Should You Podcast?

Podcasting is one of these social media tools that is getting a lot of buzz these days – it’s the ability to create an audio program that people can then listen to, or pull in routinely through something like iTunes. There’s no question that this is a nifty technology, but like many of Web 2.0 tools, I’m concerned about the amount of attention they’re getting in the nonprofit world. Are they a great option for nonprofits? I’m unconvinced. They’re certainly not for everyone.

I had a conversation with a friend the other day that helped to crystallize my thoughts around this. Podcasts are like the ability to create a radio show that reaches your constituents. I like this analogy – it’s really cool that almost anyone can now create their own radio show. But that doesn’t mean that every nonprofit needs one.

At the end of the day, a podcast is still pretty time consuming to create. You need plan it, record it, edit it, put it up for distribution – easily 4-8 hours for a half hour show. And the audience is pretty small – you need people who are familiar enough with technology to know what a podcast is and how to get it, and who also want to listen to a long audio program (commuters, say, or serious runners). And for the most part, they still need to hear about your organization – it’s not really an outreach method, but rather a piece of content that needs to be marketed yourself.

My advice would be to think about it as if someone offered you a slot on a radio station. Would you be excited about that? Can you already imagine your programming? Would you be eager to start to put staff time into it and start telling your constituents where to find it? If so, then podcasting might absolutely be a good opportunity for you. But there’s an awful lot of nonprofits I’ve worked with whose mission isn’t easily served with a radio program. And for those folks, I’d say that podcasting isn’t a good fit – no matter how cool the technology.

Otherwise, how about some good old fashioned written content? You can reach the many more people who know how to find and read written stuff, and use the many distribution methods that exist to promote and get it into people’s hands. It may not be as exciting, but it just may be more effective.