The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has announced  that it will award a low-income designated credit union with $50,000 in grant funding for a proposal that results in long-term savings to a credit union through collaboration.

“Pursuing collaborations and developing new and innovative best practices can assist small credit unions competing in today’s marketplace and add value to their membership,” NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz said. “This grant initiative will allow low-income credit unions to tap into their wealth of experience and create solutions to apply across the industry. In my experience, some of the best solutions come directly from members or employees.”

To qualify, a single low-income designated credit union must partner with at least one other credit union, with the option to include other entities such as state leagues and associations, additional credit unions, credit union service organizations and third-party vendors. NCUA’s Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives (OSCUI) will accept applications from Feb. 15, 2013, to March 15, 2013. NCUA will announce the winning proposal no later than April 12, 2013.

OSCUI will evaluate applications based on the following characteristics:

• Substantial reduction of expenses for core credit union activity through collaboration
• Scalable collaborations that continue to grow
• Innovative collaborations that break new ground
• Replicable ideas or projects that other credit unions can adopt
• Likelihood of success based on:
  • NCUA CAMEL ratings and net worth ratios of involved credit unions
  • Financial viability of partners
  • Amount of total project cost funded by non-NCUA funds
  • Successful implementation of prior projects

For more information, a set of guidelines detailing the grant program’s requirements and selection process, as well as potential collaboration ideas, is available under the grants button at http://go.usa.gov/gwP9. A Notice of Funding Opportunity also appears in the Federal Register at http://go.usa.gov/4arB.

Funding for this grant is provided by the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund, which Congress created to support credit unions that serve low-income communities.  NCUA’s OSCUI administers these funds under its grant and loan programs. NCUA’s OSCUI fosters credit union development and the effective delivery of financial services for small credit unions, new credit unions and credit unions with a low-income designation.