Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers

Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers
Name	Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers
Formation	1980s
Type	Nonprofit association
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Region	United States
Membership	Nonprofit housing developers, community land trusts, faith-based housing groups
Leader title	Executive Director

Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers is a national trade and advocacy association representing nonprofit housing developers, community land trusts, faith-based builders, and mission-driven housing organizations. It serves as a convenor, technical assistance hub, and policy advocate linking practitioners in urban housing, rural preservation, historic preservation, neighborhood revitalization, and affordable housing finance. The association works with national institutions, municipal agencies, philanthropic foundations, and legal advocates to expand supply and stewardship of permanently affordable housing.

History

Founded in the 1980s amid tax policy shifts and federal program retrenchment, the association emerged alongside Community Development Corporation networks, Habitat for Humanity International, Enterprise Community Partners, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation coalitions. Early chapters organized regional exchanges with National Trust for Historic Preservation, Fannie Mae, and Federal Home Loan Bank councils to deploy low-income housing tax credits and historic tax credit strategies used in rehabilitation projects in cities such as New York City, Chicago, and Boston. During the 1990s and 2000s it expanded services paralleling the expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, collaborations with Housing and Urban Development offices, and partnerships with state housing finance agencies like the California Housing Finance Agency and New York State Homes and Community Renewal. In the 2010s the association integrated community land trust models popularized by Burlington Community Land Trust and engaged with disaster recovery efforts after events such as Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy.

Mission and Objectives

The association’s mission centers on promoting equitable access to long-term affordable housing, capacity building for mission-driven builders, and preservation of cultural and historic communities. Objectives include increasing production of permanently affordable rental and ownership units, supporting acquisition-rehab pipelines in legacy cities like Detroit and Philadelphia, advancing resilient housing in coastal regions such as Miami and New Orleans, and advocating for policy reforms in federal programs like Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships Program. It also prioritizes training in project finance, land use tools exemplified by inclusionary zoning ordinances, and equitable redevelopment models featured in reports by Brookings Institution and Urban Institute.

Governance and Organizational Structure

Governed by a board drawn from chief executives of member organizations, the association’s governance mirrors models used by National Housing Conference and Housing Partnership Network. Committees include finance, policy, preservation, and technical assistance, and advisory councils draw experts from Federal Reserve Bank research teams, philanthropic leaders from Ford Foundation and MacArthur Foundation, and legal scholars from institutions such as Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. Regional chapters coordinate with state-level associations like Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations and California Coalition for Rural Housing. Executive leadership often cycles between veteran nonprofit executives with experience at organizations like NeighborWorks America and former officials from agencies including Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Programs and Services

Programs emphasize predevelopment lending, technical assistance, and capacity grants. Services include training seminars modeled on curricula from Urban Land Institute, certification programs similar to those offered by National Development Council, and toolkits for community land trusts inspired by Grounded Solutions Network. The association operates intermediaries that deploy flexible capital alongside partners such as Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Capital Impact Partners, and runs pilot programs coordinating weatherization and resilience funding with agencies like Federal Emergency Management Agency and state energy offices. It offers pro bono legal clinics, model regulatory language for inclusionary policies used by municipalities like San Francisco and Seattle, and operates research programs publishing analyses comparable to those from Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

Funding and Financial Model

Funding derives from membership dues, earned income from training and certification, grants from philanthropic institutions including MacArthur Foundation and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and contract revenue from federal and state agencies such as Department of Housing and Urban Development and housing finance agencies. The association manages loan funds capitalized by intermediaries including CDFI Fund allocations and private banks like Wells Fargo that participate in community reinvestment. It also helps members access tax credit equity from syndicators such as Enterprise Community Investment and WNC & Associates and coordinates guaranty arrangements with state bond issuers and affordable housing trusts.

Impact and Outcomes

Outcomes include preservation of thousands of permanently affordable units in legacy neighborhoods, successful rehabilitation of historic multi-family stock in cities like Baltimore and Cleveland, and creation of mixed-income developments linked to transit hubs in regions including Boston and Los Angeles. The association’s technical assistance has shortened predevelopment timelines, increased successful Low-Income Housing Tax Credit applications, and improved asset management practices among small nonprofits, measurable in evaluations similar to those by Urban Institute and Abt Associates. Disaster-recovery programming contributed to resilient rebuilds following Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and coastal resiliency projects in North Carolina.

Partnerships and Advocacy

The association maintains active advocacy coalitions with national stakeholders such as National Low Income Housing Coalition, American Planning Association, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. It files amicus briefs in cases affecting housing rights alongside public interest law firms and lobbies Congress on appropriations for programs like Community Development Block Grant and alterations to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit statute. International exchanges have connected members with organizations such as UN-Habitat and ShelterBox for disaster housing learning.

Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States