One of the most powerful ways to build your podcast is to understand just how much your listener values you and how much they’re willing to support you – you just have to ask! Here’s how to accommodate listener tips and donations, as well as how to incentivize more listeners to donate to your podcast.
In this article...
What are listener donations?
The vast majority of podcasts are accessed for free through streaming services, or podcast apps. Even if you’re using a paid streaming service like Spotify Premium, you’re not paying per podcast, and podcasters don’t get paid per stream. This means outside of an algorithmic boost and better listener numbers, if you’re listening to a podcast you’re not really supporting it, or at least not in any kind of substantial way.
So, if you love a podcast, what can you do? Donate!
Even a couple of dollars helps – if 10% of a podcast’s listeners give that much it can be a really sizeable amount, as well as showing your favourite podcaster how much their work means to you and how much you want them to continue.
What software can I use to accept listener donations?
Captivate Tipping
A fully in-house, free-to-use feature for all Captivate podcasters, Captivate Tips allows you to accept listener donations through a simple link. Donors can select from predetermined amounts to tip, decided by you, or they can tip a custom amount. It couldn’t be more simple!
There’s also Captivate Memberships, which let you sell your premium content to subscribers on multiple tiers, rewarding your die-hard fans with exclusive goodies.
Buy Me A Coffee
Custom-built for donations (and later adding subscription-based memberships to compete with Patreon), Buy Me A Coffee lets listeners donate to their favourite creators.
The platform allows you to sell physical items, like merch, through a storefront, as well as non-physical items like consultations and 1-1 calls. It’s a really fantastic way to monetize.
Why would I use an in-house solution rather than popular alternatives?
While there are some really fantastic dedicated tools out there, the main reason to use an in-house solution is ease of use. Keeping listeners within a single ecosystem is great for professionalism and consistency, especially if you’re using a Captivate website.
So you can either offer a simple donation option and display that on your free Captivate Site, or you can select early access / exclusive access when creating your episode and send that to your Captivate Members. Or, if you use Apple Subscriptions, you can use that too, thanks to our support of Delegated Delivery for Apple Subscriptions.
How can I incentivize listeners to donate to my podcast?
It’s not a quick win, but the biggest thing you can do to incentivize donations is to consistently deliver quality. If you’ve got a great podcast that’s enjoyed by your listeners, some of them will donate.
Ok, that’s great. But what are some tangible things that you can take away today?
Reward donations with engagement
If someone donates, whatever the amount, shout them out on your next episode. It makes them feel their donation is felt and appreciated, and creates a two-way relationship.
As well as making previous donors feel great, it also makes your other listeners far more likely to tip you themselves: “Hey, all I have to do is give $5 to my favourite creator and I can hear my name mentioned on my favourite podcast??”
It’s a no brainer – if someone’s giving you their hard-earned cash, say thank you!
Make it easy for them
Put your donation link in the show notes and explain the exact process listeners will need to take once they click it:
“If you want to support this podcast, please feel free to follow the tipping link in the show notes. Just click on that, enter the amount you want to donate and follow the prompts from the site to connect your card details. Thank you!”
Spelling out the exact process and providing the link will yield far better results than asking listeners to Google things themselves.
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Do I have to give something in return for a donation?
No, you don’t have to give tippers anything – the point of their donation is that they’re supporting the work that you’ve already done and all the effort that goes into producing their favourite podcast.
However, shoutouts on your next episode and on your social media are a great way of saying thanks and developing that relationship with your listeners. It deepens the bond with those who have already tipped, and incentivizes others to tip too.
How many listeners do I need to monetize my podcast?
With something like tipping, it’s less about the number of listeners you have and more about how engaged they are. There’s no set limit on how many listeners you need to start accepting donations, and since it’s so simple to set up, you’re better off doing it sooner rather than later.
Having 50 die-hard, engaged listeners could actually yield more tip revenue than having 500 casual enjoyers!
How much money can I expect each listener to donate?
With Captivate Tips, you can set up some predetermined options for your listeners to choose from when donating, as well as allowing them to input their own amount.
Generally, you can expect tips to range from about $5 to $15 or so, but there’ll be outliers on both ends for sure. Tipping is primarily for smaller, one-off amounts of money – think of it as like someone buying you a coffee to show their appreciation.
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Are listener donations the best way to make money from podcasting?
Listener donations are a fantastic way to make money from your podcast, and something you should start accommodating for as soon as possible.
There isn’t really a single best way to make money from your podcast – the most effective thing you can do is diversify your revenue streams across multiple methods, for example:
- accepting and accommodating for listener donations
- premium memberships – exclusive or early access content for die-hard fans in return for a monthly fee
- selling merch, for example t-shirts and tote bags. Genre specific stuff is cool, too – think fishing apparel if you’ve got a fishing podcast.
- doing live events at conventions, or ticketed live podcasts, are a great way to boost fan engagement, beef up your profile and sell some tickets and some merch in person.
We’ll break down everything about all of these methods over the course of this series, so make sure to read up!
Next steps
Check out our other monetization guides to diversify your revenue streams and start making serious money today!
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