NMTC Application Builder¶
The open-source intelligence platform for competitive CDFI Fund applications.
New Markets Tax Credit allocation applications are decided on margin. Two CDEs with comparable missions and track records can receive divergent outcomes because one pipeline had 82% deep-distress concentration and the other had 67%. One had projects in 9 states; the other had 4. NMTC Application Builder exists to close that information gap — giving every CDE the same benchmarking intelligence that previously required expensive consultants or years of pattern-recognition experience.
The library reads your project pipeline, enriches each project with NMTC eligibility and distress-level data, and runs five analyses aligned with the CDFI Fund's published scoring criteria: distress concentration, geographic diversity, sector mix, impact intensity, and pipeline quality. It then scores your application's alignment against patterns extracted from CY2020–CY2024 winner announcements, generates prioritized recommendations with quantified improvement estimates, and produces a complete Word/Excel/PDF/Markdown application package. All in Python, all open source.
What it does¶
Pipeline Analysis
Enriches each project with NMTC eligibility (census tract lookup via nmtc-mapper) and deal economics (NMTC credit calculation via nmtc-calc). Produces distress concentration, geographic diversity, sector mix, and impact metrics in one call.
Win Alignment Scoring
Scores your application across five dimensions against historical winner patterns. Returns a composite alignment score (0–100) and a competitive tier (weak / marginal / competitive / strong). This is not a win probability — see the methodology note below.
Actionable Recommendations
Generates specific, quantified recommendations ranked by priority (critical / high / medium). Each recommendation includes a numeric improvement estimate, not just generic advice.
Pipeline Optimization
Uses greedy construction + swap-based local search to find the subset of your pipeline that maximizes alignment score subject to QEI budget, project count, state diversity, and sector constraints.
Document Generation
Renders a complete NMTC application package — CDFI Fund section structure (A through E), all required data tables, and supporting visualizations — in Word, Excel, PDF, and Markdown.
60-second quickstart¶
from nmtcapp.core.application import Application
from nmtcapp.core.cde import CDEProfile
from nmtcapp.core.pipeline import Pipeline
cde = CDEProfile.sample()
pipeline = Pipeline.sample(n=20)
app = Application(cde=cde, requested_allocation=65_000_000)
app.add_pipeline(pipeline)
paths = app.generate("./drafts/")
That five-line block produces a complete application package (Word, Excel, PDF, Markdown) in ./drafts/, runs all intelligence analyses, and writes the pipeline analysis summary to the terminal.
Get started with Installation Read the Quickstart View on GitHub
Methodology Disclosure
The alignment score produced by score_win_probability() measures how closely your application resembles historical NMTC award winners — it is not a probability of receiving an allocation. The CDFI Fund does not publish application-level data for non-winners, so a true win probability cannot be computed from public data alone. A high alignment score reflects strong positioning relative to observed winner patterns; it does not guarantee funding. Always have a qualified CDFI/NMTC practitioner review your application before submission.