Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: Welcome to Life Rewritten, the show where transformation begins with truth and courage. I'm your host, Vanessa Lagoa, and today we're going to be diving into a conversation that every nonprofit leader really wants to hear.
Today I'm welcoming back Nora Amalseri, an enrolled agent with the irs. Also wearing many hats as Nora does, she is a best selling international authority and the founder and CEO of Nora's Books, a virtual and amazing tax and accounting service that she helps so many businesses and individuals with.
Nora is super passionate about her help helping nonprofits.
And if you have an idea, maybe you have a business that you have begun that's a nonprofit and you're scared about the numbers and making sure that you're doing everything legally. Nora is definitely the person for you. So welcome back, Nora. It's a pleasure to have you today.
[00:01:07] Speaker A: Thank you so much, Vanessa, for the great introduction. It's my pleasure to be here with you as usual.
[00:01:13] Speaker B: Thank you.
So I think one of the things that I really love the most about you is that you have taken your own experience and kind of coupled that with your education and you have helped so many individuals and businesses sort of get out of the sticky, scary mess about the finances that come in being business owners, especially nonprofits.
You know, as a business owner myself, I know that the, my least favorite part about business are the numbers. And you have taken your IRS background and you have joined with people to be able to take all the scary out. So, so can you tell us a little bit about maybe an example of a time that you've helped an individual or a business do exactly that?
[00:02:06] Speaker A: Sure, sure. So most businesses like they, when we start a business, like all of us, like you want to do what you're passionate about, what you're good about. We often think finances is not that important and it's not time for that yet.
However, like, finances is really the oxygen for the business. Like if you do not have good finances, your bookkeeping is doing, is organized, your taxes are done the way it's supposed to be done. If you are not planning for taxes, you are not going to keep your money with you. The money that you are working hard for, you're not going to be able to keep that money with you. You're not going to be able to ask for financial support. If you want to get asked for a loan from either like a banking bank institution or maybe a private vendor, all of them, a private investor like anyone like will ask you for your finance financials. So if you don't have that if you don't know your numbers, you're not going to be able to make decisions. So most of the people when they come to me, they're really confused. They're really thinking okay, like Noora, look, we're making this much money but we really don't know where is the money going because like we feel like we're making money but we don't see it. We don't have money.
So this is when we help them like really like organize start the bookkeeping making sure they are in salary. If of course if they are their structure for the person to get a salary or like if if it's an LLC without they shouldn't get a salary then we know like we just structure okay, this is how much you you're gonna withdraw from your business. Making sure we're tracking everything making sure we' had and look for opportunities for their tax planning to make sure they are saving themselves the most amount of money and keeping their money as much as possible.
Most of the time we are really like saving that individual, that business owners tens of thousands of dollars. Like just like an example, like we have a client, they have like different businesses and they're making money on one business and not on the others. But they've been working with other tax professionals who they are really filing the wrong tax returns.
Like really like when it's an escort but they filed as a schedule C which is totally wrong. For example, like I mean you don't have to worry about technicality but it's totally different type of forms they have to file with the IRS. And, and that can cost them like more than supposed to be in taxes. Just that simple fix and get them do their professional bookkeeping. That saved them like $23,000 just for that quick fix. And also we went ahead and fixed their filing for prior years that made a totally difference like and their out bottom line. And now they are trying to signed up for monthly bookkeeping. We know their numbers, we advise them and they know their numbers. So they are informed. They know how much the exactly they can take from this business. They know if they have the budget to do the things or not. And that's going to also help them if later on they want to sell the business. Because when you want to sell the business, if you don't have a good bookkeeping financial statements, you're not going to be able to get what you want for your business. It's not sellable technically.
[00:05:47] Speaker B: Right. I, I've. I heard somebody say that if you're running a business and you're not watching your numbers and you're not checking your books that you have an expensive hobby rather than a business.
[00:05:58] Speaker A: Absolutely, I agree. Yeah.
[00:06:01] Speaker B: I, and I mean I, and I understand that and I, but I do think that when somebody has an idea for a business, particularly a non profit, they're not thinking about the numbers, they're not thinking about the tax implications. And, and you know, somebody like you who can come in with the professional background and be able to, you know, like that client you just explained to us, you're able to probably take them from a place where they're feeling defeated and drowning in their business to, to thriving. And what an amazing way to help people and to give them that chance to, you know, rewrite the next chapter.
[00:06:42] Speaker A: Absolutely, absolutely. Actually, I helped few business owners, like I would say three. They were devastated. They wanted to close the business. They thought there's no hope. But when we work together like within three months like I was able to get them like back on their feet and now like okay, they changed their mind of closing the business. So really like just taking care of the finances and having an advisor on your side, it can change whole a lot of your plan and making sure like you're standing on your feet again.
[00:07:12] Speaker B: Right.
So what is something that you may suggest to that business owner that is feeling like they're drowning? Do you think that they should be reevaluating the professional that they're working with? Do you suggest them, you know what, what are some suggestions that you would have that, that are simple ways that they can begin to shift their business? Yeah.
