by Jayne Cravens
coyoteboard.com

For Nonprofits & Community Groups Considering Their Own Podcasts:
Why It's Worth Exploring & How to Produce Your Own

When podcasts first started being talked about, back in the late 1990s, most podcasts didn't last long. Why? Because in the 1990s, you had to download podcasts to a device in order to listen to them "on the go": while commuting to work, while mowing your lawn, etc. Now, most people listen to podcasts via the Internet, on demand, on their smart phones - no need to download files anymore.

A podcast is audio. It features someone, or various people, talking. It can have some music or it can be mostly music. It can be an interview show. It can offer observations about history or politics or art or fishing or absolutely anything else. It's almost exactly like radio shows, and most of the requirements for a well-produced radio program are the same for a well-produced podcast.

If your nonprofit, community group, government agency or other mission-based program is thinking about producing a podcast, here's the most important thing to know: it's much harder to get people to listen to your podcast than it is to produce a podcast. Just producing a podcast does NOT mean anyone will listen.

If you want to produce a regular podcast, you have to answer these questions: why would people want to listen your podcast? What would be the compelling reason they would listen to your podcast instead of or in addition to wildly popular podcasts that are oh-so-entertaining or insightful? A successful podcast feeds someone's strong curiosity about a topic or boosts their already strong feelings about something. That's why podcasts focused on history, podcasts by or about celebrities and political podcasts are some of the most popular out there: people want to listen to a podcast and be intrigued and/or entertained, and those podcasts do just that.

Knowing all of this, you have to come up with a really compelling reason to produce a podcast if you want anyone to listen to it.

Here are some examples of weekly or twice-monthly podcasts by nonprofits and mission-based organizations:

A local historical society producing a podcast about compelling moments in local history: the conditions of enslaved people before the Civil War, what happened in the town when Birth of a Nation was shown at a local theater, how the town functioned while fighting men were away during WWI or WWII, what so-called "Indian schools" were like, what the community was like during the Civil Rights movement, controversies over a new school being built, etc.

A nonprofit serving refugees interviewing a different refugee in each podcast about their challenges and progress.

A public school doing a podcast that starts with a list of events happening at the school that week and that month, that notes school-related news like department staff or new hires, that announces recent sports scores, and then interviews someone from the school: the director of the upcoming spring musical, the coach of the volleyball team, a player on the basketball team, the editor of the school newspaper, students whose work is being featured in an upcoming art show, etc.

A community of faith recording audio from sermons and ceremonies and making such into podcasts.

A chamber of commerce or department within local government could produce a podcast where different community leaders are interviewed, like the leaders at different nonprofits, the local school superintendent, the mayor and members of city council, the state legislative representatives, the local fire chief, business owners, festival organizers, etc.

A nonprofit focused on sustainability could do podcasts on local recycling resources, on why it's such a great idea to shop regularly at the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore, how to recycle clothes, myths and misunderstandings about the city's recycling program, how to compost, the best things to plant in a home garden, how to improve the fuel efficiency of a car, what to do with old entertainment cabinets, on mass transit, etc.

A local animal shelter or animal rescue group could do a regular podcast about different aspects of pet health and safety, why vaccines are vital, how an ID chip really works, why spaying and neutering is vital, about myths around pet care, about liability in owning pets, about laws around exotic pet ownership, etc.

Each of these podcast ideas have ready-to-listen, built-in local audiences - people who are already interested in these topics and want to make time to receive regular, up-to-date information about such.

Of course, there are national podcasts that appeal to a broad audience who make time to listen to such, but a new national podcast can be much harder to find an audience for and requires a budget for promotion. Also, if you have an idea for a podcast that you think has appeal beyond your immediate geographic community, you have to do a lot of research to see what's already out there - if your podcast is not going to be unique or substantially better than what others are already doing, it's going to be hard to find an audience.

