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How To Profit With A Nonprofit Organization

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By Daniella Masterson


Daniella Masterson
Thinking of starting a nonprofit organization, but not sure how?  Or have you started a nonprofit, but you're not sure where to secure funding? These are common questions for people who have a vision to create a business but lack the information to empower their dream. 

Sherita Herring is the founder and president of Kreative Images Foundation. Formerly an executive director for the YMCA, Herring's primary role was to obtain lucrative grants for the organization.  In 1994, she decided to use her expertise to help nonprofits, community development corporations and various professionals to become nonprofit powerhouses through properly structuring their companies and procuring grants.

The following Q&A with Ms. Herring on how to profit with a nonprofit organization.

What's the difference between a for profit and a nonprofit organization?

A for profit company can have stock and offer an investor a return on his investment.  A nonprofit can't offer stock. But donations are tax deductible.  The nonprofit needs to fill out the 1023 form with the IRS to facilitate that status.

Is there profit in a nonprofit?

Many times people hear the word "nonprofit" and they think that means there's no profit, but there is no limit on the profit.  Unfortunately, millions of grant dollars are untapped due to nonprofits' lack of knowledge on how to procure them. 

How do they make a profit?

There isn't a ceiling on how many grants a nonprofit can have. Grants are contingent upon the services provided.  Keep in mind, measurable program outcome generate measurable organization income. Obtainable grants can go as high as seven figures or higher for programs like a housing project for Katrina survivors. 

How do you identify new funding sources?

I offer a free newsletter each month giving people information on grants. But the Internet is a great tool too. You can enter a description in the search window, such as "youth, gangs, grants" and it will list sources.  There are also books in the public library or at book stores.

Can people pay themselves a large salary at a nonprofit?

Absolutely.  It's just like any company.  Your pay is commensurate with your experience, program deliverables and the market value of that position. 

Where do nonprofits go wrong in not obtaining funding?

They go wrong in many areas.  First of all, many fail to structure their company correctly and have ineffective program strategies.  Funding agencies look at all of those things, including your board of directors to make sure their investment is protected.  If your last name is Williams and your board members' last names are Williams, that's a conflict of interest.  It doesn't mean that family members can't be on the board, they just can't be voting members.  The other area they go wrong in is filling out the application improperly.  However, grant procurement is achievable.


To obtain Kreative Images' free grant newsletter, contact them at www.kifoundation.org or calling (323) 294-0223. 


Daniella Masterson hosts a public affairs show called, "It's A New Day" that can be heard on Sundays, from 6 AM to 8 Am on KRBV-FM V100.  She's also a veteran journalist who has written for the Los Angeles Times and the Daily News.

Local Bakerys Pies Draw Daily Crowds and Celebs

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By Lynette Parker

Sweet Success for Mommie Helen’s Bakery

It's not uncommon to see people waiting outside Mommie Helen's Bakery before it opens. During the Thanksgiving and Christmas season, people often wait in their cars to be the first to get the bakery's pies, which have become famous around the country.

Celebrities and athletes such as Shaquille O'Neal contact her for special orders, sometimes for events, sometimes just because they have a craving for her famous sweet potato pies, made from owner Dorothy Pryor Rose's mother's recipe.

"People end up meeting in the parking lot," said Rose, 61, who runs the bakery with her daughter, husband and six other employees.

One couple even began dating after the woman missed out on getting one of the sweet potato pies. In the ultimate act of romance, the man gave her one of his pies - a prized possession since the bakery puts a two-pie limit on customers during busy times. The rest is sweet history.

"He promised me and let me know when he proposed," Rose said.

Dorothy Pryor Rose talks to customers
While local people are really just getting to know about the bakery, others have known for years about the love and care that goes into making peach cobblers, pecan pies, the "Sok it to me cake," sugar-free cobblers and others. The walls of the bakery are lined with  pictures of people such as Laila Ali, Tom Arnold, John Salley, Shaq,  Magic Johnson and other celebrities.

