End of year update
Fundraising & Research
The research fundraising efforts have been progressing well, thanks to the community's dedication and the generosity of some donors. We launched our donation page in June 2023 and have raised 43,244.28 USD for research alone as of the current writing.
A portion of the funds collected has been transferred to the University of Milan to support Dr. Melcangi's research on PSSD. The University has confirmed the receipt of the donation.
The University of Milan accepts a maximum of €26,000 at a time. Since money transfers also incur costs, it is in the community's best interest to wait until the next sum of €26,000 EUR is obtained before transferring the remaining funds.
Each donation made to the university also has to be approved by the university’s board which can take some time.
Proof of payment
Should the opportunity arise to fund alternative promising projects, we will eagerly seize it.
For more info on the current and upcoming research, take a look here:
Marketing and awareness
In the meantime, we have been utilizing the marketing funds donated by the community to engage in digital marketing for PSSD.
Facebook & Instagram
In August 2023, we initiated ad campaigns on Instagram and Facebook, spending a total of 2,275 USD. The campaigns resulted in 492,845 impressions and 25,012 clicks.
As time goes on we plan to diversify and create new ads, including video ads.
Simultaneously, we launched Twitter ad campaigns in August 2023, spending about 1,400 USD. The campaigns garnered a significant number of impressions and clicks, exceeding 10,000,000 impressions in total.
Some ads achieved higher impressions due to specific targeting settings. While worldwide targeting increased impressions, focusing on a smaller set of English-speaking countries yielded better click-through rates. We plan to diversify and create new ads, including video ads.
As with our Instagram and Facebook ads, we plan to diversify and create new ads, including video ads.
Example of a running ad: https://twitter.com/PSSDNetwork/status/1694480486452666639
We recently also hit 5,000 follows on Twitter. In case you haven’t followed us already, please make sure to do so: https://twitter.com/PSSDNetwork
Google ads
In August, we applied for and were approved for the Google for Nonprofits program and the Google Ads grant. This grant allows us to utilize up to $10,000 in credits per month for Google search ads.
So far, we've utilized $18,200 worth of credits, actively working to improve impressions and click-through rates.
Unfortunately, due to PSSD's association with medical terms and medications, there are limitations on the ads we can run.
Running ads targeting medication names without the proper license is prohibited, and Google will block such ads. Additionally, many countries do not allow ads that refer to medication names or specific medical terms.
That said, we've received a significant amount of traffic directly from the ads we've been running on Google.
New PSSD Awareness video
We invested significant time compiling patient videos collected over the past year into a compilation video that serves as an awareness tool.
We will soon incorporate both the video and a summary of it into our new advertisements on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Recent NY Times article
The recent publication in the NY Times was a significant milestone, gaining widespread attention across various online platforms and among influencers. This marks a crucial point of no return in terms of awareness for PSSD.
If you haven’t had the chance to read the article yet, make sure to do so here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/health/antidepressants-ssri-sexual-dysfunction.html
Growth in 2023
2023 was a pivotal year for PSSD, with mentions in major media outlets such as the NY Times, BBC, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, and more.
The PSSD subreddit, which had around 6,300 subscribers at the beginning of 2023, has now grown to 10,502 at the time of writing.
PSSD Network Website Traffic
We've also witnessed a significant increase in website visits this year.
In February, we had only a few thousand monthly visitors; this figure has now surged to over 20,000 monthly visitors in December 2023.
The more the community progresses, the quicker solutions can be found. The future of PSSD lies in the hands of the community itself.
Thank you!
Thank you, everyone, for your support, donations, and trust. We remain committed to doing our best to propel the community forward.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Let's collaborate to make 2024 the most significant year for PSSD yet!
If you're interested in contributing to awareness and other efforts, please reach out to us here.