Do you want to create your own podcast to showcase your nonprofit organization? If so, you've come to the right place. If you hadn't guessed already, podcasting is the perfect addition to your marketing strategy, especially since in the United States alone the popularity of podcasts has skyrocketed within recent years.
Read on to learn more about podcasts and how they can help you reach donors and increase your fundraising as a nonprofit.
What are podcasts
If you're going to create a podcast for your nonprofit, you should probably know what a podcast is in the first place. And we don't just mean know what it is by definition, we mean fully understand all that it can do for your organization such as how it can allow you to reach potential donors and boost your fundraising dollars.
Let's start with the basics. Podcasts are audio recordings that focus on various topics and are available for people to download on the internet at any time. Whether you have a Mac or a PC, or an iPhone or an Android, you can download podcasts on an app such as Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, Amazon, or Apple Podcasts, to name a few.
Podcasts essentially provide the same information that you'd read in blog posts, except they’re in audio content form. Americans will listen to podcasts for fun or even to help pass the time when commuting to work, or doing chores around the house, so it’s likely that your target audience is within this pool. Typically, podcasters will do a weekly or monthly podcast, creating content that relates to various different topics from the latest news, to specific interests such as fitness or true crime.
How podcasts are changing the landscape for reaching ideal donors
In order for someone to donate to your organization, they're going to need a reason. That's where your podcast comes in. Utilize your expertise to create content tailored to your ideal niche group in order to attract them.
It's no secret that storytelling is iconic for nonprofit organizations. Creating audio content for a podcast is an excellent way to set yourself up as thought leaders to draw your target audience in. When it comes to converting people into donors, you're going to want to do all you can to make people feel empathetic about what your organization does. If your organization supports people with breast cancer or spotlights its attention on adopting abandoned puppies, you've got that empathy aspect in the bag. If neither of these topics relate to your nonprofit, you still have the potential to create this empathy. The more your audience feels empathetic, the more likely you're going to convert these people into donors.
Doing an interview podcast with someone else who deeply respects your business, such as a client or colleague can not only help the branding of your podcast, but will most likely increase your metrics in the long run. Keep in mind, podcasts are a form of content marketing, so you'll want to utilize keywords as much as possible in your podcast description, title, and even in the content itself in order to increase the odds of reaching your ideal donors.
How podcasts can help your nonprofit with fundraising and brand awareness
As we mentioned earlier, creating a podcast is the perfect opportunity for your nonprofit. If you're still hesitant about this, allow us to provide an example. Joan Garry is a consultant who's niche is topics that apply to nonprofits, from speaking about philanthropy to current trends for nonprofit organizations. There's a very strong likelihood that your target audience is listening to podcasts!
A successful, high-quality podcast can assist you in getting in front of a larger audience so you can start fundraising to them. When creating your podcast, be sure to put a summary of your podcast in the podcast description so that someone listening to your podcast for the first time has more awareness of what you and other employees at your organization do as philanthropists.
Several other things you can do with your podcast format to promote brand awareness are adding cover art, theme music, an intro, and outro to each podcast episode. Each episode might involve a little editing here and there to craft the perfect content, but by incorporating these elements into your podcast, people will have the opportunity to see and hear more about what your podcast (and your organization) is all about.
Additional things to consider when creating your podcast
If the only thing stopping you from building the successful podcast of your dreams is the fear of spending above your limited nonprofit marketing budget to make the podcast happen, don't worry, you can actually start a podcast for pretty cheap. All you really need is a laptop, microphone, pop filter, hosting service, and, of course, a stable internet connection to get it uploaded. There are even free podcast hosting services, perfect for nonprofits, such as PodBean. Be sure to check out Anchor and Audacity as well, as these are some popular software platforms. Sure you'll probably run into common recording issues here and there as anyone does, but don't let that stop you from creating your podcast.
Sharing your nonprofit podcast on your organization's social media such as Instagram and Twitter, or even including the link in your email campaigns is a great way to gain some additional traction. After all, you spent a lot of time on creating your podcast, so try to build up your subscribers anyway you can. Reaching more people and increasing your subscribers means you're more likely to land more donations!
Hopefully you have a newfound optimism towards creating a podcast for your business. Now that you know creating one is a good idea for your nonprofit and can actually lead you to raise more donations and increase brand awareness, it's time for the fun part! It's time to get connected with some fundraising and marketing specialists to get you started. As marketing consultants who have expertise managing nonprofits, we'd be happy to lend a helping hand. Set up your discovery call with us today.