[00:07:36] Speaker A: First, sometimes like it's not the fault of the accountant or the business owner. Sometimes it's miscommunication. Sometimes they're not asking you the questions they should ask you. Sometimes you're not providing them with the information. So if you have, I'll give you an example. I have a client who has a couple of businesses. Most of us entrepreneur, we have, we are kind of serial or certain entrepreneur. We have so many businesses.
[00:07:58] Speaker B: Oh yes.
[00:08:00] Speaker A: So, so that person like she did not really have told, she did not tell us she has this many businesses. We thought she has one business. And all of a sudden while we ask her so many questions, we figure out like she has like a lot more businesses, like three more and a nonprofit. And we did not know that.
So but because we keep asking questions and sometimes it's this annoys some people because, but most people really like they understand we want to make sure they, we, we help them with our best ability and we need to know the information, but we get a lot of feedback. Oh, no one asked us about this. But it's also your responsibility to provide that information for that the accountant that you are working for or working with.
So but if they're not communicative with you, if they don't want you, if they don't, I say oh, you don't have to worry about it. I would evaluate that I would maybe get a consultation with someone else to see what you can do. Because a lot of people also mistake in thinking like if the professional is going to do their taxes, they will advise them too. It's two different services. So if you're coming to the tax professional at the tax season and you want them to help you save in taxes, most of the time they want. But also there's also those tax professional who. They are not really tax professional. They are data entry people.
So they don't know the tax law. They just had the num. That there's a, there's a, a number you obtain from the IRS website.
You pay like it was 35. Now it's cheaper I guess. And then maybe a background check and you are able to file a tax return for any person and you don't have any knowledge. So make sure you're not working with one of these.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: Yes, that sounds like something that the majority of us just wouldn't know. We wouldn't know to ask that, to ask about background. I mean you have such an extensive background, decades working as a tax professional, working with the irs. So I imagine that if you're looking for somebody who really understands tax codes and implications, you have that experience and that's going to make you stand out.
Now another thing that you have, you know, we talked a little bit about is your non profit, your passion for helping nonprofits. So if somebody is just starting a non profit, what advice would you give them specifically versus an individual business or corporation?
[00:10:38] Speaker A: So for nonprofit, are you going to have your nonprofit as a hobby or are you going to really treat it as a business? Because you need to treat your nonprofit as a business.
If you not going to do that, you're not going to be successful. You want to make sure you cover all your compliances and to help people with that Because I understand like people want to help other people. You want to make sure like okay, are you capable to do that? How do you find out? There's not so many information about that. But people don't know that. There's the section of nonprofits and the IRS website is Bigger than any the business section bigger than individuals. Because there's so many answers like you have to worry about. And for that I this is why I wrote my book how to start manage and prosper with a Nonprofit.
The very easy reads people can read. And I just want to open your thinking to see. Oh, okay.
Is non profit for me. Is it me is gonna take care of that or do I need to hire help for that?
[00:11:40] Speaker B: Right. Okay.
[00:11:41] Speaker A: Time that you just need to hire help. You just need to do consultations. Okay. See it. Do you have the time commitment? Do you have the professional commitment? Do you have the support?
You don't need to have the money, but you need to know how to ask people about for money. And that's why also I, I have a course on my website. If you go to Nora's books.com store, you're going to find a course there that's going to help you ask for money. Like I direct you exactly what you need to do in order to ask people for money.
So those are the resources that I have for people. And Also on my YouTube there is a list, a playlist for non profits. A lot of shorts and other information.
So educate yourself before you start so you're not really get lost and be careful. Like be careful. Don't listen to other non profit leaders who might not be in successful themselves.
[00:12:35] Speaker B: Right.
Well you're, you were ahead of me because I was about to ask you where people can find you.
So you would you could you tell us that again briefly before we go to commercial?
[00:12:46] Speaker A: It's Noura's books. N O U R A S B O o k s.com and/contact where you can book a call with me or slash Store where you can find the courses and that course for nonprofit Perfect.
[00:13:01] Speaker B: We're going to go to commercial and when we come back, we're going to continue the conversation and get a little bit more into fundraising. So we'll be right back. We'll be right back with more stories of resilience and renewal.
This is Life Rewritten on NOW Media Television. And we're back. I'm Vanessa Lagoa and you're watching Life Rewritten on NOW Media Television.
Welcome back to Life Rewritten. If you're loving what you're watching, don't miss a minute of Life Rewritten or any of your favorite shows on Now Media TV. Download the free Now Media TV app on your Roku or iOS device and you can watch us in English and Spanish 24 hours a day.
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If you're just joining us, we're back with Nora Amalseri, an enrolled agent with the irs, founder of Nora's books and a best selling author. Welcome back, Nora.
[00:14:04] Speaker A: Thank you, thank you for having me, Vanessa.
