Dot Org: How Nonprofits Tell Their Stories

Pearl Impact Media
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For businesses and organizations with a purpose-driven mission, telling their own story can feel daunting. Dot Org is the podcast that helps nonprofit leaders master the foundations, techniques, and effectiveness of storytelling.It's hosted by Matt Pearl, a nationally award-winning broadcast journalist who now runs Pearl Impact Media, providing meaningful, memorable video storytelling for nonprofits and purpose-driven businesses.

Episodes

  1. DEC 9

    EP 11: successful video strategy for nonprofits, with Ashley Stewart of FreeRent.Org

    I was a broadcast journalist locally and nationally for 20 years. Now I run Pearl Impact Media. I help nonprofits and purpose-driven businesses raise money, raise awareness, and separate themselves from the rest through meaningful, memorable, and affordable video storytelling. That’s my mission. This podcast, DOT ORG, is an offshoot of that mission. Each episode I chat with a nonprofit leader with a defined, thoughtful, and successful approach to telling their organization’s story. As someone who spends my days making videos for nonprofits, I always admire the nonprofits that have a clearly defined strategy for video. And in Atlanta, a recent client of mine is a perfect example. FreeRent.Org is a young nonprofit, but you wouldn’t know it by their video output. They post everywhere, from Instagram to LinkedIn. They use videos on their web site. And they recently brought me in for a video specifically geared at a major fundraising event. They do it on all fronts, and they do it well. My guest is Ashley Stewart, the executive director of FreeRent.Org, with a thoughtful look into how they thrive. FREERENT.ORG IMPACT VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW8Y16ryv34

    30 min

  2. OCT 28

    EP 10: Ten lessons on nonprofit video storytelling from ten episodes of Dot Org

    This is Episode 10. It’s a milestone episode. Double digits. And in each of the first nine, I can tell you how I feel when I finish listening. Invigorated. Ready to get out there and do what I love for this space. And thankful for all the nuggets of insight provided by our guest.  I want to try to capture that in this episode by mining those insights, specifically those about video. We’re switching it up a bit. No guest today … it’s just me. And I’ll be going through ten lessons from ten episodes of Dot Org about nonprofit storytelling through video. We all know video can be complicated. It can be intimidating. It can challenging. And that’s just doing one video, let alone building a strategy around it. But not only is it possible to fundraise and raise awareness through video, I’d say it’s essential for long-term growth.

    16 min

  3. OCT 6

    EP 9: the pillars of nonprofit storytelling, with Kacey Koeppel, The Pink Agenda

    I was a broadcast journalist locally and nationally for 20 years. Now I run Pearl Impact Media. I help nonprofits and purpose-driven businesses raise money, raise awareness, and separate themselves from the rest through meaningful, memorable, and affordable video storytelling. That’s my mission. This podcast. is an offshoot of that mission. Each episode I chat with a nonprofit leader with a defined, thoughtful, and successful approach to telling their organization’s story. Sometimes organic conversations just turn into a podcast, and that's what happened here. I was chatting on Google Meet with Kacey Koeppel, associate director of the Pink Agenda, and the discussion was so rich that I inquired, "Do you think we could continue this on my podcast?" In this episode, Koeppel speaks about the pillars of nonprofit storytelling and how to approach it, no matter your nonprofit's size.

    33 min

  4. SEP 10

    EP 8: empowering nonprofits to share their story, with Lasima Turmon, Community Foundation CSRA

    I was a broadcast journalist locally and nationally for 20 years. Now I run Pearl Impact Media. I help nonprofits and purpose-driven businesses raise money, raise awareness, and separate themselves from the rest through meaningful, memorable, and affordable video storytelling. That’s my mission. This podcast. is an offshoot of that mission. Each episode I chat with a nonprofit leader with a defined, thoughtful, and successful approach to telling their organization’s story. For Episode 8, I'm excited to bring in Lasima Turmon, program director for the Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area. I gave a workshop for her foundation last month, and it was a rich, rewarding conversation about video storytelling. The concerns and questions on the minds of those in the room are among the many things we discuss here.

    33 min

  5. AUG 11

    EP 7: Ralph Jean, Resource Rural, on rural storytelling & tips for nonprofits

    I was a broadcast journalist locally and nationally for 20 years. Now I run Pearl Impact Media. I help nonprofits and purpose-driven businesses raise money, raise awareness, and separate themselves from the rest through meaningful, memorable, and affordable video storytelling. That’s my mission. This podcast. is an offshoot of that mission. Each episode I chat with a nonprofit leader with a defined, thoughtful, and successful approach to telling their organization’s story. For Episode 7, I'm excited to bring in Ralph Jean of Resource Rural. When I give presentations on visual storytelling for nonprofits, I always discuss the importance of the overarching strategy. Creating videos and posting them on social media is great, but if you don’t know how that fits into your larger goals, you’re not using video to your best potential. As the communications manager for Resource Rural, Ralph Jean brings a unique perspective on this.

