Introducing The Sign-In Table, Our Podcast for Nonprofit Leaders

Every volunteer shift starts at a sign-in table: a clipboard, a stack of name badges, a quick hello from whoever got there first. Behind that table is someone who built the program from nothing, found the volunteers, raised the money and kept it going. The Sign-In Table is our new podcast, and it is about them.

Every other Friday, VolunteerBadge co-founder Matt Angerer sits down with the leader of a camp, church, homeschool co-op, youth program or community nonprofit. They talk about what the organization does, why it started, what is changing because of it, and how listeners can help. The show has its own home at thesignintable.com, and full episodes go up on the VolunteerBadge YouTube channel.

Why we started a podcast

We see one slice of these organizations' work every day: the volunteer screening that happens before a first shift. What we don't see from a dashboard is everything else. Our monthly Impact Report and our Impact Stories began to change that, by writing up what the nonprofits that use VolunteerBadge are doing in their communities.

A written profile can only carry so much, though. A founder explaining in their own words the moment they decided to start carries a lot more. So we are handing them the microphone. The conversations are informal and audio-first, about 45 minutes long and recorded remotely. There is no script, and guests don't have to mention VolunteerBadge at all. The episode is about their organization and their community.

Why it's called The Sign-In Table

We wanted a name that belonged to the people doing the work, not to us. The sign-in table is the one piece of furniture every volunteer program has in common. It is at the food pantry and the Vacation Bible School registration line, at the park cleanup and the first morning of camp. It is where a stranger becomes a volunteer, which felt like the right place to start a conversation.

What every episode covers

Guests pick the topics, and we are happy to follow a story wherever it goes. Every conversation comes back to four questions:

1. The mission. What the organization does, who it serves and where.
2. Why they started. The moment, the need or the person that got it going.
3. The impact. The stories and numbers that show what is changing in their community.
4. How others can help. Volunteers, donors, partners, and the one ask they would put in front of every listener.

Along the way we get into the practical side of running a small nonprofit: recruiting volunteers without burning them out, fundraising on a shoestring, finding grants, building a board, and keeping children and vulnerable adults safe.

The first six episodes

Episode 1: Brandi Pillow, braveONE

braveONE pairs children living with Type 1 Diabetes with trained adult mentors who live with T1D themselves. Brandi Pillow founded it in 2025, after her daughter was diagnosed. On the show she talks about building a one-to-one mentoring program, how braveONE makes a match, and what she wishes more people understood about raising a child with Type 1 Diabetes. Read braveONE's Impact Story.

Episode 2: Catherine Stephenson, IROSA Cares

Catherine Stephenson spent more than 35 years as an educator before founding IROSA Cares in Stamford, Connecticut, in December 2023, and she named it for her parents, Ira and Rose. She talks about how a 9/11 Day of Service at Stamford PAL, where young people and volunteers packed 10,000 meals, grew into an ongoing Impact Club for students in grades 5 through 8. She also talks about the partners it takes to keep youth programs running all year. Read IROSA Cares' Impact Story.

Episode 3: Eliza Neidlinger, Habitat for Humanity 7 Rivers Maine

Eliza Neidlinger is the Community Engagement and Volunteer Manager at Habitat for Humanity 7 Rivers Maine, in Bath, and joined the affiliate in August 2026. Habitat 7 Rivers is on track to help more than 150 families this year with critical home repair: fixing a broken window, adding a ramp at the front door, or weatherizing a home for a Maine winter. She talks about why so many people don't know what Habitat actually does, how an affiliate that runs almost entirely on volunteers recruits and keeps them, and why even a few hours a month make a difference. Read Habitat 7 Rivers' Impact Story.

Episode 4: Nijeria Jones, The DESIRE+ Collective

Nijeria Jones founded The DESIRE+ Collective in Martinsville, Virginia, in 2025 to turn her doctoral research and lived experience into programs that affirm and empower Black women, especially plus-size Black women in the U.S. South. A therapist, sexologist and researcher, she talks about Sacred Spaces, the Collective's healing-centered program, about building The DESIRE+ Service Circle of volunteers, and about the question she wishes more people asked: what could change if plus-size Black women were centered from the beginning instead of included as an afterthought. Read The DESIRE+ Collective's Impact Story.

Episode 5: Tetyana Klymko, Well Chicago

Tetyana Klymko founded Well Chicago in 2025 because her own children needed an affordable after-school program, and there weren't many options in their community. Its hands-on arts, STEM and civic learning programs for kids ages 5 to 13 reached nearly 200 children in less than a year, many for free or at low cost in their own neighborhoods. She talks about paying the creative professionals who teach, treating sponsors as true community partners, and what would change if we listened to young people and gave them the tools to act. Read Well Chicago's Impact Story.

Episode 6: Alison Barry, WorldTutors: Virtually Everywhere

Alison Barry's first nonprofit, Wonderland BookSavers, has delivered more than 1.2 million books to communities from South Dakota to Uganda. When a partner in Uganda asked for tutors for his students, she founded WorldTutors: Virtually Everywhere in 2023, in Southport, Connecticut. It pairs students who wouldn't otherwise have access to quality tutoring with trained volunteer tutors for free, one-on-one virtual sessions. She talks about why every student and tutor has to be personally recommended by their school, why tutoring should be fun rather than dry, and how WorldTutors tracks progress without waiting for annual tests. Read WorldTutors' Impact Story.

Episode 1 drops on Friday, September 25, Episode 2 on Friday, October 9, Episode 3 on Friday, October 23, Episode 4 on Friday, November 6, Episode 5 on Friday, November 20, and Episode 6 on Friday, December 4. Subscribe on YouTube or bookmark thesignintable.com to catch each one the day it goes live.

Where to listen

New episodes come out every other Friday. Full episodes and short clips go up on the VolunteerBadge YouTube channel, and every episode is listed at thesignintable.com and on our podcast page. Apple Podcasts, Spotify and the other major apps are added as episodes go live.

Be a guest

If you lead a nonprofit and your story would help another leader, we would love to hear it. Being a guest is free, and the only prep is a short survey:

1. Fill in the guest survey. It takes about 10 minutes.
2. We reply with a few times that work and a recording link.
3. You talk with Matt for about 45 minutes, from a laptop or phone, with nothing to install.
4. We edit the episode, then send you the link and clips you can share when it goes live.

Every episode links to the guest's website, volunteer page and donation page, so listeners know exactly how to help. Many of our guests lead organizations featured in the monthly Impact Report, and you are welcome to apply even if yours hasn't been featured yet.

Pull up a chair. We will see you at the table.