[00:14:06] Speaker B: Thank you so much. So you have helped raise millions of dollars through fundraising for nonprofits.
Can you tell me why do you think it's so hard for people to ask for help or ask for money through fundraising?
[00:14:24] Speaker A: So in reality, like people like we have a money problem. Most of us, like, we, we don't want to talk about money.
We are ashamed to talk about money because there's a lot of money mindset, things that has been imposed like on our brain like since we were a child.
And this is like very common everywhere. It's not like specific for people who want to start a non profit or in a certain country or. No, it's really common. A lot of people have money issues. Like, you need to change your mindset about money. This is the first thing in my mind. The other thing is sometimes you can, if you're working with a non profit and then you maybe like can talk about it, but when it comes to your own non profit, maybe you have a harder time to talk about it because now like everything on you.
And also people do not have a methodology to do to. They don't have, they didn't see it proven in front of their eyes. They don't know. This is like, oh, okay, this happened with these people. Like they are able to do it. This person was able to do it. That. So they, they're not sure, they're not sure like how, how to do it and how important is it to stay consistent. They don't have methodology.
Often like people, when they want to start a non profit, they want to start to help people. They keep their other jobs. They do everything, they feel like they have to do everything for free. They feel like they have to report on the money back in the way that they want to.
Okay, you're gonna ask me if I pay myself a salary, for example. And well, how do they expect you to work if they're not, you're not getting paid, right? So another thing is like they feel like, oh, okay, I'm starting a non profit today, I'm gonna get grants tomorrow. This doesn't work like that. Grants.
Very, very similar to when you go ask for a mortgage. You need to show that you're capable to return that money for the mortgage, I mean, but for the grants, they want to make sure they putting the money in the right place. So you've been able to manage money. You show an example to programs that you already done. They want to prove that you are not just a scam. How do you prove that? With experience. So you have to be able to ask for money from the surrounded people are surrounding by you. Like you know, like you have. You want to be able to expand your network just like getting clients, you're getting donors, those are your clients.
So people don't think of non profit like a business.
And really the key comes back to you have to think for your nonprofit as a business. You're getting donors, you're getting clients. You have to prepare yourself to get grants.
So you cannot get grants from day one. That doesn't happen. I never asked people like if they get grants and they say yes before the two years. Maybe it happens one time and that person like they were able to get grants in the first year, never again because they didn't follow through, they didn't build their own, their individuals donors database. And we see now like relying on grants is very risky. See what happens like with a USAID and all of these. Like so you really cannot, cannot like be depending on grants. You have to make the effort to build your donor base. And that's what people do not realize. And that's like with all my videos, all even my book, everywhere I talk about it and that's why I actually did my program like the course on how to.
I have a course on how to really ask for donations and how to build your donor base. And I have my impact method. This is exactly six people from A to Z on how to start asking for money. And what do you do to make sure you have a consistent donor base?
[00:18:31] Speaker B: That's amazing. Can you give our viewers who I'm sure are going to go take your course but can you just give them a little bit of an understanding of maybe a few phrases or examples of a respectful, confident way that somebody may ask for fundraising something real that they can try.
[00:18:50] Speaker A: Of course you should understand yourself first meaning your organization. So what do you help people with? So you have to come up with one sentence that your organization help with. You cannot say oh, we help people live a better life.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:19:06] Speaker A: How so? You cannot say we help people in Africa, okay. Do what? Right? So you have to be specific. For example, let's say you help girls, maybe go to school in Africa, for example and in certain country, let's just take Ghana I don't know, it just came to mind.
I was like maybe we help girls 6 years to, to 18 years old in Ghana to go to school for example by how, by providing them the supplies or the education supplies or maybe like providing them with the cost of education.
Something specific to your organization. It might be like we help, we help Syrian refugees be able to move from the tents to a home by providing them with maybe a year of friends examples. So you have to come up with a very, very specific things that you are helping the people for. This is, this is the course. This is what I call in my program the impact statement. How do you impact your beneficiaries? Meaning the people you help. Beneficiaries is the people you help. So that's what you have to have a clear mindset about. Like Exactly. This is, this is how you want to help people. And don't try especially in the beginning to help people doing everything. You have to be very specific. And then you have to start reaching out to the people who they care about the cause that you care about. So if that person want to start a non profit, that person will start exact same nonprofit that you did start.
So that is identifying your ideal donors.
So who is your ideal donors? Once you have these two pieces, it will be easy to find these people and to communicate with them.
How do you help people? And ask specifically have a specific ask.
So tell them maybe one sending one girl to school that gonna cost a hundred dollars a month.
You have to ask them for that specific thing and always try to ask about recurring.
So if it's. If, if helping one gear is a hundred dollars a month, ask for that monthly commitment from that same donor. They don't have to say yes, what's the, the worst can happen. They say no, that's fine. Like at least get one. Maybe ask them okay, do you know someone else who might be interested to support our organization or. Or the course or maybe not not our organization because no one cares about your organization. So would say oh okay to support Gears Sporting. So be that specific and make sure you keep that relationship with your donors. Whether they give you five dollars or a hundred dollars or thousands, thousands of dollars. So make sure you keep communicating with them. Let them know how did their donations help the girls that they care about.