    32 min

  6. JUL 7

    EP 6: Zach Toombs, Evident Media, on storytelling tips any nonprofit can use

    At this time in 2024, I was a news reporter, working for the person who’s my guest today: Evident Media founder and executive director Zach Toombs. Back in '24 we worked for a for-profit news company. Now Toombs runs a not-for-profit news organization, boldly taking on documentary storytelling from a nonprofit model. Not only has he overseen masterful long-form projects throughout his career, but in this role he also oversees how he tells the story of his own upstart organization. Through that, he shares insights that are valuable for nonprofits of any size with any level of background in storytelling.

    34 min

  7. MAY 27

    EP 5: Bethany Wiggin, My Climate Story, on embracing all forms of storytelling

    A few weeks back, I read about the Climate Storytellers Summit, bringing in fascinating individuals doing critical storytelling work on maybe the most critical issue of our lives. The summit platformed so many voices, and one of the leaders behind it is my guest on this episode: Bethany Wiggin, co-founder of the University of Pennsylvania’s Program in Environmental Humanities and the founder of Penn’s My Climate Story initiative.

    29 min

  8. APR 21

    EP 4: Lydia Storie, Caring Across Generations, on carving attention for your mission

    Each episode I chat with a nonprofit leader with a defined, thoughtful, and successful approach to telling their organization’s story. We are now into Episode 4, and unlike Episodes 1 thru 3, I had not met the person I was interviewing until a few minutes before our conversation. But I’d worked with her organization on one of the most important projects of my career as a journalist. Back in the fall of 2022, I put together a documentary for Scripps Media called The Love of Care. I spent a day in the life with six individuals who serve as unpaid caregivers members of their families. Through that project I became familiar with Caring Across Generations, an advocacy group that doesn’t just speak up for caregivers. They teach caregivers how to speak up for themselves, how to tell their own stories. The person who oversees that work, among other things, is the person I shared the screen with for this episode: Lydia Storie, the director of culture change for Caring Across Generations.

    29 min

  9. MAR 16

    EP 3: Jeronica Harts, Purpose Built Schools Atlanta, on embracing authenticity in nonprofit storytelling

    I got the chance to know this guest late last year when I collaborated with her and her organization on an impact video. We hit it off quickly over a shared love of a few select storytelling projects and a similar outlook on embracing authenticity when telling your own story. That’s the topic for Episode 3 of DOT ORG. And she is my guest: Jeronica Harts, Director of Community Engagement and Partnerships for Purpose Built Schools Atlanta.

    31 min

  10. FEB 10

    EP 2: Andreas Karelas, RE-volv, on storytelling as the mission

    Recently I worked with a client that provides grants and guidance for nonprofits in the climate space, particularly solar and clean energy. They wanted a video that spotlighted several of their grantees, which – in one case – sent me on a cross-country trip to the Bay Area to meet a truly impressive nonprofit with an equally impressive leader. He is the founder and executive director of RE-volv, Andreas Karelas. For more than a decade, RE-volv has made storytelling central to not just its marketing but its mission. It's listed as a climate justice nonprofit that helps nonprofits across the country go solar, while also raising awareness about solar's benefits. Video intertwines with that mission, and it's a non-negotiable investment for Karelas and his team. Karelas is my guest on Episode 2 of DOT ORG.

    30 min

  11. JAN 16

    EP 1: Brent Pease, The Kyle Pease Foundation, on investing in visual storytelling

    I was a broadcast journalist locally and nationally for 20 years. Now I run Pearl Impact Media. I help nonprofits and purpose-driven businesses raise money, raise awareness, and separate themselves from the rest through meaningful, memorable, and affordable video storytelling. That’s my mission. This podcast. is an offshoot of that mission. Each episode I chat with a nonprofit leader with a defined, thoughtful, and successful approach to telling their organization’s story. For Episode 1, we’re not holding back. My guest is Brent Pease, someone I’ve known for nearly 14 years. I knew him when he was just planting the seeds of the nonprofit he now co-leads, the Kyle Pease Foundation. And I’ve watched him and his brother grow those seeds into something absolutely special and impactful. On this episode, Brent speaks about investing in visual storytelling and seeing the payoff a decade down the road.

    30 min
  • 11 Episodes

About

For businesses and organizations with a purpose-driven mission, telling their own story can feel daunting. Dot Org is the podcast that helps nonprofit leaders master the foundations, techniques, and effectiveness of storytelling.It's hosted by Matt Pearl, a nationally award-winning broadcast journalist who now runs Pearl Impact Media, providing meaningful, memorable video storytelling for nonprofits and purpose-driven businesses.

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