Community Project Funding Requests

Note: Community Funding Requests for FY23 are now closed, Community Funding Requests for FY24 will re-open in March of 2023.

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is Community Project Funding (CPF)?

Community Project Funding is generally defined as spending provisions in federal legislation that:

  • Are requested on behalf of constituents or constituent organizations by a Member of Congress or Senator;
  • Provides, authorizes, or recommends a specific amount of federal discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or specific funding amount to a specific entity for a specific purpose; and
  • The purpose of the project must meet the objective of a federal program under existing law.

What are the requirements for requesting CPF?

  • Community Support – community support is crucial in determining which projects are worthy of Federal funding. Only projects with evidenced and demonstrated community support, such as letters of support will be considered.
  • Financial Disclosure Statement – Members and their immediate family are prohibited from having a financial interest in the proposed project, and thereby, must submit a letter to certify this.
  • All CPF requests will be posted publicly on the Members of Congress’s online website.
  • Maximum of 15 requests - Members of Congress may request no more than 15 CPF requests across all eligible accounts, though only a handful may actually be funded.
  • Matching requirements – several federal programs require a State or local match for projects by either statute or longstanding policy. These will not be waived. Local officials must have a plan to meet such requirements in order for a project to be viable.

Who is eligible for CPF?

  • State or local governmental entities
  • Non-profits, – must provide evidence their non-profit organization status, e.g. 501(c)3, 501(c)6, etc.
  • *All for-profit recipients are strictly ineligible.

What constitutes demonstrated community support?

Community support may include letters of support from elected community leaders; press articles; newspaper editorial boards; projects listed on State’s or city’s intended use plans, community development plans, or other publicly available planning documents; city council or local board resolutions; and others.

Is there a deadline for submitting a request?

Yes. Each Congressional office must make their request for community project funding by a date set by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. Each office, however, sets their own internal deadline for receiving requests for consideration for submission. Please check with your Congressional office for more information regarding deadlines.

What if I miss the deadlines established by the Congressional offices?

Congressional offices must review numerous requests in a limited amount of time. As a result, deadlines are strictly enforced. Once a Congressional office has submitted their requests to the Appropriations Committee, no changes or additional requests can be made by that Member of Congress. Again, please check with your Congressional office if you have questions or concerns regarding submission deadlines.

Are exceptions made if the bill hasn’t yet been passed/signed into law?

At this time, the Appropriations Committees have not communicated that there will be any exceptions to their deadlines.

Are Community Project Funding requests publicly disclosed?

Yes, for transparency in the process, Members are required to post their Community Project Funding requests online concurrently with their submission of the requests to the Appropriations Committee. This includes: the proposed recipient’s name and address; amount and purpose of the request; and the justification for use of taxpayer dollars for that specific request. Members are also required to certify that neither they nor their immediate family have a financial interest in the organizations or projects for the requests that they make. Each funded community project will be publicly listed on the relevant Appropriations public documentation (bill and report).

How much should I request?

It depends on the amount from which you are requesting funds. Please work with your Congressional office for further guidance.

I submitted a request. Will it be approved? When will I know?

The CPF process is extremely targeted and very competitive. The process can be long and arduous, so patience is required. The process follows the timeline for Appropriations bills to be crafted and considered by the respective House and Senate Appropriations Committees (late spring through summer), and the House and Senate must still convene a “conference committee” to work out the differences of each of those bills. The bills must then be signed into law by the president. Again, all requests or funding amounts are not guaranteed, even if a particular member’s office has agreed to make a submission on your behalf.

How long do funds last?

Each project request must demonstrate that the funding secured will be used in federal fiscal year 2023 (October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023). Multi-year funding requests are not allowed.

Is there a vetting process?

Yes. You can expect rigorous vetting. As the Members’ requests will be made public (e.g.: Members’ website), requests will likely face public scrutiny. There will also be a possible audit, as the Appropriations Committee will require the Government Accountability Office to audit a sample of approved CPFs and report its findings to Congress.

What are the eligible federal funding accounts?

Please consult with your Congressional office on further account details, as well as what specific types, requirements, and limitations may exist for each account.

 

Financial Disclosures for Community Project Funding requests for Fiscal Year 2023