Operating Support Grant
Building and strengthening the capacity of CDCs.
The Operating Support Grant (OSG) program is a competitive funding source of up to $100,000 annually made available through the City of Cincinnati and delivered to Community Development Corporations (CDCs) through HomeBase Cincinnati. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and HOME dollars. A small amount of funding also comes from the City of Cincinnati’s General Fund.
The OSG program provides operating and project support to build and strengthen the capacity of eligible non‐profit CDCs and certified Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs).
The FY2027 Operating Support Grant Application (Grant term July 2026 - June 2027)
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for funding, organizations must meet HUDs criteria of community development criteria as well as support the objectives for CDBG laid out in the City's Consolidated Plan for the CDBG allocation (see below). All applications must be received by May 29th, 2026 at 11:59PM to be considered.
Eligible CDCs that serve the City of Cincinnati through developing affordable housing units, performing commercial and economic development, addressing public facilities and streetscape activities, violence prevention/reduction, neighborhood safety, and increasing community engagement in the neighborhoods.
To be eligible for CDBG funding, organizations must meet HUD's community development criteria as well as support the objectives for CDBG laid out in the City's Consolidated Plan for the CDBG allocation.
Per U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):
“Community development activities build stronger and more resilient communities. In order to be eligible for (HUD) funding, CDC activity must qualify as meeting the following national objectives of HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG):
Benefiting low- and moderate-income persons,
Preventing or eliminating slum or blight, or
Meeting other community development needs having a particular urgency because existing conditions pose a serious and immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community and other financial resources are not available to meet such needs.
Community Development Corporations (CDCs) are 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations that are created to support and revitalize communities, especially those that are impoverished or struggling. (Eligible for CDBG.)
A Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDO) is a type of CDC that is a private nonprofit, community-based organization that has staff with the capacity to develop and focus on affordable housing for the community it serves. CHDO is an official designation from HUD and must be renewed year to year. (CHDOs are also eligible for HOME funds.)
Review and Recommendation Committee Process:
HomeBase Cincinnati staff collect applications. A committee of industry experts scores the applications and makes recommendations for funding to HomeBase and the City of Cincinnati, who then finalize funding allocations. The OSG Application Review & Recommendation Committee is made up of two City of Cincinnati staff and up to five other non-partisan members that are familiar with the community development ecosystem, seven total committee members. Per HomeBase’s agreement with the City of Cincinnati, a conflict of interest policy is in place so that no applying CDC employee, or person affiliated with an applying CDC board within the City of Cincinnati can be a part of the selection process.
The committee will review the applications and host a Question + Answer session with each applicant to ask clarifying questions about their application. Individual committee members score each CDC’s application and the scores are averaged. The average of those seven scores represents the committee’s final score for each application.
Recognizing there is not enough available funding to fund each applicant 100%, the final scores are used to categorize each CDC’s capacity level to effectively utilize funds within the federally mandated time frame, as well as meet federal reporting requirements and key performance measures (KPMs). These categories determine the level of funding recommendations from the committee to the City of Cincinnati, with the City making final funding determinations.
Funding levels will be determined by a scoring table, taking into account the following categories:
Organizational Capacity & Vision
Community Alignment
Commercial Development
Housing Development
Dollars Leveraged
Effective use of OSG Funds
Reporting and Compliance
For more information on the City’s involvement, please reach out to the Office Of Grant Administration at CMOGrantShared@cincinnati-oh.gov.
Important Information:
OSG Virtual Information Session - A virtual information session will be held on Wednesday, May 6th at 12pm. Please register here to receive a meeting link.
Application Form (PDF Version) - This form is provided solely for the purposes of referencing and prewriting responses for the online application should applicants prefer. All final responses must be submitted online through JotForm using the link below.
Application Scorecard: FY27 OSG scorecard will be released and linked here after the Wednesday, May 6th, 2026 information session.
Application Deadline - Applications are due by Friday, May 29th, 2026 at 11:59pm. Review and announcement dates are subject to change.
Cincinnati CDC Continuum - Diagram and Language
Questions? Reach out to Gus Ricksecker at gus.ricksecker@homebasecincy.org.
CINCINNATI CDC CONTINUUM
HomeBase recognizes and supports the diversity of our City’s neighborhoods and the community development ecosystem. No two neighborhoods, nor CDC’s, look exactly alike, but are oftentimes involved in similar activities across a spectrum of community development efforts and capacities.
Some community-based organizations may be volunteers only, not involved in the real estate development aspects of their community yet, but are laying the foundation to do so by creating a comprehensive neighborhood plan. Some CDC’s have been building on their community plans for decades – revisiting and tweaking their plans to match the flux and needs of their residents, with development-based revenue streams and paid staff.
HomeBase supports the neighborhood-based community development continuum however we are needed – whether a startup community-based organization or a formal CDC operating by HUD and/or NACEDA definitions.
