July 2021: Personal Update + Digital Fundraising Course
Hey there, friend-
I hope your July is off to a great start!
I’m sharing a personal update here, as my little family has had a lot going on since June. We wrapped up RV life sooner than expected—canceling what would have been a pretty awesome last leg of the adventure—because I sought out a specialist here in San Francisco and received an endometriosis diagnosis. I’m having excision surgery this Wednesday.
If you’re not familiar with endometriosis, it’s a chronic disease that affects 1 in 10 women, yet has no known cause or cure. Very few people/doctors know anything about it, and it takes 10 years on average for a woman with endometriosis to receive a diagnosis. That’s exactly how it went for me: 10+ years of symptoms,19 different doctors, 40+ appointments and procedures, and being told I was crazy, anxious, misinformed, and overreacting more times than I can count.
I am proudly stepping over the personal/professional line here because I feel a responsibility to raise awareness about this chronic disease. I also want to acknowledge my privilege and call out our broken healthcare system.
When endometriosis first earned real estate in medical school textbooks, it was described as a disease that only inhabits bored, affluent white women in their 30s. We now know that endometriosis affects women of all ages, races, and backgrounds, but diagnoses are most often bestowed on white women with financial means.
Throughout this journey, specialists weren’t covered by my insurance, and procedures were deemed medically unnecessary. Before having surgery or receiving any care, my family and I have already paid upwards of $15,000. And as I'm sure many of you know, advocating for oneself on this level, for this long, takes an emotional toll.
There are times when our personal lives breathe extra air into our careers, and times when our personal lives deserve most of the oxygen.
COVID has certainly been a reminder of this. A few exciting projects and new service offerings I’d been developing are now on pause while I heal my body, and that’s OK. I’m so grateful for my current and upcoming clients’ flexibility and support.
Before turning on my email auto-responder for two weeks, I’m excited to share something of great value with you: a Facebook & Instagram advertising course for nonprofits called Donors On-Demand that *just* went live! This training is led by the amazing Dana Snyder and features yours truly—along with Jon and Becky from We Are For Good, Vik Harrison from charity:water, and Mallory Erickson!
Within the course—which can be purchased anytime and worked through at your own pace—Dana and friends will teach you the entire process step by step, from setting up your Facebook Ad Account to what the metrics mean once your ad campaign is complete.
This training series is designed specifically for nonprofits, but small business marketers can also follow the setup steps and apply many of the lessons. The best part: You don’t need a big ad spend. Some of the ads only require $25 to get started!
This is not some canned training series you won’t be able to follow. We actually recorded these sessions with a live group of nonprofit marketers and leaders. There’s real troubleshooting, real questions get answered, and you'll have access to live monthly support with Dana.
Purchase the Training Series with my Affiliate Link >>
When you're ready to become a Facebook & Instagram advertising whiz, please use my affiliate link to purchase the course. You can also use the discount code "CAROLINE" for $50 off!
I’m hoping to be back in your inbox in August with a full edition of The Good Stuff. “Using Google Analytics 4 to Fix Your Marketing Problems” and “Designing a Winning Email Welcome Series” are both topics in the queue. If you have a specific digital marketing question I can answer in a future edition, feel free to reply here or send me an email when you think of it.
Please take good care of yourself. We need to feel good to do good!
