The VolunteerBadge podcast
The Sign-In Table: Interviews with nonprofit leaders about their mission, their start and their impact
Stories from the nonprofit leaders keeping their communities safe, served and strong.
Hosted by Matt Angerer · New episodes every other Friday · about 45 minutes
Episodes
Episode 1 · Out now
One child, one mentor
Brandi Pillow, Founder, braveONE
Brandi Pillow joins The Sign-In Table to talk about building a one-to-one mentoring program, how braveONE matches, and what she wishes more people understood about raising a child with Type 1 Diabetes.
Read the braveONE story
Episode 2 · Out now
Contributors, not recipients
Catherine Stephenson, Founder and CEO, IROSA Cares
After more than 35 years as an educator, Catherine Stephenson founded IROSA Cares and named it for her parents. She talks about the IROSA Cares Impact Club at Stamford PAL, a 9/11 Day of Service that packed 10,000 meals, and passing a family legacy of service on to the next generation.
Read the IROSA Cares story
Episode 3 · Drops Fri, Oct 23
Every child deserves a chance to rise
Thomas Nelson, Founder, President and Executive Director, Dare 2B You
Thomas Nelson founded Dare 2B You in Georgia to build the support system he needed growing up. He talks about why mentorship matters, the challenges young people face that adults miss, and what it really takes to start a nonprofit from the ground up.
Read the Dare 2B You Foundation story
Bonus Episode · Drops Sat, Oct 31
Halloween special
Lead the mission, not the system
Latoya U. Robinson, Founder, LUR Growth; Executive Director, Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods
Twenty years in the nonprofit sector, fifteen of them as an executive director, and one organization taken from $400K to $1.2M. Latoya Robinson talks about what happens when a mission outgrows the few people who remember everything, and how to build systems that hold without burying the staff.
Episode 4 · Drops Fri, Nov 6
Centered from the beginning
Nijeria Jones, Founder, The DESIRE+ Collective
Therapist, sexologist and researcher Nijeria Jones founded The DESIRE+ Collective in Martinsville, Virginia, to turn her doctoral research into real programs. She talks about Sacred Spaces, building a volunteer Service Circle, and what could change if plus-size Black women were centered from the beginning instead of included as an afterthought.
Read the The DESIRE+ Collective story
Episode 5 · Drops Fri, Nov 20
Kids as community builders
Tetyana Klymko, Founder, Well Chicago
Tetyana Klymko started Well Chicago because her own kids needed an affordable after-school program. She talks about reaching nearly 200 Chicago children with hands-on arts, STEM and civic learning, paying the artists who teach them, and what would change if we listened to young people and gave them the tools to act.
Read the Well Chicago story
Bonus Episode · Drops Thu, Nov 26
Thanksgiving special
Students teaching students
Mehmet Tascioglu, Founder and Board Chair, Connect Me
When COVID closed the schools, Mehmet Tascioglu and a handful of classmates started tutoring the younger kids falling behind in their own community. Connect Me has since delivered more than 65,000 free tutoring sessions to K-8 students across 49 states and 12 countries, taught by more than a thousand high school and college volunteers.
Episode 6 · Drops Fri, Dec 4
Joyful tutoring, virtually everywhere
Alison Barry, Founder and CEO, WorldTutors
Alison Barry built WorldTutors after a school partner in Uganda asked for virtual tutors. She talks about free one-on-one tutoring and mentoring for students who wouldn't otherwise have it, why every student and tutor needs a personal recommendation, and how WorldTutors knows it's working without waiting for annual tests.
Read the WorldTutors: Virtually Everywhere story
Episode 7 · Drops Fri, Dec 18
Safe, accessible, warm
Ian Tovell, Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity 7 Rivers Maine
Ian Tovell leads Habitat for Humanity 7 Rivers Maine as Executive Director. He talks about critical home repair for more than 150 families this year, from a broken window to a ramp at the front door, and why even a few volunteer hours a month make a real difference.
Read the Habitat for Humanity 7 Rivers Maine story
Episode 8 · Drops Fri, Jan 1
New Year’s Day special
A two-year promise, seven years on
Cara Sottile, President, One With Earth
In 2019 Cara Sottile found the children at Damabiah Orphanage in Port-au-Prince eating every two or three days. She and her husband organized a food delivery, then another. Seven years on she talks about deliveries that never stopped, clean water and solar, a school rebuilt, and young adults now in college.
