Credit Union Strategic Planning, the credit union movement’s largest organization for helping credit unions obtain Community Development Financial Institutions Fund grants from the U.S. Treasury Department, facilitated nearly half of all successful 2021 CDFI FA grant applications for credit unions, totaling $20 million. In terms of dollars won, CU Strategic Planning clients won 59% of all funds awarded to CDFI credit unions outside of Puerto Rico. 

Credit unions will leverage these funds to serve more hard-working people across the country. Financial Partners Credit Union, for example, was awarded $690,000 in CDFI grant funding to develop products that assist low-income renters on the brink of eviction pay off rent in arrears, along with refinancing high-interest debt and auto loans to improve household financial stability for those critically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Using the funding as loan loss reserves, Financial Partners will originate an additional $16 million in Eviction Prevention, Debt Consolidation and Buy Here-Pay Here Auto Refinance loans to prevent the displacement of low-income, minority consumers most affected by the pandemic. Approximately 400,000 households in the Los Angeles-area became vulnerable to eviction once the moratorium was lifted earlier this year, according to UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy.

Financial Partners’ strategy will focus on L.A., with an emphasis on the Promise Zones of South LA (SLATE) and LA Promise Zone, where poverty and COVID have hit hardest. The credit union will work in partnership with property owners of the approximate 14,000 tenant units the credit union has financed. Loans and counseling will provide tenants assistance through relationships with the property managers, legal aid agencies and community partners.

“We are incredibly proud of all our clients, like Financial Partners Credit Union, and the work they do each and every day to  provide relief to families in distressed communities,” CU Strategic Planning CEO Stacy Augustine said. “CDFI credit unions work tirelessly to battle financial inequities and unlock the opportunities in their communities. We’re happy to facilitate the solutions credit unions provide through our CDFI grant efforts on their behalf.” 

CU Strategic Planning’s winning Base FA applications were awarded $109,274 more on average than other credit union award winners. "We feel it’s important that the quality of our consulting creates ROI that more than covers the expense of working with us," said Mike Beall, Chief Advocacy Officer.

CU Strategic Planning also wrote the application for the credit union that won the single largest award this year—Canton School Employees FCU at $870,000.

In total, 248 CDFIs, including 67 credit unions, earned awards totaling $119 million in Base Financial Assistance grants. 

The awards announced today for CU Strategic Planning clients help CDFI credit unions serve low- to moderate-income families. The firm has now won more than $270 million in grants for credit unions from the Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund.

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About CU Strategic Planning

For more than a decade, CU Strategic Planning has provided business planning services for credit unions with a focus on community development. The company facilitates strategic planning meetings and develops business plans in addition to being the No. 1 CDFI grant-writing firm for credit unions in the country. Through grants, strategic and tactical planning, competitive analysis and more, CU Strategic Planning helps client credit unions unlock opportunity in the communities they serve.