The 2023 NCN Institute kicked off in May with a sold-out crowd! The virtual training series began with a two-part workshop held on May 3 and 17 focused on Capitalization Planning. This popular workshop was facilitated by Caleb Selby, of Selby Consulting, who has provided a variety of consultative services to Native CDFIs for nearly a decade.

Through this two-part workshop, participants were introduced to reasons why capitalization planning is an important practice for Native CDFIs, the basic structure of a standard Native CDFI capitalization plan, and how lending projections go hand in hand with capitalization projections. Selby took participants on a deep dive into the details of capitalization planning walking step-by-step through example planning tools, sharing how data points in a capitalization plan are developed, and highlighting best practices to ensure a capitalization plan is actively used. Following the training, participants received templates to add to their personal toolbox that they can use in their own capitalization planning process.

A few takeaways participants shared include:

“This webinar provided me with a better understanding of how the budgeting process impacts capitalization planning, and how necessary a cap dashboard is for NCDFIs (SO many dashboards!).”

“I learned how sometimes making plans isn’t concrete and how we can expect funding to continue from previous funders, but how to recover if we don’t get that. How having plan b, and c, is important.”

“This was a very well executed webinar mini-series. Caleb did an outstanding job explaining more complex topics and concepts and showing us how to apply them.”

NCN provides a variety of capacity building services and supports for certified and emerging Native CDFIs. The 2023 training series is supported by funding from the Administration for Native Americans (ANA).

The next training will be held on June 21st and will feature Jack Northrup of New England Market Research. The training, “Priming the Loan Pipeline” will provide participants with tips to identify and address common stumbling blocks for clients wishing to enter the pipeline along with strategies to more accurately predict deployment of loan funds. This training is currently sold out, but if you would like to be added to the waitlist, please contact Kristen Wagner at [email protected].

To learn more about the trainings being offered this year and to register, please check out the events page on our website. NCN Members can access all training presentations and material in their membership portal.