About
Community Reinvestment Fund, USA (CRF) is a national nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1988, CRF works to improve lives and strengthen communities through innovative financial solutions, focusing on providing capital that is not readily accessible to small businesses and to the communities that support small business growth.
Mission
CRF's mission is to improve lives and strengthen communities through innovative financial solutions. The organization envisions a just economy that works for all, and works to complement and amplify the scale and effectiveness of the small business ecosystem with its lending, technology and service solutions.
What they do
- CRF Lending: provides loans directly to small businesses, including SBA loan products as an approved lender under the SBA's Preferred Lenders Program, when invited in by national stakeholders, local CDFIs seeking additional capacity, smaller cities and rural communities without locally rooted CDFIs, and referral partners.
- CRF Technology: connects small businesses through its technology platform to local CDFIs that provide capital.
- Capital for CDFIs: helps other CDFIs access fixed-rate, long-term capital as a qualified issuer of the federal Bond Guarantee Program.
- Program capabilities: program planning and design, program management, and program evaluation for partners, including State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) and COVID recovery programs.
- Policy: develops and advocates for public policies that provide equitable access to federal and state resources to revitalize underserved communities.
CRF describes itself as a national CDFI whose consistent place-based work is in Minnesota, engaging with other local communities as invited in by local stakeholders.
Scale and impact
According to the organization, CRF has injected more than $3.6 billion to stimulate job creation and economic development and to support community facilities since its founding in 1988.
Financials
Per its Form 990 filings summarized by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Community Reinvestment Fund Inc (EIN 41-1616861) reported for the fiscal year ending June 2025 total revenue of $46.8 million, total expenses of $31.4 million, total assets of $199.1 million, and net assets of $93.6 million. In the fiscal year ending June 2024 it reported revenue of $35.7 million and expenses of $32.8 million. The IRS granted its tax exemption in 1989.
Governance
CRF is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 41-1616861) governed by a Board of Trustees. It is headquartered at 801 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Minnesota, holds NMLS ID 310577, and is licensed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act and the California Finance Lenders Law.