This is my super honest, experiential review of Freely Funded: The Debt-Free Healing Strategy. These have to be some of the best fundraising ideas for cancer treatment. Not often do I get to be a part of the inner workings of such a great project as this, but my husband Kevin and I got to be around from the start. And you know I love stories, so let me tell you how. 🙂

We chose to be a part of this project because over the past 10 years since my cancer diagnosis I have met many MANY people whose #1 obstacle to healing was their ability to pay for the treatment they wanted. The need for this program is IMMENSE!

In this review, I will talk about the origins or Freely Funded, my thoughts as I watched and completed each module, and the pros and cons of purchasing a course like this.

Freely Funded: The Debt-Free Healing Strategy

If you have read my cancer story, then you know it was really my husband, Kevin’s conviction about my cancer treatment that led us down the path of alternative treatment options. I was the reluctant one afraid of going against the doctor’s recommendation and the beliefs of many of our friends and family.

His confidence never wavered that we were supposed to take a road less traveled, and 10 years later THIS MONTH- here we still are, cancer-free with a 4th child due in February. I’m so grateful for him and his inclination towards challenging the status quo. 🙂

This still doesn’t mean that we didn’t use a LOT of our own money to heal and at times were overwhelmed by the expense.

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Last year, Kevin teamed up with two other families who also took roads less traveled in their cancer diagnoses, both having their own fundraising stories and challenges. Their combined experience along with ours came together to create a course that helps with one of the biggest concerns I get from readers of this blog:

How am I going to pay for all of these alternative or integrative treatments not covered by insurance???

 

Together with the tried and true strategies of The Cancer Shift’s Ryan Luelf (who raised $200,000 for his cancer treatment) and the amazing contributions of the Vida Protocol‘s Theo Hanson (who helped guide his wife Kim through her cancer journey in 2014- she was in remission from Stage II breast cancer in under 4 months), they created Freely Funded: The Debt-Free Healing Strategy, a course to help people eliminate medical debt, reduce stress, and heal on their terms.

Everyone is talking about all the ways you can heal from cancer, but no one is talking about how to pay for it.”

What is Freely Funded?

The short answer is that it’s a proven strategy to help you pay for the kind of treatment you believe in and get out of medical debt.

The longer story is that it’s a passion project by cancer survivors to help those with medical debt raise funds to get the treatment they choose and not have to pay for it for the rest of their lives.

Nothing like Freely Funded has ever been done — an online program created by survivors and their families, FOR survivors and their families to equip those facing significant medical debt or expenses (be it a cancer diagnosis, someone who needs an organ transplant, couples facing infertility, and the list goes on) with the tools and strategies they need to raise the money they need.

In it you will find a step-by-step plan to guide you towards and through your fundraising goal.

When I first began watching the modules I thought….’this is more like a masterclass than a course.’ The quality and ease of use is lovely.

One of my favorite parts of the course is that it is designed for patients and their advocates: friends and family members who want to take a lead on fundraising for their loved one.

Also, for often reserved people like me (who have a hard time asking favors of people), so much of the course has people like us in mind. 🙂 There are dozens of strategies that are not only given, but are guided through.

Our family knows what it is like to heal in a way that is right for the individual, when the costs of treatments, supplements, and medicines are not covered by insurance. We believe that money or health insurance shouldn’t decide what kinds of treatment you can access.

Learn more about Freely Funded HERE

What can you expect from Freely Funded?

I went through the actual course to help you truly understand what you’re signing up for with Freely Funded. Here are some of my thoughts as I went through both the online video modules and the corresponding workbook.

Introduction Module:

• First impression of the course interface- WOW. Super professional and honestly the best I’ve ever seen in an online course environment.
• This module explains what the course is going to address and what is required of the participant.
• Make sure to print out the workbook if you can or didn’t order the hard copy version. It is long (100+ pages,) so you may need to save it and bring it to a copy store or be prepared to use some ink at home. If printing it home, I would note that there is lots of blue ink used in the document, including several title pages that are almost completely made of blue ink. May want to print in grayscale if you want to conserve your “blue.” 😉
• A summary of the workbook lesson is also available on each Freely Funded module page.

