Podcasts are all the rage. Surely you have heard of the unprecedented success of Serial, and long-time favorite podcasts like This American Life and Radiolab. According to the Pew Research Center, a third of all Americans have listened to a podcast, and awareness of podcasts has more than doubled over the last 10 years.

Podcasts contain a huge range of content that spans across thousands of topics. So why not podcasts for nonprofits?

Podcasts present a powerful opportunity for content creation and storytelling, which can lead to a deeper understanding of the work you do and a stronger connection with your supporters and listeners. They are also an excellent resource for learning about the nonprofit sector generally, the latest technology for nonprofits, management, fundraising, and the important work that nonprofits are doing daily.

Nonprofit Podcasts to Tune Into

Want to stay engaged with the nonprofit world and keep learning about topics in your field? The internet has a vast library of free podcasts. Whole Whale has compiled a list of 101+ of the best nonprofit podcasts, many of which are available through iTunes. Here is a sampling of some of their most highly rated programs:

• • Nonprofits Are Messy: Lessons in Leadership | Fundraising | Board Development | Communications
    By Joan Garry
    A discussion of the most pressing issues faced by nonprofit leadership.

• The Idealist.org Podcasts
  By Idealist.org
  Stories about individuals and groups changing their communities in innovative ways, as well as interviews with nonprofit professionals about developing careers in the public good.

• Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio
  By Tony Martignetti
  Trusted experts and leading thinkers join Tony each week to tackle the tough issues for smaller, growing nonprofits.

Read the full list of recommendations here!

Creating Your Own Podcast

There are tons of ways to connect with your supporters and market your organization: your newsletter, blog, and email outreach, your website and social media presence, your direct mail, pamphlets, and brochures. But creating and disseminating a podcast for your supporters to tune into can give your nonprofit a powerful edge, and help your organization become a thought leader in your field. Engaged listeners will loyally listen to each episode, providing you with a very influential platform. A great way to tell stories, a podcast can also be an effective tool for inspiring action among listeners to donate and participate in your campaigns.

Here are some suggestions for kicking off a podcast of your own:

• Plan accordingly. Making a podcast does take time—it requires research, recording, editing, and promotion of the ultimate product. Delegate the appropriate resources to ensuring your podcast is well done. You will also want to determine a timetable for publishing your podcasts, figuring out the order of the episodes, and the content flow of the series.

• • Repurpose content from your blog! You may have plenty of original content to work with already, but here is an opportunity to repurpose your content in a newly engaging way. Embellish your content with interviews with experts, testimonials, and on-site audio footage.

• Utilize free technology. Audio editing software like Garage Band comes installed on almost every Mac, and you can otherwise download Audacity for most operating systems, including Windows, OS, and Linux. It is also free to publish your podcast on iTunes, Soundcloud, and Archive.org. Read more about free podcasting tools here.

Listen to any great nonprofit podcasts? Have one of your own? Share your recommendations in the comments!