Community Development Financial Institution Consulting
Baker Tilly’s experienced Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) consulting team provides CDFI program application and business management and strategy services.
Community Development Financial Institution Consulting
As an existing or aspiring Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), you play an important role in generating economic growth and opportunity in some of the most distressed communities in the United States. Similar to your mission, Baker Tilly cares about community sustainability and supports banks, credit unions, loan funds and venture capital providers looking to make a positive impact where they live, work and play through CDFI consulting services.
Baker Tilly has over 20 years of experience in the CDFI industry and our model for delivery services revolves around providing the unique and specialized services that you need and helping you accomplish your immediate and long-term goals. This suite of services we offer is unparalleled in the industry in terms of the breadth of solutions provided to CDFIs by a professional services firm.
CDFI solutions to meet your needs
At Baker Tilly, we are structured around industry-specialized practice groups, allowing us to provide focused training and continuing education to our team. Our understanding of your industry and mission, paired with targeted experience working with CDFI, Community Development Entity (CDE) and other community development clients, will not only help you thrive now, but as you evolve over time.
Program services
- Certification assessments, plans and application formation
- CDFI and Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP) compliance
Funding applications, including:
- Financial Assistance/Technical Assistance and Native Initiatives
- Healthy Foods Financing Initiative
- Bank Enterprise Award
- Small Dollar Loan Program
- Capital Magnet Fund (CMF)
- New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC)
- Other federal and nonfederal applications for CDFIs
These services include:
- Impact studies
- Strategic planning services
- Market analyses
- Surveys
Our Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund advisory team can assist you with:
- Design: structuring your program and workforce for success
- Deploy: ramping up your program and launch to the market
- Operate: monitoring and reporting on your program and community impact
Benefits of CDFI certification
By becoming CDFI-certified, your organization will be able to:
- Access grant capital. The CDFI Fund has multiple funding programs geared to providing financing capital and operational support to CDFIs.
- Participate in federal recovery programs. In 2021, the federal government recognized the significance of CDFIs and their connection and ability to quickly deploy funds to low-income communities. Over $10 billion in funding was made available to CDFIs through the CDFI Fund’s Rapid Response and Equitable Recovery Programs and Treasury’s Emergency Capital Investment Program.
- Increase industry impact. As CDFIs continue to gain visibility, additional federal agencies, foundations and private sector corporations are recognizing CDFI certification and developing initiatives focused on certified CDFIs. For example, in 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency announced $27 billion in programmatic awards through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund which has a focus on CDFIs structuring capital for clean energy projects in low-income or disadvantaged communities.
- Be recognized by regulators. The new Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rule states the mission of CDFIs “is highly aligned with CRA’s core purpose of encouraging banks to meet the credit needs of their entire community, including low- and moderate-income populations.”
Whitepaper
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: Clean Communities Investment Accelerator
This whitepaper details the capabilities, systems and tools needed to meet the challenges of managing and administering the Clean Communities Investment Accelerator (CCIA) program for community lenders.
Proven experience to help you win
It all started years ago when Baker Tilly’s real estate advisory professionals quickly recognized the NMTC program’s groundbreaking nature when it was established in 2000, and in response, developed a practice to help our clients utilize the program’s resources and facilitate investment in underserved communities.
Today, we are one the nation’s foremost leaders in NMTCs, offering services to a select number of clients to provide a premium level of exclusive solutions. Even with this limited market subset, Baker Tilly, through its affiliate Baker Tilly Capital, has structured and closed more than $12 billion of qualified equity investments with over 100 allocatees over the program’s history.
Building on our NMTC experience, Baker Tilly expanded the focus of our practice to include CDFI consulting and related services. We have been active in the CMF program since 2016 and continue to leverage our extensive housing expertise, as well as our tried and tested application development approach with the NMTC and low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) programs, to secure $345 million in CMF awards for CDFI and housing clients and assist with award compliance. Our team has also assisted organizations with preparing and applying for CDFI certification as well as Financial Assistance, Small Dollar Loan Program and Healthy Foods Financing funding applications.
This experience coupled with our deep understanding of the mission and operations of CDFIs allows Baker Tilly to be your one stop shop for all of your CDFI needs. Whether you are seeking certification, business management and strategy services or a team of outsourced professionals to help you meet your goals, objectives and aspirations, we have you covered.
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Our professionals
Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and Baker Tilly US, LLP, trading as Baker Tilly, are members of the global network of Baker Tilly International Ltd., the members of which are separate and independent legal entities. Baker Tilly US, LLP is a licensed CPA firm that provides assurance services to its clients. Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP and its subsidiary entities provide tax and consulting services to their clients and are not licensed CPA firms. Securities, when offered and transaction advisory services are offered through Baker Tilly Capital, LLC, a registered broker-dealer, Member FINRA and SIPC. Baker Tilly Capital, LLC is controlled by Baker Tilly Advisory Group, LP.