Module 1: The Mental Shift

• Ryan speaks as a coach, encourager and empowerer, not as an expert and I like this. Everything he says makes me believe that I can do this (and I don’t think I just am feeling this about fundraising but about healing, too!)
• At times, I find myself emotional- as if he gets where I’m coming from. He addresses what will be coming in the upcoming modules and the attitudes that can get in the way of being successful on our journey.
• Love this —-> “Choose healing and life over the potential pride of what someone might think or some of the criticism you might get back.” Ooooh this is so convincing to me! I often think that I’m inconveniencing others by asking for help.
• Overall I feel like I could watch Module 1 three times to gather all of the encouragement and value here. I found myself so emotional during this session and as if I went through a therapy session to a degree. I had to sit and pause a few times just to soak in everything he was saying.
• After Module 1, the workbook really helped me digest my thoughts and admit openly some of the beliefs that I know would hinder my fundraising (and ultimately my own healing…) I had already taken a lot of notes, but the workbook helped me organize my thoughts and summarize them and also to move me into action steps.
• After Module 1 I suggested the need for a course transcript to my husband, although the workbook does contain a lot of what Ryan discusses. There is just SO MUCH richness already.

Module 2: How to Ask

• (Without giving away too much detail) this module addressed ALL of the details in how to ask for people to donate to your cause.
• There were at least FIFTEEN specific suggestions around how to paint your story to your potential donors to move and inspire people to give to your cause.
• Ryan paints out examples and ideas for how to write down your “story” and your plan for healing to help your potential donors understand how their money would be used.
• Just like module 1, I wanted to take notes faster than I could. He offered so many tips  and examples I wanted a transcript to underline and highlight and write on.

Module 3: The Easy Button

• This module teaches you how to prepare for receiving funds: digital options, non-technology options, making sure people have multiple ways to give. There were many ideas I hadn’t ever thought of.
• Ryan addresses the fear of technology and how to problem-solve this problem.
• Creating a “team” around your fundraising- asking other people to be involved.
• SO MANY IDEAS. Feeling excited 🙂
• HOLY COW- this is where the workbook really kicks in! It details an exact plan for setting up a successful online fundraising presence. TONS of examples that you can be inspired by and grab from for creating your own fundraising platform, step-by-step.

Module 4: The Magic of 37

• This is the first module I found myself pushing back against the effort I would have to put in. It challenged my weakness of having to “keep trying” and having to “ask” more than once or “bother” people.
• Using social media to reach out and how to stay in touch.
• You have to keep reminding people——–37 impressions is the number.
• This is where the course pushes against my tendency towards laziness and wanting things to “just happen” without any effort.
• How to get past the self-doubt and just go for it and keep trying, keep pushing addressing self worth again.
• Understanding the mindset of giving everyone the “permission to say NO.” The power of freely giving.
• The feelings and emotions that go into asking so many times…
• How to engage with people in social media and how to bring value to people through your story…
• Direct asking and how it differs from social media (and how to approach.)
• How to extend your network through your current network. “You are in control of how visible your story is.”
• Stay multidimensional, give updates often even if it’s not the best news.

Module 5: Gratitude

• This module begins with walking us through the shift from entitlement to gratitude. Seeing the wonder in humanhood and surrender. Again, this one is a lesson in attitude shift.
• Like I said before- a lot of the strategy in successful fundraising comes with emotional healing and attitude shift and this module continued to teach me things I never would have thought of without begin told.
• Shifting to gratitude for the OPPORTUNITY to heal and recover vs. the entitlement to be well.
• Ryan talks about his strategy of short-term need fundraising (in his case, raising $25,000 in one week.)
• How to respond personally to every gift.

