Podcast Ministry

When you are ready to start your Podcast Ministry you will need a website. This fulfills the basic function of providing you a dedicated RSS Feed URL that you can submit to iTunes and Stitcher Radio. I recommend using BlueHost.com for your hosting services, and they have just made their website even easier to use. With it they provided this great guide to Content Management Systems. I hope you enjoy it.

When you are ready to get started setting up your website click the affiliate link to support the effort that goes into this website. I have a deep desire to see ministries reach more people more effectively but this takes valuable time and I appreciate your support.

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There are three primary ways that you can use a Podcast to bring in new funds for your ministry. These three ways are through text giving, sponsors, and ads on your "Show Notes". In this post I will walk you through how each one works including the advantages and disadvantages of each one that you must consider before determining what will work best for your ministry.

Text Giving

With this option you would make an arrangement with a "Text to Donate" company that would then provide you with a short number for people to text. When people text that number a charge is added to the person's cell phone bill. The company that provided you with the number process all these transactions and works with the cell phone companies for you, it is not free. Text giving options are proven to be 3 times more effective in reaching NEW donors.

Advantages

Easy to donate
Attractive to first time donors
Builds your donor database
Reaches younger supporters

Disadvantages

It Costs to set up
Shut-ins may find it difficult
Parents of overly supportive children may become upset

Sponsors

With this option you would make arrangements with businesses and organizations that would like to reach your audience and fit the message you want to put forward. Sponsorship rates are calculated by looking at the average number of downloads per episode and usually pay $18/1000 downloads for a 15 second mention at the beginning of your episode.. However for a church podcast it may be easier to make arrangements with business on a per month basis instead of per episode. Lets say you spend a few months getting your Podcast ministry off the ground and build it to the point of getting 500 downloads* an episode and you do 2 episodes each week. At this rate of downloads you can have a company sponsor your podcast for $75 a month. With 4 sponsors taking up only one minute at the beginning of your podcast that is an additional $300/month for your ministry. If you are considering starting a podcast ministry for a large membership church just imagine adding a 0 to those estimates.

*Depending on your ministry the numbers may be significantly higher, or a struggle to reach 500 downloads per episode

Show Notes Ads

This method is a bit more targeted because your listener has shown engagement with your ministry by visiting your website. The concept of show notes I will explain in more detail in a future post. How this works as a source of new funds is you can add affiliate links to anything you reference during the podcast episode. If you mention a book put an amazon link to it. If someone purchase the book then your ministry will get a percentage of the sale or anything else they buy from Amazon within a given amount of time.