Meet Carolyn Appleton! Carolyn is a major gift fundraiser and nonprofit communications expert who uses technology to amplify her impact and do more with less. She’s known for tackling seemingly impossible fundraising efforts and turning them into success stories. Carolyn has many years of hands-on experience working in the trenches of nonprofit fundraising across Texas and beyond.
Carolyn has been part of the Qgiv extended family since 2019—we proudly partner to help make a difference in our communities.
Carolyn’s Nonprofit Blog was inspired by the many people who have reached out to Carolyn since it was launched in 2011 to ask for advice about becoming a grant writer and nonprofit fundraiser. Many readers asked How do you become a grant writer? What classes are best? Do you need a lot of training, or just the basics? Would volunteering help? Here’s more from Carolyn on how to get started.
The Exercise Coach – Appleton is seeking a part- or full-time Exercise Coach/Personal Trainer to deliver one-on-one and small group exercise instruction. Duties include conducting initial consultations and promo sessions, leading individual and small-group exercise sessions, tracking fitness results for clients, and tracking studio metrics such as lead flow, conversion, retention and client satisfaction, and assisting in training other coaches alongside the Studio Manager.
No fitness experience is necessary, but candidates with experience in personal training or small-group fitness instruction will receive priority consideration. All employees will receive full training in The Exercise Coach methods and technologies. Ideal candidate is people-oriented and is passionate about good health. The right candidate needs to be available up to 40 hours per week to be scheduled Monday-Friday and an occasional Saturday Morning. Schedule will be determined by the Studio Manager.
I think it is always helpful to find others in the community who are doing the same thing: working to make the world a better place, learning how to perfect their grant writing skills, finding new jobs, securing credentials and advanced training, and who are seeking volunteer opportunities. There are quite a few professional associations today that can help you “network” and keep you on top of your game.
One of my favorite support organizations specifically for grant writers is GPA: Grant Professionals Association. GPA chapters are located across the United States. You might attend a few meetings as a guest, to see if you like it. If you do like GPA and you join, you should investigate the Grant Professionals Certification Institute (GPCI). GPCI administers the nationally recognized Grant Professional Certification (GPC) credential, which is highly regarded and well worth placing on your resume.
Carolyn has been part of the Qgiv extended family since 2019—we proudly partner to help make a difference in our communities.
While I was busy conducting academic research and taking university classes to secure a master’s degree, I decided “real life” work experience in my area of interest would be helpful. It was then that I began working at a local art museum as a volunteer. I was assigned to the art school to track art classes and enrollments, and to work on reporting and making sure records were polished and current. I did this for about a year when my skills were spotted by other members of the staff, and I was invited to apply to work jointly with the fundraising and media relations offices. This ultimately led to full-time employment.
Today, there are many grant writing courses and educational resources available. I often recommend you look to your local community for grant writing courses offered by community foundations and libraries and those available in the continuing education offices of universities and community colleges. These frequently provide a certificate of completion which you can note on your resume.
Maggie, Birdy, Amara, and Nell are all at turning points in their lives, finding new loves, new career paths, and more all while living together and dealing with life in a quintessentially 2012 way. Reminiscent of the HBO show Girls, Everything I Know About Love is equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking.
Its so great because I feel like the relationships were so heartfelt and then there were so many cringe moments that they were there for each other for. Marli, is there any particular scene or moment for your character or any other character that you read, and you were like, oh my god, secondhand embarrassment?
Screen Rant sat down with Appleton, Odoffin, and Siu to discuss all things Everything I Know About Love, including the cringiest moments of the show, what it was like working with Alderton, and more.
The friendships are the backbone of the show and I thought they were so special. Aliyah, how did you guys sort of build that dynamic and build that bond and come together on set?
I didnt realize it was a memoir until after I watched and then started doing the research and Dolly [Alderton], the writer of the memoir, was the creator of the show. With Maggie being the main character, what was that collaborative relationship with her like? How closely did you guys kind of work together and figure out the nuances of the characters?