So make sure you be specific. So this is really like the first step and if you just start doing this, you can do this on social media. You don't have to move to go anywhere. Like you. There's a lot of groups for example on Facebook, you can just search the groups and get into these groups and start communicating with people in that group because you already know they care about.
Right. This is where I would start.
Yeah.
[00:22:47] Speaker B: No, I love that. And I love that when you're specific in how the money is going to directly affect people. You know, you just said nobody really cares about your organization.
[00:22:57] Speaker A: And.
[00:22:57] Speaker B: And that is the truth. It sounds. It sounds tough to swallow, but it's true. People want to know what specifically they're doing to help people that matter to them or organ, you know, animals or people or, you know, issues that matter to people directly. So I love that, and I think that that is.
I'm thinking of any time I've been approached about fundraising, and I want to know specifically what I'm helping with, because to help in a general way just doesn't really speak to people the way it does to say you're sending, you know, a young woman to school who wouldn't have the opportunity, that. That speaks to volumes.
Is there a fundraising story that sort of sticks with you that, you know, maybe you had to help somebody ask for something kind of bold, but made some big impact?
[00:23:54] Speaker A: So what comes to mind right now? The very first fundraising I was directly involved with, it was back in 2011. I'm originally from Syria. So when the Syrian revolution started back in 2011, and the refugees started flaying the country to Turkey, at first, in June 2020, 2011, the. We started to gather ourselves as Syrian, who started to talking about the revolution at that time, and we started a fundraiser in Chicago because it's the Midwest, and this is where I am at. I was responsible for logistics and finding an organization that's gonna be willing to help us raise fund to Syrian refugees and deliver that help.
So at that time, because we knew exactly how to ask and there was a need, and there we targeted the people who cares about Syria, who. Mostly Syrians. Who cares about their homeland. Even the second generation, even the third generation, everyone cared because of their parents. They care about it. So we were able to raise $150,000 at that fundraising alone.
[00:25:05] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:25:06] Speaker A: Yeah. That was amazing to me. And this is when my mind shifted. Okay. When you start, when you target the right people and you tell them exactly what you're going to do, you're going to get money, but also you want to. You want to account for everything. So you cannot tell people, oh, the sending this girl to school is going to cost $100, and that's what you're going to send. And. And she's not going to receive the $100. The cost is also included, like what you're going to do and everything. The cost of money, sending the money, the cost of raising the money.
So don't be afraid to cover your expenses because you're not going to, well, you're not going to be able to deliver the promises if you're not accounting for everything because a lot of people are afraid to say, oh, okay, we need this for administration, we need this to cost, for raising this money, the bank fees, all of these things.
Well, this is, this is doing business. And people who supports you, they should acknowledge that, they should know, okay, this is how it's going to happen. It's not like we're raising a million dollar and a lot less money is arriving. Of course, not a lot less. But you should be reasonable. Yes, but you should be professional. People who really know, like people who are professional and understand your cause. They will know there are certain things you have to do and you should be able to, to file your compliance things in state on, on, on the federal in order to stay compliance and in order for them to stay to keep getting the, the value, the, that exempt status or not the exempt status, the exempt benefit so they lower their tax liability from donating to, they know you have to do other things. So you want to make sure you really account for everything when you're asking for money.
[00:27:01] Speaker B: Yeah, that it's, it's so true to, to point out that there are those administrative costs. So even when you're talking about a non profit, you know, people may look at that as, like you said, the hundred dollars going, it's not directly going. There are administrative costs, there are, there are costs of running any business.
Wow. Well, I, I love how you reframe fundraising as giving and helping rather than that awkwardness around money because like you said, we're all ingrained with our beliefs about money and those stem from being children maybe, you know, being told don't ask for much or be happy with what you have or you know, those, those strange beliefs that we've developed around money. So I really like how you reframe that and you know, you're giving people the opportunity to help and people do love that. So we're going to go to commercial and when we come back, I'd like to switch it up a little bit and talk about Nora's books that she has written and her courses. So we'll be right back. Stay tuned.
We'll be right back with more stories of resilience and renewal. This Is Life Rewritten on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Vanessa Lagoa and you're watching Life Rewritten on NOW Media Television.
Welcome back to Life Rewritten. I'm your host Vanessa Lagoa. We are welcoming back Nora Amalstree and an IRS enrolled agent and also a best selling author.
So Nora, I love that you've taken your knowledge about, you know, your love for numbers and, and helping other businesses with their taxes and non profits and you have written some books. So and you have, as you've told us earlier in the segment, a course on your website. So can you tell us a little bit more about how you went from doing the work that you do behind the scenes to becoming a best selling author?
