With this second iteration of the Community Finance Innovation Fund, the Citi Foundation will support a new cohort of Community Development Financial Institution innovators.
Donor Name: Citi Foundation
State: Selected States
County: Selected Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/05/2024
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
The Citi Foundation is committing an additional $25 million to support a new cohort of nonprofit community finance innovators working to advance financial inclusion and financial health in low-income communities across the U.S.
Grant Period
Proposed project ideas should start no sooner than June 1, 2025, and end no later than May 30, 2028.
Eligibility Criteria
- Organizations must be tax-exempt public charities as per Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Please note that projects that require the use of fiscal sponsorship are not eligible for this funding opportunity.
- Organizations must be able to submit externally audited financial statements. If your organization’s idea advances to the application stage, you will be required to submit audited financial statements covering some part of calendar year 2023 or a subsequent year.
- Organizations must be able to demonstrate that their mission and strategic priorities have a specific focus on serving low-income communities.
- Project ideas must impact one or more of the Citi Foundation’s target geographies.
Selection Priorities
- Organizations should be able to demonstrate a successful track record of advancing financial health as a CDFI or in conjunction with CDFIs.
- Organizations should be able to define the financial health challenge that their project idea seeks to address and the anticipated impact on individuals and/or broader field of community finance using reliable data.
- Organizations should be able to demonstrate that their project idea offers an innovative solution in one of the following three categories:
- Human Capital and Talent Development, such as efforts to advance the talent pipeline and career advancement possibilities within the fields of financial health and community finance.
- Products and Services, such as the development of new products or services, or intentional efforts to extend the delivery of financial services, products and practices to low-income communities to advance financial health.
- Technology and Operational Efficiencies, such as efforts to improve CDFI performance and impact through the use of technology, data collection and impact analysis and operational advancements to promote greater financial inclusion and/or financial health.
- Organizations should be able to detail a plan for project feasibility, in terms of the efficacy of the project idea, implementation partnerships (if applicable), planned funding, timeframe and expected outcomes.
- Organizations should be able to propose a viable methodology to measure impact and demonstrate the capacity to collect, analyze and share data, results and learnings.
For more information, visit Citi Foundation.
