‘Feel Good’ Fundraising’ Podcasting Pros
In our ‘Feel Good Fundraising’ series, Bamboo’s digital marketing apprentice, Georgie, follows up on the stories of inspirational volunteer fundraisers to ask them the questions no one’s thought to ask.
Georgie, it’s over to you.
I’m a big fan of podcasts, so I was excited to speak to Sam Thomas, who hosted a 24-hour live podcast on his podcast platform, County Business TALKS to raise money for Rockinghorse Children’s Charity.
After reading about his fundraiser on Charity Today, I reached out to find out he got on.
Was it challenging to host a 24-hour podcast?
It was intense. As a host, you have to listen intently to your guests to ensure you respond properly and keep the conversation flowing.
I often record two episodes in a day and feel mentally drained after that, so I didn’t know how I’d fair over 24 hours.
Luckily, the guests were amazing, so I was okay. I structured the interviews so they ran for approx 45-50 minutes. This enabled me to have a quick breather between guests, but I still managed to lose my voice at the eight-hour mark.
As I’m a bit of a technophobe, I had the amazing H2 Productions on hand to manage that side of things and it all ran smoothly. They were brilliant.
24 guests over 24 hours is a lot. Did you find your powers as an interviewer waned as time went on?
Surprisingly I felt okay. I had a rough structure for each interview, but each guest brought a different energy and perspective to the conversation so it was easy. One guest, who joined me from Dubai in the early hours, shared a fascinating story, but there was a slight delay on the call. As a result, it became a bit of a monologue (his words not mine), but it didn’t matter as the story was brilliant. However, I had to cut him off as my next guest was waiting to speak to me from Sydney Airport before catching a flight.
How did you navigate losing your voice?
My voice started to go around 8pm and I still had 16 hours to go. I had some throat lozenges, lots of lemon, ginger, and honey tea, and cracked on. By the end, I sounded like I was auditioning for the Godfather!
How was the live audience?
They were amazing. It was wonderful to have such amazing support. They gave me a massive energy boost.
Any final words?
The tagline for the podcast is 'everyone has a story to tell' and I truly believe that. I felt honoured to have so many incredible guests with brilliant stories to share. If I had to choose one, it would be Carole Gilling Smith, founder of the Agora Clinic. It was a very emotional episode. The fertility clinic she founded is where my wife and I conceived our twins through IVF. It was the first time I’d seen her since she gave us the news that we were pregnant.
You can check out all of the episodes from Sam’s challenge here. Want to support his fundraising efforts? make a donation on his fundraising page.
If you’re looking for a community fundraiser to inspire volunteers like Sam, get in touch at info@amboofundraising.co.uk.