[00:29:08] Speaker A: Sure. So I've always wanted to write a book but never thought it's gonna happen so early.
So when in 2002, 22, one of other tax professionals, she, she's already an author, she came and told me and other people in my coaching program said hey, I want to write a book. Would you guys help me and each one of us write a chapter about the book? She that book was called Tax Strategies for Small Businesses.
And I was nervous. It was the first time writing a book. I was so passionate at that time about like estimated taxes and FBAR which is for foreign income or foreign banking. So I chose to write that chapter. So I wrote that chapter and that was my first experience. And that book also is a best selling author, best selling book and Amazon and there was like 12, 12 other tax professionals and the tax attorney wrote the forward for that book. It was a great experience. It was my first experience. So that book encouraged me, participating in that book encouraged me really to do my own book. And I chose to write it about nonprofit because I wanted to share some insights and because at that time I spoke, I have spoke to hundreds of non profit leaders who really have a great heart but they don't know how to do non profits. They never had. There's no education, enough education for non profits. There is nothing that to direct to them. No one's telling them the truth and no one's telling them how tough is it going to be and how committed they should be. And no one tells them like it's a business, no one telling them what should they expect before they make that decision.
So I decided to tell them and I wrote that book like it's very, I, I shared my story about like when I, my first trip after I came to America, when I went with my kids to, to Syria and then the little insights about my connection to Syria. And then I asked the readers some questions. When they answer that question, those questions, they should be able to determine if a nonprofit is for them or if they want to be full time for the nonprofit. If they want to seek help, what do they really have to expect so they can make the right decision and also give them some tips. So when you go read that book, really you should be able to have a hands about every, all the compliance that you might think you have to think about and also what it takes to be an nonprofit.
So I started writing the book and I published it like in January 2024. And that, that book is really my third child because I have two children, they're growing up now. But like I really, I, I really have a lot of love for that book because I feel like I wrote it. Like it might be like it's not the best written book, but it's like I really pour into my, that book like for everything you cannot put everything but very important things that for you to decide if you are go, should go, if you should go to the nonprofit lead or not. And also it works for people who already in nonprofit to open their eyes. Oh, okay, I need to do this. So let me ask about this, Let me do the research because I figured like there are a lot of people, they do not have the resources. They cannot be a professional, that much money because they don't know how to raise money.
They cannot like they need something easy. So that's very easy. Everyone can read either the PDF, the Kindle version or, or the paperback which is like 99999 or, or 19.99. It's available on Amazon and also it is available on Barnes and Noble online. I saw it.
[00:33:19] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:33:19] Speaker A: So, so yeah, people can just get it online. And I'm really.
[00:33:25] Speaker B: The title of your book, how to.
[00:33:28] Speaker A: Start, Manage and Prosper with a non profits.
[00:33:31] Speaker B: How to start, Manage and Prosper with a non Profit. I mean that's, I love that it's your third child because I know that when you are writing a book it you really, you know who you're speaking to, you know your audience and you know that everything that you're going to put down is coming from a place of what you really need these people to know.
And I can, I, I can understand the passion that goes into that and I'm sure that you know there's so much in that book, not just like you said for the, the new startup, but for people who are maybe already in A nonprofit and maybe struggling and, and worrying, you know, am I, am I compliant? Am I doing things the way I'm supposed to be? Am I making the most sense? Am I getting the benefits that I could be? And I would imagine that there are people who buy that book and read that book and go, and you're saving them tons of money or you're giving them ideas as to how to help their businesses prosper.
So that's great that you put so much into it because that's exactly what, what people need. I mean essentially it's a self help book for business.
When you started writing, I know you were first a contributor and then you made the decision to go from being a contributor to somebody else's book to writing your own.
You know, you say, I don't know if I was the best writer. I don't know if I was, if it, if I was getting it out the right way. But what changed in you when you wrote that book?
[00:35:12] Speaker A: Really like it took me sometimes like to write because okay, English is my second language. So sometimes I don't know if the point is going cross, coming across the way I want it to come. So I needed the help for my daughter also. So she, because you know, it's hard to see someone who's just an English speaker and to just take what you really mean.
And I know like, so I sat with my daughter, she's, she speaks both languages and she understand me and she, I mean I did. Is this what you meant to say? So she helped me a little bit doing that. And then when it was published and when it become like a bestseller, really like it gives you that feeling like okay, like I am getting the message across for people. So yeah, like I have something important to deliver and I was able to deliver it and it can and it's very handy for a lot of people. I give that book also as a gift for a lot of non profits like when I Meet the leaders. So my point for that book is not really revenue because like anyone who maybe published a book you will know like, well it's not, it's not like revenue from what you get from the book. It's really like authority like wanted to bring the attention to these people. There's a message you need to hear that's going to change your life, your, your non profits journey and your non profits ability to help those people. Because at the end of the day we want you to really achieve your goal to help the people you wanted to help in the first place. But there is a Message you need to hear. And I know no one's saying that message. At least no one that I know is saying that message. So I wanted to make sure to I deliver the message in the best way available and with the avenues that I have available to me. I've done YouTube, I have my YouTube and I have my playlist on the YouTube. But when, but not everyone's gonna listen to YouTube. Right. And it's like so many videos but everything, having everything and just like less 100 pages or maybe 100 pages. Very easy to read. A small book that's can be a reference. I literally believe like every non profit has to. A nonprofit leader has to have it like in their desk, on their desk and like refer to that book to make sure they're doing everything they supposed to do.
