Conditions & Eligibility

Conditions of the Award

Applicants should note that recipients of the $25,000 Wachovia NEXT Awards will be required to submit an annual audit and a narrative progress report.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for a $25,000 Wachovia NEXT Award, organizations must satisfy each of the six conditions specified in the chart below.

1. Charitable Purpose Is a US tax-exempt organization with a current 501(c)(3) determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service. If your organization does not have this tax status, it may be eligible if it is a U.S. Treasury CDFI Fund certified CDFI. (NOTE: CDFI Fund certification does not automatically guarantee eligibility. If the organization is not a 501(c)(3), OFN may request additional information during the application review process to determine whether the activities that would be supported by the Wachovia Next Award comply with relevant government rules and regulations for charitable giving.)
2. Community Development Mission & Impact Has a primary mission of community development and strives to have a positive impact on economically disadvantaged people and communities. If the institution is part of, or controlled by, another corporation(s), the other corporation(s) must also have a primary mission of community development.
3. Finance-based Strategy Is a private non-governmental financial intermediary that uses financing as an integral part of its community development strategy.
4. Discipline and Performance Is currently in compliance with all financial covenants, reporting requirements and performance obligations stipulated by public, private and philanthropic providers of capital and grant support.
5. OFN’s Goals Affirms Opportunity Finance Network’s goal to increase resources and opportunities for economically disadvantaged people and communities, and commits to building and growing the opportunity finance industry to scale.
6. OFN Conference Attends the 2008 Opportunity Finance Network conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. If an applicant is notified that it is a finalist, a representative from the applicant organization must be registered for the conference within two business days of notification in order to be considered for the award.

IMPORTANT NOTE: An organization does not have to be a member of the Opportunity Finance Network to be eligible to apply.