News & Events

Join Us for 2024 Conference Planning

 

We’re hosting two sessions to gather input and insight from nonprofit affordable housing finance leaders on what topics, issues and innovations you’d like to see covered at the 2024 Financial Management Conference this September in Chicago (exact dates and location pending). 

Drop in to either of our one hour sessions on Zoom: 

Ideation Session #1
Wednesday, March 13 
2PM Eastern | 11AM Pacific 
Join via Zoom | Add to Calendar 

Ideation Session #2
Thursday, March 14 
2PM Eastern | 11AM Pacific 
Join via Zoom | Add to Calendar 

Can’t join us for the sessions? Send your thoughts to [email protected].

Save the Dates! Join us Oct. 24-27 in Minneapolis for the 2023 Financial Management Conference

We’re excited to announce the 2023 Strength Matters Financial Management Conference will be held in Minneapolis this October. 

Join us Tue. Oct. 24 through Fri. Oct. 27 at the Royal Sonesta Minneapolis Downtown. Group rate of $189 per night is available for 10/24-1027. 

Conference registration will open in the summer. Please check back. 

 

Call for Sessions | 2022 Financial Management Conference

Want to share? We want to learn.
Do you have experience, best and promising practices and tools, or innovative ideas to share with your colleagues who lead and manage the financial capacities of affordable housing organizations? Planning is underway for the Strength Matters Financial Management Conference, September 7-9, 2022 in New Orleans and we invite interested speakers to contribute to the content.

Target Audience
Our goal is to meet the financial management and peer exchange needs of professionals in the nonprofit affordable housing and community development industry. We specifically provide programs targeting financial leadership, predominantly CFOs, and also attract a significant number of CEOs and COOs, as well as investors, syndicators, and financial professionals from tax and accounting firms involved in affordable housing.

SUBMIT A SESSION PROPOSAL 

Session Topics of Interest
The 2022 Financial Management Conference will cover business practice & continuity, capital, financial talent and teams, and resiliency & change. Strength Matters is accepting session ideas for 60-minute and 90-minute sessions for these topics:   

Business Practice & Continuity
 + Data Management
 + Cybersecurity
 + Speed of Business Change and The Finance Function
 + Enterprise Risk Management Best Practices
 + The CFO, Development Staff and Asset Management Staff: The Golden Triangle for Effective and Efficient Rental Development and Ownership
 + The Dashboard: The Perennial Tool for Financial Storytelling
+ Cash Forecasting: Always and Forever
Capital
 + Negotiating Operating Agreements with Syndicators
 + Comparing and Analyzing Investor Offers
 + Strategic Disposition: Pulling Equity from Portfolio to Support Growth
 + Non-traditional Capital Partners: Building the Partnerships
 + Capital Structuring Decisions: Today’s Capital Stack to Meet Mission and Margin
 + State and Local Recovery Funds: Effective Relationships with Government Partners to Access Project Capital
Financial Talent and Teams
 + The CFO as Strategist: The Evolving Role in the C-Suite
 + The CFO and CEO partnership
 + Building the Finance Team for Organizational Growth
 + Amplifying Financial Talent
 + Recruiting Financial Talent
 + Developing the Next Generation of CFOs
 + Succession Planning for the CFO Role
 + The Comptroller’s Currency: Managing From the Middle
Resiliency & Change
 + Best Practices for Managing a Remote Audit
 + Transformative Technology 
 + Organizational Culture in the Hybrid Space
 + Outsourcing Accounting Talent
+ Returning to the Office: Space Planning and Employee Collaboration
+ Employee Retention in a Hybrid Workforce: New Game, New Rules
 + What COVID Taught You About the Role of CFO

Selection Process
Session ideas will be selected based on their relevance to the target audience and the field and how well they meet the following criteria: 

  1. Practical, actionable takeaways for attendees – ideas and tools
  2. Clear outline of the tangible impact your presentation will have on attendees
  3. Go in-depth rather than staying broad – talk about and show the “how to” of the information
  4. Consider diversity of your presenters (race, ethnicity, gender, rural/urban market, small/mid-size/large institutions representation)
  5. Engaging – thought provoking, inspiring, and fun delivery

Call for Sessions Timeline

  • Submissions due: Friday, June 24 by 7PM PT
  • Presenters informed of selection decision: July 8
  • Conference day and time slot assignments provided: August 1
  • Session materials due: August 15

SUBMIT A SESSION PROPOSAL 

Submission deadline: Friday, June 24, 2022 8PM ET

Save the Date! Join us Sept. 7-9 in New Orleans for the 2022 Financial Management Conference

We’re excited to announce the 2022 Strength Matters Financial Management Conference will be held in New Orleans this September.