If your nonprofit or other organization is thinking about starting a podcast, make a list of the topics you want to present and then for each, answer this: what kind of person would want to listen to this on their way to work or while mowing their lawn or while sitting on a plane? Why is this subject compelling enough that people will listen to this instead of music or NPR or some other high-profile podcast?

And be ready to accept this reality: not every nonprofit or community organization has a compelling reason for a podcast. You might involve hundreds of volunteers, and think, hey, we could interview a volunteer every week. But here's the thing: are there enough people SO interested in hearing this podcast that they will MAKE the time to listen to it? Will people want to listen to this instead of all of the many popular podcasts already out there?

More questions you will need to answer before you start producing podcasts: How will the podcast support your organization's mission? How will the content be relevant to your target audience? And who IS your target audience for a podcast? And after a year, what data will you need to show your podcast is successful - are you going to do that purely by a certain number of listeners, or a certain threshold of feedback?

You have to do all this before you even think about who is going to host your podcast, who will undertake each task to make a podcast happen, and how you will publicize it.

Also, before creating your own podcast, you also need listen to podcasts or radio interviews, and think about what you like and don't like about them. You need to understand things from the listener's perspective. This will better ensure your podcast's success.

Who & What's Needed

Here are your next questions to answer:

What staff will produce this? Will it be current employees (and if so, who, and what exactly will be their roles) or will you need to hire or contract with someone? Will volunteers be involved and, if so, who, and what exactly will be their roles?

Who is the person who is ultimately responsible for producing these podcasts? There needs to be one person that is in charge of all aspects of production and all aspects of the involvement of others.

What staff members will have input into the content of podcasts? And how will they make these suggestions? I think it's vital that you open up the possibility of producing a broadcast to ALL your staff and volunteers -- don't limit the producers to only your marketing staff.

Will the executive director of the organization want to review and sign off on all proposed podcast subject matter and guests? Will the executive director want to hear a new podcast before it becomes public?

What equipment will need to be purchased in order to produce these podcasts?

Where will the recording of the podcast take place? Do you already have the equipment necessary to produce the podcast and, if not, what do you need to buy?

On what computer will the editing and final production of the podcast take place? Will the organization reimburse the staff member responsible for this if that person is using his or her own equipment?

You can record audio for a podcast with a smart phone and its built in microphone, a computer and its built in microphone, or use a more upscale microphone attached to either device. If you have a Mac, you can edit audio using iMovie or GarageBand, both of which are free software that came installed on your computer. The more sophisticated you want your podcast, however, the more you will need specialized hardware and software, earphones, a sound-proofed room, etc.

Podcast length & frequency

You also need to answer these questions before you begin production:

How long will each podcast be? 15 minutes? 20? 30? 45?
How frequently will you publish podcasts? Monthly? Twice monthly? Weekly?

Think realistically about how often your organization can produce a podcast and how long your podcast can me. I'm going to repeat that -- think realistically about how often your organization can produce a podcast and how long your podcast can me.

Draft a list of subjects

Before you begin production, you need to brainstorm possible subjects for your podcast. It's a good idea to have 10 subjects ready: what will your first 10 podcasts be, who will be involved in the production of those podcasts (guests, interviewers, etc.), and what might the order of those podcasts look like? ALL staff and volunteers should get to submit subjects for the podcast, and should be able to submit ideas at ANY point (not just when you launch the podcast).

set dates for recording and broadcast.

What will be the first day you will broadcast your first podcast? And at what time? When you settle on that: at what exact time should the podcast go "live", meaning anyone can listen to it if they know where it is hosted or see a link on your web site? From that planned time and day, you work BACKWARDS for your production schedule:

By what date and time does the FINAL, ready-to-upload podcast need to be ready?
How many days, and how many hours, will re-editing the podcast take place?
How many days will the executive director have to listen to the first draft of the podcast and approve it for broadcast?
By what date and time does the FIRST draft of the podcast need to be ready for the executive director to listen to?
How many days/hours between the last audio recording for the podcast and the production of the FIRST draft of the podcast will the producer of the podcast have?
Over how many days will the producer have to record all necessary recordings for the podcast?

