Fifty thousand dollars awaits a low-income credit union thatfinds the best long-term savings proposal that incorporatescollaboration. The NCUA announced Friday it will name the$50,000 grant winner by April 12.

To qualify a low-income designated credit union must partnerwith at least one other credit union, with the option to includeother entities such as state leagues and associations, additionalcredit unions, credit union service organizations and third-partyvendors.

The NCUA's Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives will acceptapplications from Feb. 15 to March 15. Funding for the grant isprovided by the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund.

“Pursuing collaborations and developing new and innovative bestpractices can assist small credit unions competing in today'smarketplace and add value to their membership,” NCUA ChairmanDebbie Matz said. “This grant initiative will allow low-incomecredit unions to tap into their wealth of experience and createsolutions to apply across the industry. In my experience, some ofthe best solutions come directly from members or employees.”

The OSCUI will evaluate applications based on the followingcharacteristics:

• Substantial reduction of expenses for core credit unionactivity through collaboration
• Scalable collaborations that continue to grow
• Innovative collaborations that break new ground
• Replicable ideas or projects that other credit unions canadopt

The NCUA said in a release that successful applicants will havegood CAMEL ratings and net worth ratios, partners with financialviability, successful implementation of prior projects, and an ideathat is funded completely by non-NCUA funds.

For more information, a set of guidelines detailing the grantprogram's requirements and selection process, as well as potentialcollaboration ideas, is available under the grants button athttp://go.usa.gov/gwP9. A Notice of Funding Opportunity alsoappears in today's Federal Register at http://go.usa.gov/4arB.