Module 6: Facebook is Not Enough

• This was a module I was very curious about because when my husband shared with me about the idea for Freely Funded, I honestly thought “What else is there besides Facebook and GoFundMe? I learned there is MUCH to be learned.
• Ryan cautions between “all or nothing thinking” and coaches how to shift to “all AND.”
• Ryan shares for strategies to use within several different platforms.
• Making video updates and “touching base” – strategies around staying effective within a short update.
• The option of “starting a blog” or update page and letting a loved one update for you from their perspective.
• The WORKBOOK is what really shines in this module. So many ideas!

Module 7: Secret to Success

• Module 7 includes a review of the prior modules plus over 15 additional fundraising ideas that target specific needs.
• What to do when you get discouraged, how to push through (this part was really helpful!)
• Why your fundraising must support both KNOWN and UNKNOWN costs (asking for more than you think you’ll need- you need a cushion.)

Bonus Module #1: Inspired vs. Required Effort

• This module was shorter than the others (about half as long) but dealt with more of the emotional perspective of how this journey has us feeling and WHY we need to listen to those internal messages.
• This is some SERIOUS bonus material. Several of the ideas Ryan offered in this module made a few of the other modules click for me. So much of this program has to do with confidence and self-worth, things that needed strengthening for me.

Bonus Module #2: The Advocate Perspective

• Ryan’s wife Caroline joins him for this module which is twice as long as the other 9 modules (~20 minutes)
• This module is AWESOME. I chuckled, I got teary-eyed thinking about my own husband’s support, and learned SO MUCH. I think this module will truly tap into so many people’s concerns and apprehensions about fundraising.
• Caroline shares HER fears about fundraising.
• WOW…this was so beautiful to hear. Caroline discusses how proud she was of Ryan, that even though he was confined to his recliner or hospital bed, he viewed fundraising as the way he could help support his family and take the medical expense burden off of HER and help support their family. That is quite a shift in perspective.
• How to deal with setbacks when the money is gone and the treatment didn’t work. Asking for more…
• OK- off topic, but I can’t help but acknowledge that Caroline is ridiculously beautiful and is somehow in her late 30’s and looks 25!? 😉 I’ve met her in person and continue to be amazed by her strength and intelligence. She is a model example of being a supportive spouse.

What is included in the Freely Funded course?

• Online access to the 10 video modules teaching you Ryan’s strategies for fundraising.
• A 100 page workbook to get you implementing the strategies.
• Email support from the Freely Funded team

And it is ZERO risk to you. Freely Funded guarantees you will raise at least TEN TIMES the cost of the course within 30 days or your money back. No questions asked.

THAT is awesome. 🙂

Who is Freely Funded For?

When my husband first brought this idea up to me, I had plenty of questions and concerns. As a people-pleaser who hates to ask for favors or help, publicly asking for money is an extremely uncomfortable and anxiety-producing task.

I would say Freely Funded meets you where you are. No matter your age, level of health (Ryan fundraised from his recliner!) or level of technology knowledge, you can form a plan for fundraising that works for you!

The course also helps you form a support system around you and how to also fundraise from the perspective of an advocate.

Participants have raised anywhere from $1,000 in a few days to over $50,000 in a few weeks.

ANYONE can benefit from this course.

Conclusion:

Overall, this is so much more than a fundraising course. At times, I felt it was the cross between meeting with a wise, confident friend and a life coach empowering me to my greatest potential. It addressed many of the tendencies I know I have but didn’t realize were holding me back from believing I was “worth it” and that I couldn’t put a price tag on my life.

I will say however, after going through the course myself, I can see how it demands action and change. Each module gives you ACTION steps that will require time and effort of you and/or an advocate. It is not for people who just want things done for them without having to put in the work. Perhaps the same could also be said about choosing a unique path of treatment and healing or fighting cancer in general.

There is absolutely NO REASON someone should not purchase this course. The empowerment and hope this course gives is something difficult to put a price tag on.

Purchase Freely Funded HERE

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