On a recent Tuesday, a line formed to the door with faithful customers who don't mind traveling from as far away as Nevada and Arizona to fill up their coolers with Rose's sweets. Hilton Bullard, 66, John Bullard, 69, and Roy Williams, 60, of Pomona stopped by the bakery to pick up their pies before heading to Moreno Valley to pick up food from one of their favorite soul food restaurants.

"We started talking and Roy said to let him know when we were going to drive to get something to eat, and I said we're going out there today," said Hilton Bullard, who along with his brother John are retired.

"These guys are regulars," Rose says from behind the bakery counter.

What makes people drive hundreds of miles, place next-day mail orders and even send messengers to pick up Rose's pastries?

"You do it the way your mommy does," she said. "Don't skimp, don't cheat your people and use the best ingredients."

The bakery began operating on a very small scale in 1999 after Rose took a peach cobbler to a potluck at her job at South Pacific Bell.

"After that, they were like you don't bring anything else to potlucks, you always just make this cobbler," she said with a chuckle.

She began making pies and cakes for friends and soon the clientele began to grow. That's when she got a powerful message.

"God told me to leave my job and open a bakery," she said.

So after 30 years, Rose left her job and took on the task of baking full-time. She began with her two sisters, a cousin and her husband. But it wasn't until God led her to an event that Shaq was sponsoring that things began to take off. Rose said she contacted an assistant of Shaq's and pleaded with him to allow her to be one of the caterers. He immediately declined, having never heard of Rose or her pies before.

But again, God was on her side, she said.

"He called back the very next day and said Shaq wants you," Rose said.

Shaq fell in love with the sweet potato pies, and the two are now friends. Even when he went to Miami, the orders continued. Other celebrities followed suit - Penny Marshall, Angela Bassett, Kathy Ireland, Stevie Wonder and James Worthy. She even sent a pie to a soldier serving in the Iraq war.

Even though her new kitchen can make 300 pies a day, Rose envisions the day she will be able to make 2,000 pies a day. She has turned down franchise offers because she wants to keep the recipes as they are. She has had offers to take the pies to Costco and Sam's Club.

"We're known around the world because they want the best sweet potato pies in the world," Rose said.

With all of her blessings, Rose hasn't forgotten how she was helped by others when she was just beginning. She began supporting Little League clubs and started a scholarship foundation. One of her recipients is now pursuing his master's degree.

Rose also has had some hard times -- she lost her mother this year and her sisters within a span of two years. Then she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

"But I never once had to have treatment, radiation or chemotherapy," she said. "God is good."

God has more in store for her she says, she is scheduled to appear on the Dr. Phil Show to talk about couples and businesses, and she's also in talks to make an appearance on The Oprah Show. Eventually, Rose said she would like to see Mommie Helen's distribution centers in every state.

That seems a little daunting to the employees who were working diligently, recently packaging and making cobblers. But, they say they have fun and the best part is they get to sample the products.

"You eat them every day, it's an every day thing and before you know it, a sample becomes a meal," said Martha Godinez, 28, who has worked at the bakery for one and a half years.

Rose's daughter, Tedra Rose, 29, also works at the bakery and still can't get enough of her mother's pies.

"When we were little, she would only make the sweet potato pies at Christmas and Thanksgiving and we would want them all year," she said.

That may have been a lesson Dorothy Pryor Rose learned from her mother.

"We didn't have a lot of money when we were growing up and we didn't get toys for Christmas, but we would each get our own sweet potato pie," she said.

There were never any complaints from the children about the pies, but it did pose a problem if one child finished her pie before the others, Dorothy Rose said.

For now, she said she is waiting to see what God has in store for her. She envisions lines wrapped around the corner every day, not just during the holiday season.

"You know how you go by an In & Out drive-through and there's always a line?" She said. "That's what I want to see -- lines every day."

$28,000,000 Sheriff Station Welcomed Addition in Perris

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By John Gordon

In 1996 when the Perris Police Department disbanded and was taken over by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, who would have known that some eleven years later, where home was once a converted, cramped 40 year old former Southern California Edison building, deputies would as of this past week find a new home in a brand new 45,000 square foot station, complete with a huge forensic lab and over 20,000 square feet of evidence storage.

