At Nonprofit Megaphone, we are all honored and humbled to work for such amazing organizations. We want to take a moment in each newsletter to share more about the mission and work of one of our clients. This month, we would like to introduce you to Exceptional Lives, an organization providing disability information for families.

When a child is born with or develops a disability, the news can be disheartening and sometimes overwhelming, and a parent may not know the first place to begin. Exceptional Lives began in 2017 by Anne Punzak Marcus to fill this need, providing services first in Massachusetts and then Louisiana with plans to expand to other states in the future. They also provide guidance and information nationwide as well. Their focus is on the caregivers as well as the children, meeting them where they are, reducing stress by providing information, and supporting them with knowledge so they can effectively advocate for their children.

Marisa Howard-Karp, COO, recently shared that a mother of a child that has been recently diagnosed with autism reached out to their organization to let them know what a great learning tool their website has been for her and that it not only guided her when she didn’t know what to do, but also helped her see the paths she didn’t even know existed. She is now recommending her organization to others as well. This story and many others like them are a great example of the work Exceptional Lives is doing for those families faced with a difficult and life-changing diagnosis.

Since COVID-19, the biggest change for Exceptional Lives is the shift from outreach events and conferences to sharing knowledge exclusively through their website. NPM is thrilled to be able to help accomplish this goal using the Google Grant, driving homebound families to their website for helpful information. As COVID-19 spiked, so too did traffic to the Exceptional Lives website, hitting a new record for the organization.

Exceptional Lives and NPM are excited to continue partnering together to build momentum for their organization and spread the word online. According to Marisa, they are getting excellent website traffic because of the specific and targeted ads that NPM is continually creating for them each month. In fact, in the six months that they have been with NPM, they have seen their website traffic from ads quadruple!

NPM is looking forward to a great future working together with Exceptional Lives!