CU Strategic Planning and DCUC Advocate for Revision of Five-Year CDFI Recertification Requirement

CU Strategic Planning provided a letter ahead of the US Office of Management and Budget's June 30 Oversight Hearing with OMB Director Russell Vought

We're re-launching our popular Community Development Summits, helping credit unions come together with nonprofits, public agencies, orkforce development groups, and economic development organizations already serving the people in their area, in order to help create lasting partnership and create organic member and loan growth.

CU Strategic Planning has received notification that a dozen of the credit unions we've been working with on recertification have received approval following the rigorous new process that’s been years in the making. Our team has prepared and submitted applications for more than a quarter of recertifying CDFI credit unions.

All five credit unions that CU Strategic Planning assisted with applications to the California Investment & Innovation Program (Cal IIP) were awarded grants for the 2025-2026 cycle. CU Strategic Planning, a Callahan company, is dedicated to supporting mission-driven credit unions. Altura Credit Union, Financial Partners Credit Union, MERCO Credit Union, SMW 104 Federal Credit Union and Vida Credit Union each received awards of $125,396.82, totaling more than $626,000 in fund

FY2027 may seem far away, but a successful CDFI FA or TA application is not a last-minute effort. A winning credit union CDFI application takes planning and expertise.

An update on the CDFI Fund in 2026, including FY 2025 awards, recertification delays, the 60/60 challenge, and FY 2027 planning for credit unions

Borrowers do not remember policies or workflows. They remember how it felt to be inside the institution’s care when something mattered to them.

Coteau Valley Credit Union, a CDFI, takes a creative and meaningful approach to community outreach and financial education with its budgeting and sewing workshop.

Policy and Legislative Updates for CDFI Credit Unions in 2025

Our new report explores how credit unions can move from being merely relevant to truly compelling by shifting from product to purpose, policy to possibility, and control to empowerment.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the uncertainty in Washington surrounding the CDFI Fund. But even now, new data and steady leadership tell a different story: one of proven impact, financial strength, and lasting community value.

The name itself sounds safe, even gentle. “Retreat” promises time to think, to step back, to breathe. Yet in an operating environment that feels anything but gentle, it is fair to ask whether that word still serves the moment. The economy does not pause for reflection, and neither do competitors who now move with the precision of code and the speed of a click. Maybe it is time the word caught up.

Filene’s latest report, “Amplifying Your Credit Union’s Mission: Financial and Community Impacts of Being a CDFI,” answers that with solid data. It finds that CDFI-certified credit unions outperform non-certified peers on nearly every key metric—without a corresponding rise in delinquencies or charge-offs.

We’re hosting two webinars this month that will give credit unions the lowdown on the CDFI Fund and answer any questions you might have. Register today!

Here’s What Credit Unions Need to Know A successful application for a CDFI Financial Assistance (FA) Awards requires ample time to...

May 28 at 10:00 Pacific/1:00 Eastern Join our CDFI experts for a timely and in-depth webinar covering the CDFI Fund topics of importance,...