So it really feel like you have a lot of venues to deliver your message.
[00:37:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's important for these non profit leaders to have. Like you said, it's a, it's a point of reference. It's something where if they're struggling with, you know, am I doing this correctly? Should I be doing this? That they can open up your book and they can quickly, you know, be reminded of what to do.
If there's somebody who is thinking about taking their information that they know something about and putting it into a book, what's a quick way that you could inspire them? What would you tell them about putting their own thoughts to paper?
[00:38:19] Speaker A: Let's say like you really want to be just focused on that. Like have time on your day or maybe if it's not every day a week, but really have a timeline, write everything that you're thinking of. At least this is how I did it. So everything, brainstorm, everything like you think of. It doesn't have to be organized. Don't think about organization first. Just have outlines of what you want to cover and then just start writing. Don't worry about, about it being perfect because it's not going to be perfect. But we want all, everything that you're thinking of on paper. Then start organizing and don't feel like you cannot, you cannot do this book. You're not capable to do this book. If there's a message that you want to deliver, then you are capable to have a book. Every one of us here on this, on this earth because for a reason. There's nothing, no one here like as an additional member. Right. We all have something to deliver.
So. And you have your audience. Don't worry about how many people are gonna purchase the book book. This is not the point. The bright people will get your book and you, you will have to also talk about your book.
So all of these things that you don't worry about, like how to publish it, how to market it, like this is another journey. Just worry about, like to deliver the message and then just deliver your message and worry about everything else later.
[00:39:44] Speaker B: Yeah, share, share the message with whoever needs to hear it.
So thank you. We're going to go to commercial break and when we come back, I'd like to talk a little bit about your impact strategy in helping people to build that donor pipeline with purpose. So we'll be right back.
We'll be right back with more stories of resilience and renewal.
This is Life Rewritten on NOW Media Television. And we're back. I'm Vanessa Lagoa and you're watching Life rewritten on NOW Media Television.
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Nora welcome back.
We are back with Nora Mossrie. Nora is a woman who wears many hats. She is an author, she is an entrepreneur. She is an IRS enrolled agent. She is an amazing woman who helps other businesses and nonprofits thrive in their own businesses with their own passions.
So Nora, you talked a little bit earlier about the impact method that you created to help your businesses and non profit leaders kind of develop a donor pipeline. So you know, you're taught, you talk to us about not just asking once for money but having that relationship with people and businesses to keep these non profits alive and thriving. So can you tell us about the impact method and how you created that and how that works?
[00:41:46] Speaker A: Sure, of course. So technically I created this method after like working with so many non profits. And then like I noticed like when I started the business, like when I started working with people, not a lot of non profit, they cannot really afford like having a professional on their side. They don't know how to do this impact method, just fundraising like having the donor base.
So I wanted to have an easy method like for everyone to follow. This is how. It's easy, but it's simple. Not easy or what. I don't know what you say, but it doesn't take work so you have to really implement the work. So it's not going to work on their its own.
The I and the impact is really identifier ideal donors. So who are these people who are going to really care about your a non profit and they will be the people who will support you.
So this is the first step and there is the method for that like to identify that and I have a lot of tools for you and the course I have for people and then impact and then the M which is the manage and manage those donors that are possible donors that you have. So you want to make sure to see what's going on and have have a way to communicate with these people. Manage. Those donors don't just like collect information and they don't hear from you, they don't follow up with them because people need to hear from you like several times before they make a decision to support you. So this is like the M and the impact and then be be personal with the people.
Make a personal phone call, send a personal message, personal email.
Like start communicating with people based on where did you find them, how to.
How did they get to know you. All of these things. Also look for your personal connections and see who the of these people maybe support you for the cause because they care about it or maybe they care and trust you, they care about you.
So make sure that you do this personal connection and then the A like how are you gonna attract the people? How can you attract more donors? How can you attract more grant funding? I'll tell you a story about the attraction. When I was working with one of non profits like I was a full time there. I was the Middle east program director and we were working a lot on Syria because Syria was hot at that time and there's not many organization used to work for Syria. And what we were delivering it's really was really unique. So people who disperse grants, USA grants and it was European Union grants at that point. At that time they reached out to us because we were doing the right thing to attract money, to attract donations, to attract grants. So they reached out to us to give us the grants. So because like these huge organization who can work with the USAID and other big funders they find other organization who are smaller than them who do the work. So to help them implement the work. So they reached out to us, they give us more than half a million at that time to work to to change hey, take this money, implement this to offer us. So they supported our work. So this is why I want you to think so that's the A on the impact and then C is the compliance. Compliance is a very important piece and most non profit don't worry about it.
