This is an archived page from 2019. Find out more
(By Troy Price) If we ever meet at a podcast meetup or conference, I will probably introduce myself by saying, “Hello, my name is Troy Price. You may remember me from such riveting Podcast Business Journal articles as, ‘Where We Should Really Be Focused’ and ‘Public Domain Is Your Friend.’" (Kudos to the both of you that got that Simpsons reference). And then, during our small-talk we may chat about all the businesses that we think would benefit from a podcast. We would talk about Apple, and Mountain Dew, and maybe Hasbro. I bet during our conversation we would never list a nonprofit business or a church.
Yet the podcast directories are full of nonprofit and church podcasts. I wanted to look into why nonprofits and churches thought podcasting was right for them, so I reached out to two online and real-world friends to explain why they stand behind nonprofit and church podcasting.
I first reached out to Blake Warenik the Director of Communications at National Children’s Alliance. I emailed him and asked, “Why did you launch your podcast a few weeks ago?” In, like, three minutes, here was his reply…
“There are three big reasons we decided to launch a podcast. The first is the easy part: podcasts are currently the most widely used in-depth communications medium that is doable for our organization. People don’t really read our blog much anymore. Video is huge, but doing good video is hard. Honestly, there can also be a weird, lonely quality to video when it’s just one or two people talking and there’s no production. Podcasts are like being invited to the conversation, and you can fit them into your busy life in a variety of settings.
“Second: podcasts are easier to administer. We’ve tried getting the experts we want to feature to write guest blogs, share stories on their work in our newsletter, and that sort of thing. But the thing is, most people have a hard time with writing in a format that may be unfamiliar to them; we have to edit, there’s a lot of back-and-forth, and generally for me as a communications professional, it’s a nightmare. Two hours of recording and editing, versus three or four weeks of waiting for a draft, returning edits, setting up a call to discuss the edits, waiting for approval, hunting down headshots? Podcasts aren’t a total breeze for novices, but they’re comparatively easy.
“The last and most important reason: we’re humans, not marble busts. Both for my executive and for the people she interviews on our podcast, we have the opportunity to show that we’re real people, and that these seemingly complex ideas really aren’t all that difficult to engage with. Not everyone knows how to write for a range of audiences, but most people love talking about themselves and their work. Even if they don’t love it, they can usually wing it.”
You can find out more about the One in Ten Podcast over at www.nationalchildrensalliance.org/podcast
I next reached out to Jason Norris from the website https://Podcastministry.org. I asked him why he thinks churches should be podcasting. He said: “Culture is changing. One result is that people attend church services less often than in the past. A podcast is one way to maintain a connection with those who are already members. And it’s also a way reach out to others who are in the community.
“[Podcasting] the weekend sermon is a good way to start a podcast ministry. But it’s better when the church goes beyond the sermon, providing practical ways to apply what they learn from the preaching. A podcast ministry is a local podcast. The primary focus is on the local church. It helps church members understand the Bible through various Bible study podcasts. It also helps with training, everything from ‘How to Study the Bible’ to teacher training and other kinds of ministry training.”
Neither Blake nor Jason said that they expected direct financial gain from their organization’s podcasting efforts. They rather suggested that podcasting helped them fulfill their mission. Maybe we all can learn something from these nonprofit and church podcasts?
_Troy Price is the co-founder of _Front Porch Studios_ in Berea, Kentucky. He’s been involved with podcasting for over a decade. Reach Troy by email at _Troy@frontporchstudios.com.