Using that schedule, you will be able to develop a production schedule for your first podcast - and you will use this again and again for future podcasts.

Where to host

xxx

Podcasts need to be described in detail via text and tagged with keywords if you want people to be able to find them.

Producing the podcast

You need to have clear, clean audio, and very understandable voices. This may mean buying a special microphone for recording, although you can produce audio with the microphone on most computers and smartphones. You can also produce a podcast from the audio of a recorded meeting on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.

Encourage people participating in a podcast to speak slowly and to enunciate clearly.

It's okay to rehearse a podcast! Have scripts, or, at least written prompts, to reduce long silences and repeated use of words like "you know". It's fine to be casual and spontaneous, but no one likes to listen to dead air or unintelligible speech. Think about why some radio interviews sound great, and some flounder -- the same is true of podcasts. Yes, of course you can edit out dead air, but the more you have to edit, the longer your podcast will take to produce.

You need to have a transcript of your podcasts available on your web site. The transcript is for those who cannot listen to such because of a hearing impairment or because they lack the equipment... or because they simply don't really like podcasts and won't get your message unless you provide a text version. Here's an easy way to get somewhat automated transcripts: upload the audio as an unlisted YouTube video, and then give the YouTube AI time to transcribe the audio automatically. Then download the text and, while listening to the podcast, correct the automatically-produced transcript. This is a terrific task for an online volunteer, BTW...

Promoting the podcast

You need to post a link on your web site to where you podcast is hosted. You also need to announce each new podcast on:

Your web site
Each of your social media channels (Facebook, Mastodon, Instagram, etc.)
Via emails to donors, volunteers, etc.
Via communications with clients and program participants
In internal memos to staff and volunteers.
In a press release to local media and perhaps even to other nonprofits and government agencies.

Encourage staff and volunteers to share social media posts announcing new podcasts to their followers. And encourage staff and volunteers to offer feedback about podcasts, especially when it comes to things they found particularly interesting or where they think things could be improved.

Return on Investment

Once you are podcasting, you need to survey your target audience. Are they listening? When are they listening? Why are they listening? What have they liked? What have they not liked? Do they have recommendations for your podcast? Without soliciting and measuring your feedback, you might as well be talking to the air.

You can do surveys via email, you can do surveys at onsite events, and you can ask for feedback on your web site and via social media.

You should pay attention to any metrics your podcast host may produce (number of listeners, number of subscribers, etc.), but you should also pay attention to comments and who they come from. If your listener numbers are low, but your state legislative representative says, "Oh, I LOVE your podcast!" it's a success!

A Change in How I View Podcasts

The page you are reading now used to have VERY different advice about podcasts. I was not at all enthusiastic about them. That's because I started the page in the 1990s, when podcasts were oh-so-new and more a buzzy, unproven trend than something particularly valuable. I never listened to them, except when I was the featured guest on such. It's taken years for podcasts to finally catch on and have staying power - and that came about when the Internet became mobile at last. And now I do listen to them - but, then again, I also am an avid NPR radio listener, and so much NPR programming translates perfectly into the podcast environment.

Want to hear the original page content as a podcast? Download this mp3 file and listen to me chatter for seven minutes and 20 seconds. I speak slowly, for those of you who are non-native English speakers. The file is 3.3 MB.

The information below is a transcript of this podcast, which I produced using just my laptop at the time, and while living in Germany:

Begin Podcast

Hi, this is Jayne Cravens. And what you are listening to, right now, is a podcast. It was produced on April 12, 2006. A podcast is... well, it's just an audio file, and you make the file available for others to listen to, usually via your web site. They download the file and listen to it via a computer or a portable audio player, such as an iPod. If you are listening to this, then you already have all that you need to listen to a podcast: a computer with internet access and a sound card, as well as software that can play audio files.