So one of the simple thing I want every non profit leader to remember, whether you have any activity or not, whether you got money or not, once you got the approval, or register the nonprofit and get approval for the tax exempt status that 501c3, you must file informational tax return to the IRS. You have to because if you don't, if you don't file for three consecutive years, they will revoke that status. You can reinstate it, but it's going to cost you a lot of money to do that and it's going to be in the record, your records. The other thing, you don't have to wait for the three years because even if you are late for year one, they're going to send you a penalty. And I've seen non profit getting like tens of thousands of penalties just because they simply didn't file because they thought like they don't have to.
Well, you have to. You're not paying taxes, you're filing. So the penalty for non filing, the IRS wants to know what you're doing regardless if you're doing or not, you're getting money or not. So you have to file your 990 which is your tax return.
So and there's a lot more like with state compliance and other stuff also in the state level they can, they can revoke your exempt status. And I've seen a lot of non profits, they did not care about the states and if the state comes to them, they're going to be in a lot of trouble and they have to pay a lot. So compliance is the big thing that you have to really worry about to protect your fund. So you don't want to pay your donations and penalties and you don't want to risk being revoked and because now you're going to lose donations and opportunities. Right. And last thing is team like team is very important part of a business, a nonprofit and often we try to do, oh I have board members. They're not involved board members. They're not. Their job is not really to do the daily, daily nonprofit things.
Board members is there to facilitate some other stuff. But you have to start hiring like you don't have to hire a full time person. You don't have to hire somewhat like expensive. You can start with consultants, you can start with an online va. You can start with so many like simple things.
But you have to have that vision to have teams so you can be supported and you can implement what you need to implement. Right. So you don't have to have an accountant on board. You can hire an account consultants, accountants. Like who they have their own firm. You don't have to have someone who worries about marketing on, you know, on, on board. You have, you can just work with a consultant. Like whatever you need, you have to really facilitate for that. But don't, don't tell me for example, oh, okay, I have so and so who is the board member. She's doing our bookkeeping. Guess what? Not every accountant knows how to do bookkeeping. If you are, if, if your board member is working on a corporates as a staff accountant, it doesn't mean she's gonna be able to do your bookkeeping. That's totally different.
So just really work with professionals. Work, have a team. Like your team should be like contractors, employees, volunteers, don't rely on them that much. You have to have someone who manages volunteer and you have to worry about also the security of the information.
So make sure you have all of these. So that's simply the impact method.
[00:49:02] Speaker B: Well, it's funny because you're talking about how you know one of the non profits that you worked for that people are coming to you to offer you money to because they know that you're being compliant, they know that you're following the regulations. And that's what's making it so important to follow this impact.
Because without it, you know, if I'm somebody who's looking to donate money, I'm a big donor. I'm going to be really hesitant if I know that, you know, these organizations are not IRS compliant. I don't want to be part of that and I imagine nobody does. So I think that's, that's a great acronym the impact for people to follow to get themselves started.
I like how you're talking about building the personal relationship with the donors because like you talked about in an earlier segment, you know, people want to know what they're doing to help.
So I think that keeping that the door open, that personal connection of hey, you know, thank you for your donation of, you know, $500, you know, we were able to do X, Y and Z with that money. I think that professional and personal relationship is going to keep people going. Hey, you know what? They're, I'm giving this money and they're really doing a lot with it. They're really, they're doing what they said and it makes me want to do more and, and Give more.
[00:50:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:50:25] Speaker B: Do you see that?
It must be frustrating to see when you're working with maybe two different types of leaders, the leaders who are following your strategies, I would imagine that you're seeing a lot of growth and their, Their non profits thriving versus the leaders who are, you know, maybe not compliant, maybe like you said, not hiring properly or not. You know, instead of having somebody contractual, contractually, they're having somebody doing things that really, it's not their expertise.
It must be frustrating.
[00:51:00] Speaker A: It is, it is. But I learned, okay, I'm telling you the information I'm providing, like, and there's information for everyone. There's the free information. I always talk about it, like, whether, like, with someone like you, like in the TV or. Or like on my YouTube, like in our emails and social media. And also, like, I have the book, so I'm. I'm doing my part. I cannot, like, go to you and make you do it. So I learned to, like, okay, it's up to them. I'm giving. I'm doing my part, hopefully. So, like, okay, it's up to you if you want to really do it or not. But people who do it, like, I have also grant writers, they start applying the same method, but with grants.
So they attended my workshops. Like, I had, like, last year, I had a challenge also, like, so she attended the person I'm talking about, like, she attended that and she started applying that with her work for grants, like, to help people get grants. And she's getting a lot of success with it. So, yeah, like, people who really apply it, like, it works. It works 100. Whenever, whenever. Like, I did it in the past. It's work when helping my client right now. Like, it's working when people, like, get the course and start implementing that.
