CDFI Fund Opens Inaugural Funding Round of the Capital Magnet Fund

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) released a Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) for its Capital Magnet Fund. This NOFA opens the inaugural application round of the Capital Magnet Fund, under which $80 million will be made available to certified community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and non-profit housing organizations to support the financing of affordable housing and related economic development activities and community service facilities. As stated in the Capital Magnet Fund regulations, awardees are anticipated to leverage the $80 million of Capital Magnet Fund award dollars to support in excess of $800 million in aggregate costs.

"I am pleased to open the first application round of the Capital Magnet Fund," said CDFI Fund Director Donna J. Gambrell. "During this time of economic uncertainty, the Capital Magnet Fund will help to stabilize the housing market, revitalize neighborhoods, and provide a much needed source of capital to finance the development, rehabilitation and purchase of affordable housing for low-income persons."

Capital Magnet Fund Overview

The Capital Magnet Fund was established through the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 and is administered by the CDFI Fund. The Capital Magnet Fund provides competitively awarded grants to certified CDFIs and non-profit organizations having as one of their principal purposes the management or development of affordable housing.

Capital Magnet Fund awards must be used to support affordable housing activities, though awardees may use up to 30 percent of their awards to finance community service facilities and economic development activities. Applicants may apply for up to $12 million (15 percent of the aggregate award pool of $80 million) under this application round.

Capital Magnet Fund dollars can be used for the following:

To provide loan loss reserves;
To capitalize a revolving loan fund;
To capitalize an affordable housing fund;
To capitalize a fund to support economic development activities or community service facilities;
For risk-sharing loans;
For loan guarantees; and
To support operations.

Deadlines and Application Submission Requirements

The Capital Magnet Fund application materials are due to the CDFI Fund by 5:00 pm on Thursday, April 15th. Non-profit housing organizations and organizations certified as CDFIs are eligible to apply. An organization seeking to become certified as a CDFI must submit its application materials to the CDFI Fund by no later than April 1, 2010 in order to be eligible for consideration under the 2010 Capital Magnet Fund application round. An organization already certified as a CDFI must submit a Certification of Material Events form to the CDFI Fund by no later than April 1, 2010.

All applications must be submitted through the organization's "myCDFI Fund" account, a web-based interface through which the CDFI Fund communicates with its applicants and awardees. For those organizations that do not currently have a myCDFI Fund account, instructions to create one can be found at: https://www.cdfifund.gov/myCDFI/Registration/RegisterUser.asp

Application Materials

Click Here for Capital Magnet Fund Application Materials

Learn About Applying to the Capital Magnet Fund Program

Those interested in learning more about this round of the Capital Magnet Fund are encouraged to utilize the following Application Workshop and Presentation:

Capital Magnet Fund Application Workshop

Capital Magnet Fund Application Workshop (Captioned Version)

Capital Magnet Fund Application Workshop PowerPoint Presentation

Capital Magnet Fund Application Q&A

Questions

For more information on the Capital Magnet Fund, please contact the CDFI Fund by e-mailing cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov or by calling (202) 622-6355.

CDFI Fund Background

The CDFI Fund invests in and builds the capacity of community-based, private, for-profit and non-profit financial institutions with a primary mission of community development in economically distressed communities. These institutions - certified by the CDFI Fund as community development financial institutions or CDFIs - are able to respond to gaps in local markets that traditional financial institutions are not adequately serving. CDFIs provide critically needed capital, credit and other financial products in addition to technical assistance to community residents and businesses, service providers, and developers working to meet community needs.

The CDFI Fund's vision is an America in which all people have adequate access to affordable capital, credit and financial services.

For more information about these awards, or about the CDFI Fund and its programs, please visit the Fund's website at: http://www.cdfifund.gov