Planned for several years and with a budget of $30,000,000 and built in conjunction with the Robert Bruce Weed Health Department Building, the station boasts 17 acres, a prime location, expanded public area for waiting, and a heliport that lines the 215 freeway. An important aspect of planning was definitely location as the original building, just off Hwy 74 was somewhat difficult to locate, and did not offer much space for the public to handle civil matters. "The deputies were very helpful, but it took me longer to find the old location than I was actually there, said Marisia Rogers, a Perris resident.

The grand opening event which was held this past Saturday, was attended by several public servants and city and county officials, offered event attendees the opportunity to tour the site, including the lab, warehouse and actual station. To the surprise of several attendees, the station was actually up and running as onlookers witnessed a multitude of individuals being taken into the back of the station, out of vehicles in handcuffs.

Everyone in attendance seemed to be in very high spirits and excited about the new facility. Deputies were seen offering guided tours of the buildings, as well as assisting young children in and out of the sheriff helicopter and other official vehicles present in the east lot of the station. "After several years in the cramped, crowded and antiquated station, I can understand their excitement", said Marshall Cripton, a private investigator who says he had visited the old sheriff station for business several times in the past. "This one is also easier to get to", added Mr. Cripton.

The new station is going to be home to about 160 sworn deputies and serve some 190,000 residents of the surrounding areas, including the 47,000 residents of Perris. This is truly a testament to the hard work and dedication of all the deputies and employees who have selflessly worked for years in the cramped and crowded quarters of the old building, added Rita Rogers, Mayor Pro Tem, and longtime Perris resident.


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Clash over Parolees Bitter Between Morris and Penman

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Chris Levister

SB Council Agree to 45-day Block on Group Homes

Mayor Pat Morris struck an angry aggressive tone Monday in his clash over   San Bernardino's exploding parolee population, portraying the city as vulnerable and accusing City Attorney James F. Penman of "being asleep at the switch". 

Hours after often bitter debate between the mayor, Penman and city council members over who's to blame for the mess the famously divisive City Council voted unanimously to block the establishment of parolee group homes for a period of 45-days.

"Unbridled, unscripted reality TV," recalls council meeting observers Donna and Otis Graham of the public showdown, as the city continued its intense effort to stem the growing tide of parolees.
The hotly debated parolee problem took center stage at Mondays meeting of the San Bernardino City Council.

At last count the city of San Bernardino has 1,714 parolees of that number 513 are registered sex offenders - many of them living unmonitored in squalid ramshackle housing.  State law requires parolees to reside in the county they lived in when they committed their crime.   

Frustrated over the growing parolee population, Penman sought last month to launch an aggressive sweep of parolee housing, but was rebuffed by Morris and the council - largely because previous attempts failed to acknowledge on going enforcement efforts and ignored a long-range strategy of incorporating prevention and intervention along with suppression.

"This has been a problem for decades in our city, and we should have stayed on top of this issue and had better ordinances in place a long time ago," said Morris.

"Unfortunately the city attorney who is responsible for staying on top of these municipal code updates and new laws has been asleep at the switch," said Morris.

Penman responded angrily, telling the council that an aggressive crackdown on parolees in 2000 ridded the city of 200 parole violators.

"We don't need any new ordinances if the council will let us do what we did in 2000," said Penman.

"This is just hogwash," Penman said of the mayor's criticism. For weeks Penman and Morris have engaged in a finger pointing spar over the extent of the problem and who is to blame.

The moratorium allows the city to study how best to regulate parolee and sex offender housing, but most experts say a statewide solution is needed.

True enough, says, councilmember Rikke Van Johnson. "The governor and state legislature must be called to task. This is not something we can fix alone."

Several legislators including Assemblyman Bill Emmerson, (R-Redands) are working with the League of California Cities to pursue a gubernatorial proclamation to fix the problem.

The league is urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign an executive order requiring state departments to find a better way of distributing the parolee population.

"They are supposed to be integrated into the communities," Emmerson said of the parolees. "But if you have too many in one city, you're not integrating."

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