WASHINGTON– The Federal Reserve has released the findings from its 2025 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Survey, in which 448 CDFI lenders answered questions about demand for their products and services, future organizational goals, operational challenges, what they see as their most valuable contribution in the financial industry, and the policies and programs that enable them to offer their services.
The survey took place from April 10–June 13 and was conducted ahead of the Trump administration’s plans to fire all CDFI-related employees at Treasury.
Anonymized survey data will be available by request in early 2026, the Federal Reserve said.
“Regardless of their institutional structure, CDFIs are conduits of public and private funds, including federal awards, donations, and philanthropic dollars, and are often important funding partners for community and economic development,” the Fed said in releasing its findings.
Key Findings
According to the Fed, key findings from the 2025 CDFI Survey include:
• Strong Demand Persisted for CDFIs. Most CDFIs saw rising demand for their products across all business lines in 2024. Increased demand was largely driven by new customers seeking consumer, small business, and residential real estate development loans through CDFIs.
• Federal Funds Enabled CDFIs to Reach More Borrowers. CDFIs identified the ability to reach otherwise financially underserved borrowers with flexible underwriting and loan terms as their unique value add. Three-quarters of survey respondents also said that federal funding streams were critical to providing the underwriting and loan terms needed to reach underserved borrowers.
• Staffing, Technology, and Capital Cited as Top Challenges. Staffing and technology were the most widely experienced challenges across all respondents. Lending and operational capital remain acute challenges for loan funds. CDFIs were specifically challenged by a lack of qualified candidates to fill open positions, limited ability to bridge skills gaps through training, and the high costs associated with technology and new debt capital.
• Respondents Split on Economic Outlook — Ability to Meet Growing Demand Hinges on Sustaining Funding Levels. (Editor’s note: As the CU Daily has reported, the Trump administration has not yet disbursed funds allocated by Congress for CDFI lending.) Historically, CDFIs have been critical lenders in weaker economic environments. Therefore, while more than half were pessimistic about the overall economy, many expected demand for their products and services to grow through 2025.
Almost all respondents expect to grow their customer base and their level of financing through 2030. Demand growth could outpace funding if capital sources dry up, especially for loan funds, the Fed added.
Respondent Overview
According to the Fed, this section of the survey provides a brief snapshot of 2025 CDFI Survey respondents.
Of the 448 organizations that responded to the 2025 survey, most were loan funds (49%) and credit unions (36%). Respondent loan funds primarily offered small business finance, while credit unions primarily offered consumer finance products. CDFI banks (11% of respondents) typically offered commercial real estate finance and small business finance, the Fed analysis said.
At the time of the survey, almost all respondents (95%) were certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund. Eighty-seven percent said that they had either already submitted an application through the CDFI Fund’s revised certification process or were planning to.
The survey further found more than two-thirds of the sample operate within a single state. Eighty-one percent reported having assets of $375 million or less. Loan funds in the sample were smaller in either assets or employee size than depository institutions. Depository credit unions and banks tended to hold more assets, have larger staff, and have longer histories of mission-driven financing, according to the findings.
Strong Demand for CDFI Products Persists
The survey found:
• 71% of CDFIs reported increased demand over 2024.
• New customers drove demand increases for 88% of the sample.
• 78% of respondents were able to fully or mostly meet demand for their products in 2024.
• Nearly three-quarters of respondents saw demand increase in 2024 and expected continued increase throughout 2025. “This is not a new finding: Most CDFIs have consistently reported increasing demand since the CDFI Survey began national data collection in 2019,” the Fed reported.
• Among the most frequently cited business lines, higher shares of respondent small business and mortgage lenders saw demand grow over 2024 compared to consumer lenders (69% and 72%, respectively). Still, more than half of respondent consumer lenders saw demand grow over 2024.
The Driver
What drove the reported increase in demand for CDFIs’ products and services?
“Almost all CDFIs said their increased demand was driven by new customers (88%), and most also reported expanded needs from existing customers (68%),” the Fed said.
The analysis added that part of the value offered by CDFIs is in development services — such as business support, technical assistance, or financial education — to help borrowers make the most of their loan. In this survey, demand for CDFIs’ financial products outpaced demand for their development services.
“Part of this might be driven by the demand growth coming from existing customers who may not have needed the same level of assistance or intervention,” the analysis added. “For the most part, CDFIs were able to meet increased loan demand. Seventy-eight percent of respondents were able to fully or mostly meet overall demand for their products (33% and 45%, respectively).”
Some Saw Declining Demand
Of course, the report added, while most respondents observed growing demand, this was not the experience of every respondent. Twenty-nine respondents reported decreased demand for loans in 2024. Some of these respondents said that high interest rates negatively impacted loan demand. In addition, about one-fifth of respondents reported being only “somewhat” able to meet overall demand for their products. Among this group, most were loan funds.
