The Citi Foundation has announced the launch of a $20 million initiative aimed at supporting nonprofit community development organizations across the country.

Building on Citi's efforts to identify and support innovative solutions and organizations that are helping to build stronger, more resilient cities, the Community Progress Makers Fund will provide unrestricted grants of up to $500,000 to help community organizations lead urban transformation efforts for low-income households and communities in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Washington, D.C. In addition to the grants, grantees will have access to technical assistance and support from Citi volunteers and leading researchers and experts in the areas of data-driven decision making, project financing, movement building, and communications.

"At the Citi Foundation, we believe community-based change agents are critical to creating on-ramps to economic opportunity," said Citi Foundation president Brandee McHale. "Our goal is to identify the most visionary organizations and invest in their ability to deliver new approaches to long-standing challenges and drive greater progress for all."

"Our research shows that multiyear, large-scale, unrestricted support is crucial to strengthening nonprofit organizations," said Phil Buchanan, president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy. "It's great to see the Citi Foundation move, through the establishment of the Community Progress Makers Fund, to provide more of the kind of support that will help their grantees be as effective as possible."