A free platform, run by the Milken Institute's 10,000 Communities program, that helps community infrastructure projects get financed. Project sponsors, towns, tribes, counties, nonprofits, local developers, post their projects and get grant matches, readiness assessments, free technical assistance, and access to a peer-to-peer network. Organizations like capital providers, state agencies, intermediaries, and support organizations have access to working groups, the project registry, weekly and monthly calls, and the member registry.
Nothing. The program is philanthropically funded. Thank you to our supporters from the Irvine Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, Invest in Our Future, and the Ford Foundation.
The Milken Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, launched the 10,000 Communities Initiative in January 2023 and The Center as its flagship platform that spring. In 2026, the Community Power Accelerator community migrated into The Center, bringing its projects and members into the Community Power Forum hosted on The Center.
Energy and power, community and economic development, buildings and facilities, broadband, resilience, transportation, and water. Costs range from under $1 million to over $1 billion, with most in the $1–20M band.
Nope! The platform hosts everything from a nonprofit's first feasibility study to large late-stage deals.
The single most common question we get, answered first.
Sponsor if you own or are developing a project and need capital, grants, or assistance, even if you're a for-profit developer building for nonprofits or communities.
Provider if your main business is funding, financing, advising, or servicing other people's projects, lenders, investors, philanthropies, agencies, consultants, technology vendors.
Yes, that's the Platform Introduction call, every Thursday at 1:00 pm ET on Zoom. Live demo, live questions, no preparation needed. Email support@communityinfrastructurecenter.org for the link, or ask for it when you sign up.
Both work, in either order. You can create a portfolio first and add projects to it later, or add projects individually and group them into a portfolio anytime. Portfolios are how multi-site developers, say, solar on twenty rooftops, present a package to lenders in a single ask.
Email support@communityinfrastructurecenter.org with what you were doing and a screenshot if you can. It goes to the actual team, and fixes usually come back within a business day.
The platform immediately matches it against our catalog of grants and funding sources. A member of our team reviews it, assesses readiness, and routes you to predevelopment support if you need it. You'll start receiving weekly digests and invitations to join the community of practice and specific forums based on your organization's profile.
You control that. Projects can be public (visible on the map and to all members) or member-visible only. Your capital stack details are shared with providers in the context of matching, not published.
A monthly call that brings together developers, capital providers, technical assistance partners, and philanthropic investors working to advance community-owned power and clean energy projects. The Community Corridor Forum and Community Resilience Forum follow the same model for their sectors.
Through the Member Registry you can search for members and use the chat feature to message that person directly, or their entire organization's team, on The Center.
The best thing on this whole website is the people behind it. Write to support@communityinfrastructurecenter.org or come to Thursday's Platform Introduction and ask live.