By Elizabeth Wasternack and Amy Black with Kate Yaughn
Last week’s blog discussed the importance of non-dues revenue streams and gave some examples. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking into some of the most popular types of non-dues revenue streams so that you can learn how to incorporate them into your association’s financial strategy.
Up first: Podcasts.
Podcasts have quickly become one of the most popular methods of entertainment in recent years. As of late 2021, statistics show that nearly 60% of U.S. consumers listen to podcasts. It is so easy to put one on during a walk or while on a road trip. If your organization has a podcast and has established a solid following, consider offering advertising opportunities to interested parties. Make sure to develop protocols around who can advertise on your platform to ensure that they are in line with your mission and messaging of your organization.
Here’s how to get started:
Get a member, or multiple members, who are enthusiastic about hosting and producing a podcast.
Decide as an organization which specific audience you want to design your show to target.
Once an audience is defined, create some key goals your show will strive to cover consistently in each episode, (i.e. news of the day related to your organization, highlight a new study in your organization’s latest journal).
Decide on your production schedule. Will you produce a podcast quarterly? Monthly? Weekly?
Purchase a good microphone, soundboard and editor.
Create an account on a distribution website, such as Libsyn.com, for when you are ready to publish your podcast. This will allow your podcast to be found on popular podcast platforms like Spotify, Apple iTunes and podcatchers.
Once you’ve established a podcast following, many distribution platforms, like Libsyn.com, offer a way to monetize your podcast by allowing ads. Most platforms require you reach a certain number of downloads before your podcast can qualify to run ads.
Publish your podcast in a video format for uploading on your organization’s YouTube channel. Once a channel reaches 1k subscribers, it can opt-in to YouTube’s monetization program where you also make money off of ads shown when your videos are played.
