Worth Listening: How to Make a Mission-Driven Podcast

Next Chapter Podcasts & Voxtopica
  • 5.0 (4)
  • Non-Profit
  • Updated Biweekly

Podcasting is one of the most powerful ways to build trust, reach new audiences, and drive real impact. But for mission-driven organizations, finding the time, budget, and internal buy-in to launch and grow a show feels impossible. That’s where Worth Listening comes in. In each episode, media strategists Jeremiah Tittle and Richard Fawal sit down with creators, CMOs, and industry leaders who have been in your shoes. They pull back the curtain on what actually works, sharing the wins, the missteps, and the battle-tested tactics you need to create a podcast that cuts through the noise and advances your mission. Whether you’re trying to convince your board, stretch a lean budget, or turn listeners into advocates, this is the practical, no-fluff guide to building a non-profit podcast that matters. That’s where Worth Listening comes in. Each episode, media strategists Jeremiah Tittle and Richard Fawal sit down with creators, CMOs, and industry leaders who have been in your shoes. They pull back the curtain on what actually works—sharing the wins, the missteps, and the battle-tested tactics you need to create a podcast that cuts through the noise and moves your mission forward. Whether you’re trying to convince your board, stretch a lean budget, or turn listeners into advocates, this is the practical, no-fluff guide to building a non-profit podcast that matters. Subscribe now, and let’s make something worth listening to.

Episodes

  1. 2d ago

    Phil Buchanan on How a Nonprofit Podcast Finds Listeners

    Giving Done Right started during the pandemic and was recorded in a dining room and a closet. Phil Buchanan, president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), explains how the show reached its sixth season with help from the Chronicle of Philanthropy and a network of donor advisors. He covers what hosting takes in time and staff, why CEP hired an outside producer, and the two things he would tell any nonprofit starting a podcast. Phil Buchanan, president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, says a nonprofit starting a podcast should do two things first. It should find an experienced producer and line up distribution partners who will put the show in front of its audience. His own show, Giving Done Right, is in its sixth season at 10 or 11 episodes a year, and it reaches donors through the Chronicle of Philanthropy, wealth advisors, donor-advised fund providers, and community foundations. Buchanan joined CEP as its first employee in 2001. He started the podcast during the pandemic to carry the ideas in his 2019 book of the same name to a wider audience. He tells JT and Richard how the audience grew to include foundation staff, how a season is made within a five-week recording window, and what an outside evaluation could and couldn’t show about the podcast’s impact. Key points Buchanan said the Chronicle of Philanthropy posts each Giving Done Right episode on its website the day after it reaches podcast apps and promotes it in its email. The Chronicle has no role in producing the show.After CEP saw how many foundation staff were listening, it changed how it describes the show. Buchanan said it is now for “anyone who gets to give money away,” whether an individual donor, a program officer, or a foundation president.CEP records almost all of a season’s episodes in about five weeks. Buchanan said this means a longer wait between recording and release but frees him for the rest of his job, and timely episodes get turned around quickly while less time-sensitive ones are released later.Buchanan doesn’t send guests interview questions in advance because he worries they’ll script their answers. He sends a few bullet points on topics instead.A third-party evaluation by Impact Architects found some evidence that the show’s stories influence how listeners give. Buchanan noted the limitation: only listeners willing to be interviewed or surveyed are counted, and a show can’t identify everyone who listens.About Phil BuchananPhil Buchanan is president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, which he joined as its first employee in 2001. CEP now has 60 staff in Cambridge and San Francisco and does research and advisory work for funders, including its Grantee Perception Report. Buchanan wrote Giving Done Right (2019) and hosts the podcast of the same name. Mentioned in this episode Center for Effective PhilanthropyGiving Done Right podcast and bookGiving Done Right, Season 6, Episode 2, with KaBOOM! CEO Lysa RatliffThe Chronicle of PhilanthropyImpact Architects, the firm that evaluated Phil’s podcastComing up next: In two weeks, we’ll talk with the leader of the podcast team at the Brookings Institution about how they won internal buy-in. If this episode helped, send it to someone at a mission-driven organization who is asking the same questions. Follow Worth Listening wherever you get your podcasts. Have a question about how to make a mission-driven podcast? Get in touch at www.missiondrivenpodcast.com.

    Phil Buchanan on How a Nonprofit Podcast Finds Listeners

  2. Sep 30

    Worth Listening: How to Make a Mission-Driven Podcast

    You’re a communicator at a non-profit or mission-driven organization, and you know podcasting is one of the most powerful ways to build trust, reach new audiences, and drive real impact. But in an industry that moves at startup speed, finding the time, budget, and internal buy-in to launch and grow a show feels impossible. That’s where Worth Listening comes in. Each episode, media strategists Jeremiah Tittle and Richard Fawal sit down with creators, CMOs, and industry leaders who have been in your shoes. They pull back the curtain on what actually works—sharing the wins, the missteps, and the battle-tested tactics you need to create a podcast that cuts through the noise and moves your mission forward. Whether you’re trying to convince your board, stretch a lean budget, or turn listeners into advocates, this is the practical, no-fluff guide to building a non-profit podcast that matters. Subscribe now, and let’s make something worth listening to.

  3. Sep 28

    Introducing Worth Listening: How to Make a Mission-Driven Podcast

    If you are a mission-driven communicator and you've considered podcasting or have a podcast yourself or at your organization, this is the show for you. Hear from industry leaders and experienced podcasters about what it takes to build trust and reach new audiences through this amazing medium, and learn how they find the time, procure the budget, and get buy-in across the organization to make engaging, impactful podcasts that help them fulfill their mission. Join veteran podcast hosts Jeremiah Tittle of Next Chapter Podcasts and Richard Fawal of Voxtopica as they uncover everything there is to know about how to make a mission-driven podcast.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Podcasting is one of the most powerful ways to build trust, reach new audiences, and drive real impact. But for mission-driven organizations, finding the time, budget, and internal buy-in to launch and grow a show feels impossible. That’s where Worth Listening comes in. In each episode, media strategists Jeremiah Tittle and Richard Fawal sit down with creators, CMOs, and industry leaders who have been in your shoes. They pull back the curtain on what actually works, sharing the wins, the missteps, and the battle-tested tactics you need to create a podcast that cuts through the noise and advances your mission. Whether you’re trying to convince your board, stretch a lean budget, or turn listeners into advocates, this is the practical, no-fluff guide to building a non-profit podcast that matters. That’s where Worth Listening comes in. Each episode, media strategists Jeremiah Tittle and Richard Fawal sit down with creators, CMOs, and industry leaders who have been in your shoes. They pull back the curtain on what actually works—sharing the wins, the missteps, and the battle-tested tactics you need to create a podcast that cuts through the noise and moves your mission forward. Whether you’re trying to convince your board, stretch a lean budget, or turn listeners into advocates, this is the practical, no-fluff guide to building a non-profit podcast that matters. Subscribe now, and let’s make something worth listening to.

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