Read the One With Earth story
Episode 9 · Drops Fri, Jan 15
A place to land
Alaina Jones, President and Founder, David’s Home Outreach
Alaina Jones knows what it is to be young without a stable place to call home. She founded David’s Home Outreach in Vienna, Georgia for young adults aged 18 to 24, and talks about why housing alone is not enough, the savings-based rent that sends residents out with money of their own, and building a nonprofit from nothing.
Read the David’s Home Outreach story
Next up: Episode 3 with Thomas Nelson drops Friday, October 23.
New episodes every other Friday. Subscribe on YouTube to hear each one the day it goes live, or put your own organization forward as a guest.
Every episode
Four questions we always come back to
- 1
The mission
What your organization does, who it serves and where.
- 2
Why you 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 your community.
- 4
How others can help
Volunteers, donors, partners and the one ask you would put in front of every listener.
What we talk about
Guests pick the topics. These are the ones leaders ask about most, and we are happy to go anywhere else your story leads.
Youth camps
- Launching a first summer
- Hiring and training seasonal staff
- Counselors-in-training
- Waterfront and health safety
- Keeping camp affordable
Churches and ministries
- Children’s and youth ministry
- Safe sanctuaries and screening
- Recruiting servers without burnout
- Outreach and benevolence
- Mission trips
Homeschool co-ops
- Parent-led governance
- Building a co-op from scratch
- Classes, clubs and field trips
- Child protection in a co-op
Youth sports and clubs
- Volunteer coaches
- Booster clubs
- Scouting and youth clubs
- Concussion and athlete safety
Community programs
- Food banks and pantries
- Mentoring and tutoring
- After-school programs
- Senior services and Meals on Wheels
- Disaster response
- Animal rescue
- Arts and culture
Running the nonprofit
- Starting a nonprofit
- Recruiting and keeping volunteers
- Fundraising on a shoestring
- Grants and funders
- Building a board
- Technology on a budget
- Leader burnout and sustainability
- Telling your impact story
For nonprofit leaders
Be a guest
We talk with the organizations in our monthly Impact Report, the camps, churches, co-ops and community groups doing the work. Here is what you get for about 45 minutes of your time.
Tell your story, your way
A relaxed conversation about your mission, why you started and the difference you are making. No script and no gotchas.
Reach new volunteers and donors
Every episode links to your website, your volunteer page and your donation page, so listeners in your area know exactly how to help.
An episode page on volunteerbadge.com
Your own page with the audio, a written summary and links back to your organization.
Clips you can share
Short audio and video clips, a quote card and the episode link, ready for your newsletter and social channels.
Inspire the next leader
Aspiring founders and first-year directors learn from people who have done it. Your story could be the one that gets someone started.
Easy from anywhere
About 45 minutes from your laptop, in a browser link with nothing to install. A short survey is all the prep there is.
- Step 1
Fill in the short guest survey (about 10 minutes).
- Step 2
We reply with a few times that work and a recording link.
- Step 3
Chat with Matt for about 45 minutes, from your laptop or phone.
- Step 4
We edit the episode, then send you the link and share-ready clips when it goes live.
Your host
Matt Angerer
Co-Founder & General Manager, VolunteerBadge
Matt co-founded VolunteerBadge to take the cost out of keeping volunteers safe: a background check for $5, so a church, camp or co-op never has to choose between screening and its budget. On The Sign-In Table he hands the microphone to the people doing the work.
Why we started VolunteerBadgeAbout the show
- What is The Sign-In Table?
- An informal, audio-first interview podcast from VolunteerBadge. Matt Angerer talks with nonprofit leaders about their mission, why they started, the impact they are making and how others can help. New episodes come out every other Friday.
- Who are the guests?
- Leaders of the camps, churches, ministries, homeschool co-ops, youth programs and community nonprofits that use VolunteerBadge, many of them featured in our monthly Impact Report. If your story would help other leaders, you are welcome to apply too.
- Where can I listen?
- Episodes are published on the VolunteerBadge YouTube channel and on this page, with Apple Podcasts, Spotify and the other major apps following as each goes live.
- How do I become a guest, and does it cost anything?
- It is free. Fill in the short guest survey and we will email you times and a recording link. The conversation takes about 45 minutes from a laptop or phone, with nothing to install.
- Do guests have to talk about VolunteerBadge?
- No. The conversation is about your organization and your community. If you want to talk about how you screen volunteers, great; if not, we never bring it up.