National Community Development Association

What National Community Development Association does

The National Community Development Association (NCDA) is a non-partisan national nonprofit association founded in 1968 (originally as the Model Cities Directors' Association and renamed to NCDA in 1979) that represents over 500 local governments administering U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Planning and Development (CPD) programs, primarily the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships programs. Headquartered at 1750 H Street NW, Suite 360, Washington, DC, the organization is led by Executive Director Vicki Watson (with the association since 1998) and an elected President and Executive Committee (Kevin D. Howard for 2026-2027), and operates with a 1-10 employee core staff supported by contracted subject-matter trainers.

NCDA's core product is a tiered professional training curriculum delivered through an online member platform (ncdaonline.org) using the RegFox registration system, structured in three tiers — Primer courses (on-demand recorded overviews), Basics courses (four-week live virtual classes with optional completion certificates), and Advanced courses (two-to-three day in-person training) — covering CDBG, HOME, IDIS, Consolidated Planning, Subrecipient Management, and Financial Management (2 CFR Part 200). Beyond training, the technology stack includes a real-time online community forum for member peer discussion, a member-only document archive, an online jobs board, and a monthly Washington Report newsletter, with no proprietary AI or automation features identified.

The business model is membership-driven. Annual membership dues are charged on a population-based tiered schedule ranging from $550 (under 50,000 population) to $3,430 (over 500,000) for entitlement local governments, with $375 for non-entitlement and subscriber members, $2,500 for state agency affiliate members, $175 for alumni, and $50 for students. Members receive discounted training registration fees; non-members pay full price. Ancillary revenue includes $250 non-member job posting fees and affiliate member dues. Distribution is self-serve via the website (direct membership commitment form, online training enrollment) supplemented by in-person training events hosted at member community locations and annual/winter conferences held in person. Federal advocacy is delivered through the CDBG Coalition, which NCDA helped create and leads.

Name

National Community Development Association

Legal name

National Community Development Association

Website

https://ncdaonline.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1968

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

NCDA is a 500+ member national nonprofit association representing U.S. local governments that administer HUD Community Development Block Grant and HOME programs, delivering tiered professional training, peer networking, and federal advocacy funded primarily through annual membership dues and training fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership dues paid by local governments based on population size. Entitlement communities with populations over 500,000 pay $3,430 annually, while smaller communities pay progressively less. Non-entitlement members pay $375, and alumni members pay $175.
2. Job Postings: Non-members may post employment and internship opportunities for $250. Members can post jobs for free.
3. Training Registration Fees: NCDA provides professional training courses on CDBG and HOME programs. Members receive discounts on training registration fees while non-members pay full price.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

NCDA is a membership-based nonprofit association that provides professional training, peer networking, and federal advocacy to local governments administering HUD Community Planning and Development (CPD) programs, primarily CDBG and HOME. It delivers tiered training courses (Primer, Basics, Advanced), an online member forum, a monthly Washington Report newsletter, an online jobs board, and leads the CDBG Coalition for legislative advocacy.

Product overview

NCDA is a membership-based nonprofit organization that provides a portfolio of professional services rather than a single software product. Its core offerings include instructor-led and on-demand training courses on HUD programs (CDBG, HOME, IDIS, Consolidated Planning, Subrecipient Management) structured in tiers from Primer (overview) to Basics (certificate) to Advanced (in-person) levels. Members also receive access to the NCDA Forum for peer-to-peer discussion, the monthly Washington Report newsletter, an online Jobs Board, and a Documents Archive. NCDA also coordinates federal advocacy through the CDBG Coalition and organizes the annual National Community Development Week campaign. The training programs are primarily instructor-led virtual courses supplemented with on-demand content, rather than a SaaS platform with user-accessible modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CDBG Primer – On Demand A pre-recorded on-demand overview course for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, consisting of two 2-hour sessions. Intended for local government staff administering CDBG funds.
• HOME Primer – On Demand

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500 member local governments nationwide
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CDBG CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1987NCDA helped create and leads the CDBG Coalition, a group of national organizations that work together to educate Congress on the importance of CDBG to ensure the protection of program funding. This coalition is a key advocacy mechanism for the organization's federal policy goals.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• National Association of Counties (NACo): Membership organization representing county governments across the US, including those administering CDBG entitlement grants. Comparable to NCDA in representing a governmental membership base engaged on federal funding and program administration.
• National League of Cities (NLC): Broad municipal-government membership association covering all city functions. While not CPD-specialized, it engages on federal funding issues (including CDBG) and overlaps NCDA's municipal member base, making it a broader-incumbent comparable for member-driven advocacy.
• U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM): Bipartisan organization of US mayors that advocates on federal priorities including housing and community development. Overlaps with NCDA's municipal membership on CDBG advocacy and federal funding policy work.

Direct peers

• Council of State Community Development Agencies (COSCDA): National association representing state agencies that administer CDBG and HOME programs — the direct state-level counterpart to NCDA's local-government focus. Highly comparable audience (CPD grantees), overlapping curriculum, and even shared staff lineage (NCDA Executive Director Vicki Watson previously worked at COSCDA).
• National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO): Membership association for local housing and redevelopment officials, including public housing authorities administering HUD programs. Overlaps with NCDA's CDBG/HOME training and advocacy, serving a closely related municipal-housing professional audience.

Others

• Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC): National CDFI supporting community development in underserved areas, working closely with local governments and CDBG/HOME grantees. An ecosystem peer in the federal-housing-program implementation chain rather than a direct training competitor.
• National Council of Nonprofits: Network of state and regional nonprofit associations providing capacity-building and advocacy resources. Comparable as a peer nonprofit-membership operating model and federal-advocacy structure, though not in the community-development vertical specifically.
• Enterprise Community Partners: National CDFI that partners with local governments on affordable housing and community development, often leveraging CDBG and HOME. Comparable as an ecosystem participant in the CPD-funded development space, though as a financing/technical-assistance intermediary rather than a member association.

Emerging players

• International City/County Management Association (ICMA): Association for professional local government managers and administrators. Adjacent to NCDA's audience of CPD administrators, with overlap in training/professional-development offerings for municipal staff.
• American Planning Association (APA): National membership organization for planning professionals that touches on Consolidated Planning, CDBG-related planning functions, and community development — overlapping NCDA's audience on the planning-policy dimension while serving a broader planning constituency.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ncdaonline
• Facebookfacebook.com/NCDAonline
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-community-development-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about National Community Development Association