFI Fund’s Award Management Information System (AMIS) is 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 30, 2016.
- The CDFI Fund will stop taking questions about the application at 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday, March 28, 2016.
- The CDFI Fund will stop providing technical assistance about submitting the application through AMIS at 5:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 30, 2016.
Please see the NOFA for more information on submitting Capital Magnet Fund applications.
Application Materials
The FY 2016 Capital Magnet Fund NOFA, application, application instructions, and related guidance can be found on the CDFI Fund’s website at www.cdfifund.gov/cmf under How to Apply Step 2: Apply.
Application materials will be available online through Grants.gov and AMIS. All applicants must be registered in SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and AMIS to apply for funding. Organizations should confirm that their accounts are up-to-date as soon as possible in order to avoid potential application submission problems. New potential applicants are encouraged to begin the registration process now. Registration guidance for Grants.gov and SAM.gov can be found on the websites for those systems. Guidance on using AMIS (including registration) can be found at https://amis.cdfifund.gov/.
The CDFI Fund will send out an additional notification when the electronic application is available in AMIS for application submission. The CDFI Fund strongly recommends that the instructions and application timelines are reviewed closely by both first-time and repeat applicants and that applicants give themselves adequate time to submit their applications using AMIS.
Learn About Applying to the Capital Magnet Fund
The CDFI Fund will be holding several live webinar sessions to learn more about the FY 2016 Capital Magnet Fund round.
- Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. ET: General Application Webinar
- Tuesday, February 16, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. ET: Webinar for Certified CDFIs
- Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 2:00 p.m. ET: Webinar for Nonprofit Housing Organizations
- Wednesday, February 24, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. ET: General Application Webinar
- Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. ET: AMIS Technical Webinar
- Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 3:00 p.m. ET: AMIS Technical Webinar
Access information for all webinars is available on the CDFI Fund’s website here.
No prior registration is necessary. Requests for reasonable accommodations under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act should be directed to Michael Jones at 202-653-0300 no later than 48 hours before the conference calls begin. Presentation materials will be added to the CDFI Fund’s website after the webinars are held.
Questions
For more information on the Capital Magnet Fund, please contact the CDFI Fund’s Help Desk by e-mailing cmf@cdfi.treas.gov or by calling (202) 653-0421. The CDFI Fund will stop responding to questions about the FY 2016 award round at 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday, March 28, 2016.
To learn more about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please visit www.cdfifund.gov.