Join us Wed. Sept. 7 through Fri. Sept. 9 at The Westin New Orleans. Group rate of $189 per night is available for 9/6-9/9. 

Conference registration will open mid-June. Please check back. 

Interested in presenting? Call for Sessions is now open. 

2021 Virtual Boot Camp

Register | 2021 Virtual Boot Camp 

Strength Matters will host its first virtual Boot Camp over the course of 11 weeks from June 9 to August 18. Each Wednesday starting at 1PM ET/10AM PT attendees will join our CPA and CFO instructors for 90 or 120 minutes session on one part of the life cycle of an affordable housing deal. 

The course will be will be delivered via lecture, group questions, individual reflection exercises, reading and case studies. The virtual Boot Camp is $700 per person. Up to 19.5 CPE credits will be available.

Email Lindsay ([email protected]) with questions on the course content or CPE credits. For other questions, email [email protected]

Learn more

Partner Webinars: 4/13 and 4/15 on 4% LIHTC and Employee Retention Credit

Upcoming Webinars

 
DOZ is offering a free two-hour webinar Thursday, April 15, at 2PM ET/11AM PT to the Strength Matters community –Bonds 101.
 
With all that’s going on in LIHTC financing, many of our members have been asking for an introduction or refresher on LIHTC financing. This two hour webinar will cover a wide range of issues including:
  • 50% test
  • 95-5 requirements
  • Combining 4% and 9% credits
  • Common pitfalls
  • Other key requirements
This session should be invaluable to those new to LIHTC financing and those that are looking to brush up on these complicated structures.

 
AAFCPAs is offering a free one-hour webinar Tuesday, April 13, at Noon ET/9AM PT to the Strength Matters community – Claiming the Employee Retention Credit.
 
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, signed on December 27th, 2020, expanded eligibility for the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) by allowing those—including tax-exempt organizations—who received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to qualify.
 
The new provision could amount to as much as $33,000 per employee for a nonprofit. Learn more.

3/23/21 Webinar – Implementing an Impactful Partnership Between Development and Finance

 
 
Discussion will include:
  • Alignment between development and finance
  • Best practice tools and procedures for ensuring collaboration and communication
  • Technologies to assist the process
  • Milestones for tracking key points throughout development
  • Lessons learned by the panelists
Presenters:

Mark Meier, CFO, Develop Detroit
John Fuller, Assistant Controller, Development Accounting, Mercy Housing
Mark Brown, Principal, Strategy & Transformation Practice Leader, CohnReznick Advisory
 
The webinar recording and slides will be available for viewing after the event to Strength Matters subscribers.

Register Now

 

We are registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org

Learning Objectives:Be able to evaluate coordination between development teams and finance teams and identify procedures to enhance coordination.

Instructional Delivery Method: Group internet

CPE Credits: 1 CPE (50 minutes of instructional time = 1 CPE)

Field of Study: Finance

Program Level: Overview

Who Should Attend:Development and finance staff

Prerequisite: Nonprofit housing development organization management or related financial management experience

Advanced Preparation Required: None required

Registration: Participants should register in advance using the button above.

Participation Requirements: To receive a certificate of completion for a webinar, participants must be logged into the webinar and dialed into the audio portion (if joining audio by computer, no separate dial-in required) by 10 minutes after the stated start time, complete all engagement activities (including polls) and participate in the full webinar.

Please email [email protected] after the event to request a certificate.

Contact: For more information regarding policies, or to issue a complaint, please email Lindsay Wells at [email protected] or Angela Gravely-Smith at [email protected].

Neighborworks Logo HPN Logo SAHF Logo