» Project Profile Form

CDFI Fund Project Profile Guidance

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund is pleased to make available on its website, www.cdfifund.gov, the Project Profile Template (Template). The Template is a tool developed by the CDFI Fund to allow CDFI Fund awardees and New Markets Tax Credit allocatees (Users) to more fully describe and record the innovative approaches and best practices community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and community development entities (CDEs) use in revitalizing communities and serving families.

For the purposes of the guidance, 'project' can refer to an operating business that was financed by the CDFI or CDE, a real estate project that was financed by the CDFI or CDE, and/or a general product offering provided by the CDFI or CDE.

Users are invited to submit profiles on one or more projects that you believe demonstrate best practices or high impact. The project profile may be for a project previously reported to the Fund through the Community Investment Impact System (CIIS) or for a new project that has not yet been reported in CIIS.

By submitting this CDFI Project Profile Web Form (Form), the Awardee or Allocatee certifies that all information submitted is true and accurate to the best of the Awardee’s or Allocatee’s knowledge. The Awardee or Allocatee acknowledges that information provided in this Form may be made available to the public through CDFI Fund publications, website and other formats. The CDFI Fund reserves the right to edit submissions for length and content.

The following guidance is provided to assist users in submitting project profiles:

Total Project Amount: 1) The total cost of the project being financed, inclusive of all sources of financing, not just the organization's portion of financing. This measure is most common for real estate development projects involving multiple sources of financing. 2) The purchase cost of a home for home purchase loans.

Amount Financed by Awardee/Allocatee: That portion of the Total Project Amount funded by the awardee/allocatee.

Other Financing Partners: The names of the other entities associated with the financing of the project.

Type of Investment Made by Awardee/Allocatee
(select all that apply and enter totals for each)

• Term Loan: Immediate- to long-term (typically, two to ten years) secured credit granted to a company by a commercial bank, insurance company, or commercial finance company usually to finance capital equipment or provide working capital. The loan is amortized over a fixed period, sometimes ending in a balloon payment. Borrowers under term loan agreements are normally required to meet minimum working capital and debt to net worth tests, to limit dividends, and to maintain continuity of management.
• Line of Credit: A commitment to make loans to a particular borrower up to a specified maximum during a specified period, which may include disbursements and repayments on a revolving basis.
• Equity: An equity Investment may include a stock purchase, a purchase of a partnership interest, a purchase of a limited liability company membership interest, a loan made on such terms that it has sufficient characteristics of equity (and is considered as such by the Fund); or any other investment deemed to be an equity investment by the Fund.
• Debt with Equity: Includes convertible debt, as well as debt with warrants, participation agreements, royalties, or any other feature that links the investment's rate of return to the performance of the company that received the investment.

Geographic Location:

• Major Urban: A Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) with a population equal to or greater than 1 million, including both central city and surrounding suburbs.
• Minor Urban: Metropolitan Statistical Area with population less than one million. Includes both central city and surrounding suburbs.
• Rural: Areas not contained within major urban or minor urban areas.
• Native: Native American Areas and similar entities are defined as American Indian Reservations (federal and state); Off-Reservation Trust Lands; Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Areas; Alaska Native Regional Corporations or Village Statistical Areas; and Hawaiian Homelands.

Description of Project/Borrower Financed: An executive summary of the awardee/allocatee’s overall business strategy for use of its award. Be sure to provide the following: (1) a brief summary of the geographic market; (2) a brief summary of the type of project, borrower or investee; (3) a brief summary of the product offered by the awardee/allocatee; and (4) a brief summary of how the Fund’s financial award or NMTCs enhanced the awardee/allocatee’s product offering.

Benefits to Borrower or Investee: Describe the benefits accruing to the borrower or investee from the project financed. Examples would include refinancing of a sub-prime mortgage, or payday loan, or business and/or service expansion. When possible, quantify benefit for loans, i.e., "interest rate reduced from 18% to 5.5%."

Community & Economic Impacts: Describe the impacts achieved. Examples of community impacts include an increase in the percentage of affordable housing and/or business growth consistent with overall community goals and community trends. Examples of economic impacts include job growth and/or increased wages or incomes for low-income persons or residents of low-income communities. NMTC project benefits may include restoration and service recovery of blighted school that stood dormant for 10 years.

Leveraging/Value-Added Effect of CDFI Award on the Awardee/
Allocatee’s ability to serve its Target Market: Provide the dollar amount of additional capital that was leveraged in financing the project and specifically describe why the Fund’s award was critical to the overall financing of the project (e.g., NMTC financing provided the additional equity investment needed to meet the primary bank loan standards.).

Supplemental Comments About the Project: Optional, open-ended area for supplemental comments about the project/borrower/investee. Respondents may elect to expand on some aspect of the project or strategy or provide quotes from individuals about how the financing helped them.