An eligible Development Service is a structured training, counseling, or technical assistance service that promotes access to and/or success with an entity’s Financial Products and Financial Services. A structured Development Service should be offered regularly to eligible clients, have a defined curriculum or written set of goals and objectives, and for which the outcome of success may be the completion of a specific step that prepares current or potential customers to access or increase their knowledge about the CDFI’s Financial Products and Financial Services.

Yes, a Development Service may be delivered in a classroom setting or one-on-one, e.g., a series of one-on-one, goal-oriented conversations with consumers that have measurable outcomes. A Development Service, however, is separate and distinct from routine customer service, marketing or origination activity, such as providing a prospective or existing customer, borrower, or investee information about, or assistance with completing an application for an Applicant’s Financial Products or Financial Services.

Yes, a Development Service may be delivered in person or online and may be delivered with or without a live instructor or facilitator. Development Services delivered without a live instructor or facilitator must be well-developed, online trainings with learning modules that include a method of requiring the engagement of the viewer and measuring increased knowledge.

Per regulation, a Development Service must be directed toward the use of the Applicant’s Financial Products or Financial Services and not those of another entity. A CDFI does not need to establish that participants in any Development Service secured financing from the CDFI—only that the Development Service reasonably prepares them to access a Financial Product or Financial Service that the CDFI offers at the time the Development Service was offered.

Depository institution Applicants are allowed to identify financial education as a Development Service for youth if it promotes the youth opening a depository account or building savings in an account with the Applicant.

An eligible Development Service is a formal structured training, counseling, or technical assistance service that promotes access to and/or success with an entity’s Financial Products and Financial Services is offered regularly to eligible clients, have a defined curriculum or written set of goals and objectives, and the outcome of success may be the completion of a specific step that prepares current or potential customers to access or increase their knowledge about the CDFI’s Financial Products and Financial Services.

Applicants must demonstrate individual and, if required, collective accountability to their proposed Target Market(s) through one of the following options:

Option 1: Governing Board Only

• At least one governing board member is accountable to each proposed Target Market type, and
• At least 33% of the governing board is accountable to the overall proposed Target Market(s);

Option 2: Governing Board Supplemented by Advisory Board

Individual accountability to a Target Market may be demonstrated through any of the following means:

No, for the purposes of CDFI Certification the CDFI Fund does not consider status as a board member of a third-party, mission-driven organization by itself to demonstrate a sufficient level of accountability to a Target Market. However, such an individual still may be treated as accountable to a Target Market if it meets one of the other accepted means of accountability, for example, as resident of a qualified Investment Area census tract or as a member of a Targeted Population.

A community development, mission-driven entity is an organization that focuses on improving the quality of life of underserved people and/or distressed geographies. Examples of promoting community development include: