The Admiral’s Log
Notes on podcasting from the Seaplane team.
Podcasts for Family Foundations
Family foundations making audio content have an extremely varied array of interests, but what they share is likely one of three goals: tell the personal story behind why the family or founder cares about a cause, build trust and communicate real impact to grantees, co-funders, and the next generation of the family itself, or recruit other funders to a specific initiative by making the case in a way a grant report can't.
Podcasts for University Research Institutes and Academic Centers
Research institutes might find that podcasting can be a great way to address one of three goals: satisfy a grant's public engagement requirement, translate ongoing research for an audience beyond peer reviewers, or build a center's reputation as a place doing work worth paying attention to. This is a different client than a university's central communications office, which usually handles news, admissions, and general institutional marketing.
Podcasts for Arts Councils
An Arts Council is usually not telling a single institution's story. Rather, you're representing dozens or hundreds of grantees. A podcast for these groups start with one of three goals: show the public and legislators what your funding actually produces, give grantee organizations and individual artists visibility they couldn't get on their own, or build the case for continued or increased public arts funding.
And to add complexity, here’s a real thing that happens: sometimes the podcast isn't yours to produce at all. A grantee might come to you having already built a show of their own — the California Arts Council-funded We Won't Move: A Living Archive, hosted by three artists telling the stories of APA artists past and present, is that kind of project. These are very unique opportunities to have available, and having the ability to make it happen only deepens the relationship with the people who help make your organization’s work possible.