Even, like, implementing 50% of what I teach on that course helped one of my clients double what they already get in the back.
[00:52:29] Speaker B: You have that passion because you understand that if these methods are followed by, you know, people are going to be successful. And. And it's when you're passionate about something and when you believe so much in something and you know that these systems and strategies have worked, you kind of want to shake people and say, you know, you can lead a horse to water, you can't make them drink. Right?
And so I think you have really done a great job of, with your own business, with Nora's books, helping people with your book, with your course, with your own personal fundraising that you've done. I feel like you really are leading by example and you're Definitely being the leader that people are going to be looking for when they're looking to transform their business or start a non profit.
[00:53:21] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:53:22] Speaker B: You're welcome.
Is there, I know that you have a lot of passion for the work that you've done with the Syrian refugees.
Is there anything that you are either professionally or personally working on now in a non profit sector that you would like to tell us about?
[00:53:42] Speaker A: So right now like I'm working like I help, I help support the advocacy for Syria lifting the sanctions and all of these things because this I believe like we have the responsibility to make sure like this has happened so Syria can be rebuilt and then like for the people like to be, to be in a better, having a better life over there. Because really they cannot even like go to Apple Store and download something that bad. Like they cannot make a phone call. They cannot open a bank account because of the sanction. So this is something I'm working on the personal side and I'm work, I'm helping as a part of the community, helping the organizations who work on that to make this happen.
So as that community member but with the person with a professional level like the course always is available. I have so many non profits. I'm doing the bookkeeping for me and my team. We're doing the taxes for them. We help other organizations reinstated because they were revoked. They also we are helping some organization with being their CFO fractional CFO to make sure they grow and they have a good strategy to implement to, to attract more donors and being consistent. So like we have like different level of these. So like we work with, with organizations one on one like as a CFO and we have for. For the people who do not cannot afford yet to work with us to be their fractional cfo. We have that course and the book so we have something for everyone. And the free YouTube that's always my contributions to non profits.
[00:55:28] Speaker B: I love that. And I mean the, the power in the Internet that we have access to here is so amazing because you're able to you know, share and reshare all that information with whoever needs to hear it.
We did speak about during the commercial break something exciting that you have going on with your own Nora's book books business.
Would you like to tell share with our guests what you have going on?
[00:55:56] Speaker A: Of course. Thank you for mentioning that. Actually since I started Nourish Books it's been virtual. I have a virtual team and just last month we start the. We have a fiscal office in Oakbrook, Illinois and we still work with people nationwide. Anyone who has a tax filing like tax filing, I can't say the word. We need to file taxes in the US we work with them virtually from everywhere. But we have an actual office right now and it's in Oakbrook, Illinois. Like I said, we still have a virtual team and team in house where we actually get some of the clients already visited the office.
We are planning for grand opening on October 25th.
That's going to be a Saturday.
So anyone who comes we have. We're still planning for it but we're planning a great surprises like something that you will get at that time if you show up, if you are in Chicagoland area would love to have you. It's again it's going to be October 25th. I'm really excited we painted the wall so it's right behind me.
So yeah, we're still working on decoration and everything to be ready for October grand opening.
[00:57:15] Speaker B: Winning. That's so exciting. And that you know, I, I asked you the last time you were a guest as I'll ask every guest what the next chapter looks like for you and if you're to name or rewrite your next chapter, what yours looks like and I'll let you answer. But I imagine that the new brick and mortar business is a big part of your next chapter.
[00:57:40] Speaker A: Absolutely, absolutely. So like yeah, I'm planning to do like workshops here and a lot of other things but for me the next chapter is really growth and impacts.
[00:57:55] Speaker B: I love that. I really, I, I think that you are truly a woman who has put your heart and your passion into your business. And I have to be honest, when I think of the irs, I don't normally think of passion or excitement, but you really do put a spin on things and you, you really do make the business, you know, the, the financial part of business that can be so overwhelming for business owners.
Manageable and, and kind of exciting.
And I think that you're giving a lot of, you are giving a lot of impact. You have a lot of impact and if you continue doing what you're doing, you're going to help inspire and lead especially I would think a lot of women in, you know, being able to give back to something that's meaningful to them and you're really making that. You're taking a lot of the difficulties out of that for them. And I think that truly that's the point of life is to, to take your gift and give it freely and you're doing that.
I really want to thank you for taking the time to share with us, your expertise and your heart and your knowledge. And I do want to remind people of finding you@nora'sbooks.com and I really thank you and look forward to speaking with you again and seeing what you have. That's coming up next.
[00:59:29] Speaker A: Thank you so much, Vanessa. I enjoy being here with you. Thank you for having me.
[00:59:32] Speaker B: Thank you to our viewers. Thank you so much for joining us.
Let's see what you can do to go out and rewrite your life. Thank you. And we'll see you next time.
