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Find similar grantsUSDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program is sponsored by USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Provides grants to support the development of new cooperatives and improve the operations of existing cooperatives.
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Application window now open for 2025 Rural Cooperative Development Grant – Due September 15 - NCBA CLUSA You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser or activate Google Chrome Frame to improve your experience. Published: Monday, September 8, 2025 On September 4, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the FY2025 Request for Applications (RFA) Rural Cooperative Development Grant (RCDG) .
The program provides a total of $5. 8 million in funding to support the development of rural cooperatives through technical assistance . Eligible applicants must submit an application by 5:00 P.
M. EST on September 15, 2025. In FY25, Congress appropriated $5.
8 million for the RCDG program to provide grants to cooperative development centers. The program has historically been administered by the Rural Business Cooperative Service within USDA’s Rural Development Mission Area. But in January, the Administration issued a government-wide review of federal grant programs to ensure alignments with Administration priorities.
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is responsible for the RCDG application process, including uptake, review and awarding for FY25. Carefully review the NIFA application process including the NIFA Grant Application Guide and the program notice on NIFA’s website . The purpose of the RCDG program is to enable nonprofit institutions to establish and operate centers for rural cooperative development (Center).
The primary objective of the program is to improve the economic condition of rural areas by helping nonprofit organizations who in turn provide technical assistance to start, expand, or improve cooperatives and mutually owned businesses in rural areas.
Applicants will be evaluated on a basis of 115 points in the following areas: Experience in technical assistance, including cooperative development; and effectiveness in accomplishing outcomes (30 points) Workplan and Budget Details (30 points) Commitment to Underserved and Economically Distressed Areas (15 points) Networking with other centers including joint technical assistance may take the form of a sector partnership, which designs and deploys training solutions at a regional or state-wide scale (10 points) Qualifications of Key Personnel (10 points) Matching Funds: Applicants who meet the 25 percent in-kind, cash, or combination match will receive full points (5 points) Regional and National in Scope (25 points) Consistent with 7 CFR 4284.
530, USDA is establishing additional merit evaluation criteria to meet the Department’s key priorities, goals, and objectives. The Agency will award 1 to 25 points if the Applicant demonstrates multi-organizational, multi-State, and/or national Cooperative Development approaches, with additional points awarded for the larger the scope of the approach.
Points will be awarded as follows: i) 0 points will be awarded if the Application does not address the regional and/or national scope of the project. ii) 1 to 5 points will be awarded if the Applicant details programming in a single state with two or more partners. iii) 6 to 15 points will be awarded if the Applicant details programming in multiple states within one region with multiple partners.
iv) 16 to 25 points will be awarded if the Applicant details programming in multiple regions with multiple partners. New Terms Specific to the FY25 Notice: New Application – An application not previously submitted to a program.
Sector Partnership – A partnership of businesses from the same industry who join with other strategic partners to train and place workers into jobs that the businesses need filled and intend to fill through the partnership. The strategic partners should include education and training institutions, such as community and technical colleges, and can also be comprised of public, private, and non-profit organizations.
A sector partnership is focused on one specific industry and one or more specific roles within that industry. The lead entity of a sector partnership (i.e., Backbone Organization) serves as an intermediary across all the partners in the sector partnership.
Sector partnerships are effective because: they are carefully built to include necessary partners before workforce solutions are designed; they cut across traditional economic development, workforce, education, and social services system silos; they are targeted to in-demand sectors with jobs; and they consider the economic realities of a regional or state-wide industry in assessing workforce demand and training needs.
For general questions about the NIFA grant application process, please contact the NIFA Office of Grants and Financial Management (OGFM) Support via GrantApplicationQuestions@usda. gov . For specific RCDG program information, please contact: Edwin Lewis, Ph.
D. , NIFA National Program Leader Edwin. Lewis@usda.
gov Izabella Jablonska, NIFA Program Specialist Izabella. Jablonska@usda. gov If you are interested in learning more about NCBA CLUSA’s Advocacy work, please email advocacy@ncba.
coop . NCBA board members bring co-op priorities to Capitol Hill during the FY2027 approps process House passes 2026 Farm Bill with key cooperative priorities We hope you enjoyed this article. If you did, we would love it if you would share it to your social networks!
NCBA board members bring co-op priorities to Capitol Hill during the FY2027 approps process House passes 2026 Farm Bill with key cooperative priorities House FY27 appropriations bills move away from some cuts, but Congress still needs to finish the job to fund co-op priorities Making the case for cooperatives in the FY27 appropriations process NIFA highlights role of cooperative development centers and FY25 RCDG recipients New report outlines federal fix to close affordable homeownership gap
According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and other entities. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows up to $200,000. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program is funded by USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) is sponsored by USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service. The Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP) provides loans and grants to Microenterprise Development Organizations (MDOs). These MDOs then use the funding to help rural microenterprises (businesses with 10 or fewer employees) start up and grow, and to provide training and technical assistance to microloan borrowers and micro-entrepreneurs in rural areas. The program aims to address challenges faced by rural small businesses in accessing capital and business training.
Rural Economic Development Loan & Grant Program is sponsored by USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service. This program provides funding to rural projects through local utility organizations. USDA provides zero-interest loans to local utilities, which they then pass through to local businesses for projects that create and retain employment in rural areas.
Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvement Loans & Grants is sponsored by USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service. This program provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements. Agricultural producers may also apply for new energy efficient equipment and new system loans for agricultural production and processing. The program aims to increase American energy independence and lower energy costs for small businesses and agricultural producers. Grants can cover up to 50% of eligible project costs for renewable energy systems (up to $1,000,000) and energy efficiency projects (up to $500,000). Loan guarantees are offered for 60% to 85% of the loan amount, and a combination of grant and loan guarantees can cover up to 75% of eligible project costs.
While applicants chase fixed federal deadlines, USDA Rural Development keeps roughly $4.1 billion moving through programs with no deadline at all — Community Facilities, Water & Waste Disposal, and Business & Industry loans that accept applications year-round. But 2026 brought a quiet shake-up: REAP grants paused, RBDG's competitive window closed. Here is the map of what's open, what's frozen, and how rural organizations should work a rolling pipeline.
Read articleUSDA opened a $27.7M Rural Business Development Grant NOFO on May 18 with two deadlines two weeks apart. The June 15 Strategic Economic and Community Development carve-out and the June 30 main pool fund different applicants under different scoring — and most rural cooperatives apply to the wrong one.
Read articleUSDA's FY2026 Rural Business Development Grant NOFO funds technical assistance and small-business support in rural communities under 50,000 residents — but the two-deadline structure (June 15 for Strategic Economic and Community Development applications, June 30 for everyone else), the enterprise vs. opportunity split, and the pass-through grantee model are what shape competitive proposals.
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