Through monetary awards and the allocation of tax credits, the CDFI Fund helps promote access to capital and local economic growth in urban and rural low-income communities across the nation.

Through its various programs, the CDFI Fund enables locally based organizations to further goals such as: economic development (job creation, business development, and commercial real estate development); affordable housing (housing development and homeownership); and community development financial services (provision of basic banking services to underserved communities and financial literacy training).

The CDFI Fund accomplishes this through the following programs:

• Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) Program;
• Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Program;
• New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program; and its
• Native Initiatives, includes the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program
• Certification – Community Development Entity (CDE)
• Certification – Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI)

Generally, an organization wishing to utilize the CDFI Fund's programs follows these five steps:

Certification is a designation conferred by the CDFI Fund and is a requirement for accessing funding and tax credits through the CDFI Program and the NMTC Program respectively and for receiving financial assistance under the NACA Program. Certification is not required of applicants to the BEA Program, but is a requirement for certain program benefits.

Applications are accepted annually through each of the CDFI Fund's monetary and tax credit programs. Certification applications (not connected to a funding or tax credit application) are accepted at scheduled intervals throughout the year.

After a competitive review process, the CDFI Fund will announce the applicants that were selected to receive an award or allocation at a press event or by issuing a press release. The selected applicants are notified directly by the CDFI Fund through a Notice of Award or Allocation. The Fund makes this information immediately available to the public through its website.

Successful applicants are then sent a draft Award Agreement (BEA), Assistance Agreement (CDFI or NACA), or Allocation Agreement (NMTC) to be reviewed and signed. Once the agreement is signed, the process to disburse an award may begin (monetary programs).

The Award Agreement, Assistance Agreement or Allocation Agreement contains information on the annual reporting requirements for the organization receiving the award.