#GrabTheMIC Client Journey Interview
- Client: Plan UK / International Charity
- Project: Impact reporting and thanking donors
- MIC Service: Podcast Production
In this #GrabTheMIC client journey we speak to Lois Mann, from the Philanthropic Partnerships team at Plan UK. We were commissioned by the international charity to create a podcast for their donors.
We start by asking Lois about Plan’s mission…
The main thing is about gender equality, but that’s not just focusing on girls. It’s also educating men and boys about why gender stereotypes are really harmful. Education’s a massive part of that because it’s pretty much at the root of a lot of these issues. Girls do deserve to go to school and to have that opportunity to learn. I think that’s something which is really important for everybody, to have no matter where you come from or what your background is.
So what do you love most about MIC?
What stood out the most when we were looking for a producer to support our podcast idea was that you were a social enterprise. Then looking at your portfolio, MIC really resonated with our aims and objectives around giving people opportunities, especially around the work MIC’s done with women empowering other women.
It’s really important to be aligned with the same goals and morals, it means we’re both on the same page.
Why did you get MIC involved?
At the time, we were about four months into lockdown and during that time of uncertainty we were thinking how can we engage our donors? We couldn’t do in-person events and we didn’t want to keep inviting them to webinars because people had already become tired of being on Zoom!
Our problem was, how can we then engage our donors in a really meaningful way?
Also, the project these particular donors were involved with was coming to end, so we wanted to have a really impactful, engaging piece of stewardship to let them know what’s been going on with the projects and to thank them. Plus we wanted to try something new!
How was the experience of working with MIC on the podcast project?
It was really interesting and I learned a lot! Especially when it came to writing for audio! I also really enjoyed that you were forgiving if we had to push things back. MIC’s flexibility, organisation and approachability was really appreciated.
What has been the impact of the piece we made for your donors?
We sent it to all of our donors and across our Plan UK team, which is 200 people! It’s actually inspired others because since we’ve been in lockdown, we have a twice weekly audio note that goes internally round Plan UK. The sponsorship comms team also did their own podcasts! It’s not properly produced but it’s just a conversation about what they do and to update people about what they’re working on. I think that’s really great.
I’ve shared the podcast with other supporters and donors as an example of the type of work that we do. I also sent it to Plan Ghana because their voices are in. It’s definitely reached a lot of people!
Then the feedback that I got from the donors was that they really liked having something that they could put on and they could carry on pottering about whilst they listened. They liked it because they didn’t have to sit down and watch something. With them being zoom-tired, it was really good because we could engage them in a different way. I think they really felt close to what we’re doing, which is really nice.
We had a really positive experience working with MIC Media and I tell so many people how great you are!
So did it contribute to solving your problem?
The podcast has really helped to give people a real in-depth understanding of what we do. Through the production with the audio clips and interviews we really took them on a journey. Which was important because we couldn’t take them to the projects because we can’t travel, but we can take them there another way. It’s also helped engage them as a number of them have given a gift since then. It’s proven to be a great addition to our job, of how we steward and cultivate our donors. They’ve never had anything like this before and I don’t think they would have necessarily had that otherwise. It made them feel quite special. I think that’s really important, keeps them engaged, happy and likely to give another gift in the future.
I’d say the podcast definitely solved the problem we had. It was also cost-effective compared to putting on a massive donor event.
Looking for support to produce your organisation's podcast or creatively report back to your funders and supporters?
Contact MIC HERE, let’s have a chat about your podcast ideas.
