The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is designed to encourage banks and thrifts to meet the financial credit and service needs of low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, requiring that lenders use their private-sector resources to meet the financing needs of all communities in which lenders conduct business. This brief outlines several types of…

The purpose of this guidebook is to help elected leaders of small towns and communities stretch their investments when matching funds are required to compete for a grant or to pay for development costs above the grant award itself. The federal "small cities" Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) is used as an example throughout the…

In the current tight fiscal environment, it is critical for state and community leaders to think broadly and systematically about how to finance important education, family, and child services, and community development initiatives. This guide presents a conceptual framework for financing child and family services and community building and…

Sustainability is a critical issue for the vast array of community initiatives that promote healthy children, strong families, and safe communities. Noting that sustaining an initiative over time requires maintaining sufficient fiscal resources as well as a combination of nonfiscal resources from the initiative itself and the broader community,…

Written in both English and French this is a manual for the Canadian research community. It describes the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and its operations. The main objective of the IDRC is to assist scientists in developing countries to identify and conduct research into long term practical solutions to development problems.…

This guide was written for small and rural government officials who have limited experience with the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and with federal grants in general. The use of outside expertise is often necessary in projects involving public facilities, housing, and economic development, some of the principal activities which…

"Where the money is and what you'll need to do to get it," form the central theme of this citizen's guide to rural development. Designed to assist a community leader interested in implementing a development project, the guide concentrates on the sources which most frequently fund rural community development projects, i.e., the grant and…

Guidelines for the organization and operation of neighborhood development programs are provided, based on the experiences of a community coalition coordinated by Northern Essex Community College (NECC). This neighborhood development project attempted to provide staff support to local neighborhood associations, structure a coalition among the…

One of a series, this handbook is designed to assist individuals involved in area development to gain knowledge and understanding of the public and private sources of funds for support of various area development activities. National, regional, and local private sector sources of development capital are examined to give an overview of business…

Decisions concerning large-scale energy development projects near small communities or in predominantly rural areas are usually complex, requiring cooperation of all levels of government, as well as the general public and the private sector. It is unrealistic to expect the typical small community to develop capabilities to independently evaluate a…

Second in a series of three developed to assist rural Americans interested in improving their communities to lock into outside resources for community betterment, this handbook concentrates on proposal writing and the grants process. Part I discusses the key points for proposal writing. These include identifying the process, identifying and…

The systematic, practical ideas presented for improving the quality of life in a community are based on the belief that people, working together, sometimes with and through local government and sometimes through the vigorous efforts of voluntary organizations and associations, can help their communities increasingly become the kinds of places that…

To assure that development of coal utilization facilities in the sparsely populated Old West Region of Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming will proceed in an orderly manner with a minimum of socioeconomic disruption or fiscal inequality, impact studies must be prepared for each of the 100 potential sites to be affected.…

This guide is written for those seeking help from federal programs to foster innovative enterprises in agriculture and forestry in the United States. The guide describes program resources in value-added and diversified agriculture and forestry, sustainable land management, and community development. Programs are included based upon whether they…

This document provides information from the National Family Day Care Project (NFDCP) for those interested in developing a family day care project in their community. The NFDCP was designed to provide examples of quality projects for community-based organizations to replicate. The project has also identified successful methods for designing,…