To record a podcast, you need software on your computer that allows you to record audio files, and a microphone. For this, my first podcast, I'm using a free program called Audacity, that I think I got when I bought an adapter for my headset -- I think it came with the adapter. You can download Audacity for free. It's available for both Macs and IBM/Clone PCs. Or, if you have a newer computer, you probably have software already loaded on your machine that will allow you to record an audio file and save it as an MP3.

And, by the way, I'm using an older Macintosh computer, a lime iBook running system 9.2.2 -- just another example of how you don't need the latest and greatest software and hardware to be "cutting edge."

You really do NOT have to be a tech whiz to produce a podcast -- I threw together the podcast you are listening to now in about an hour -- however, thinking through and writing the content took MUCH longer.

Now, this obviously was not the most exciting podcast in the world. There's a slight buzz in the background from my iBook, and I have no background music or sound effects or special guest stars. You are going to hear much, much better ones as you start sampling other podcasts for yourself. The point of this wasn't to wow you, but to help you realize that producing a podcast really isn't that difficult. If I can do it, you can do it. The problem isn't so much the technology as the content -- people are going to listen to your podcasts only if you offer them something really worth listening to.

For more tips on podcasting for nonprofits, including very detailed tips on software options, broadcast options, encoding your files, publicizing your podcast, allowing others to broadcast your podcast, and so forth, visit Techsoup.org -- that's Techsoup.org -- and look for an article called "Podcasting: A New Voice on the Net Create your own digital audio broadcasts". It's by Michael Gowan, and it provides all of the many techy details about podcasting that I don't.

And you can read the transcript of this podcast at coyotecommunications.com. That's coyotecommunications.com.

This is Jayne Cravens, recording from outside Bonn, Germany. Thanks for listening. Auf Wiedersehen.

end of podcast

I do have another work-related podcast: the audio version of my guest article for the Energize, Inc. HotTopic: "Letting Fear Prevent Volunteer Involvement is Too Risky" (or you can read it, if you prefer).

I also have a YouTube channel, which is much more fun.

Also see:

What are good blog topics for mission-based organizations?
The word "blog" is short for "web log", and means keeping a journal or diary online. Blogging is NOT a new concept -- people have been doing it long before it had a snazzy media label. The appeal of blogging for an online audience is that it's more personal and less formal than other information on a web site. Readers who want to connect with an organization on a more personal level, or who are more intensely interested in an organization than the perhaps general public as a whole, love blogs. Blogs can come from your Executive Director, other staff members, volunteers, and even those you serve. Content options are many, and this list reviews some of your options
Getting More Viewers for Your Organization's Online Videos
Videos are a great way to represent your organization's work, to show you make a difference, to promote a message or action that relates to your mission, etc. But just uploading a video isn't enough to attract an audience. This new page on my site offers specific steps that will get more views for your organization's videos on YouTube. Note that many of these tasks would be great for an online volunteer to undertake, with guidance from an appropriate staff member.
Snapchat’s Potential Power for Social Good – with REAL examples.
Nonprofit Organizations and Online Social Networking: Advice and Commentary.
Evaluating Online Activities: Online Action Should Create & Support Offline Action
Hundreds of "friends" on an online social networking site. Thousands of subscribers to an email newsletter. Dozens of attendees to a virtual event. Those are impressive numbers on the surface, but if they don't translate into more volunteers, repeat volunteers, new donors, repeat donors, more clients, repeat clients, legislation, or public pressure, they are just that: numbers. For online activities to translate into something tangible, online action must create and support offline action. What could this look like? This resource can help organizations plan strategically about online activities so that they lead to something tangible - not just numbers.

See more resources re: Outreach & Engagement, With and Without Technology

Discuss this web page, or comment on it, here.

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For Nonprofits & Community Groups Considering Their Own Podcasts: Why It's Worth Exploring & How to Produce Your Own