A World of Good

Written by Christina Nifong

In episode after episode, Michael Hemphill shows up. Tossing a football. Hiking McAfee Knob. Donning ballet shoes. Typically, he’s wearing a big smile, a black Buzz4Good-branded shirt, and an openness to whatever the people on screen have to share.

“Our nation has more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations that employ 1 out of 10 Americans,” he intones at the top of each half-hour production, in his gentle, Alabama-accented voice. “But nonprofits often lack the tools to properly promote themselves to inspire more donors and volunteers and clients to their cause. That’s where I come in.”

Hemphill is the creator and host of Buzz4Good, a television show broadcast weekly on Blue Ridge PBS. In the episodes, a 501(c)(3) is connected with a local advertising firm who donates their time. As the segment unfolds, Hemphill details the nonprofit’s mission and the ad agency’s contributions. The audience learns about a nonprofit in their community and, while they’re at it, some basic marketing principles.

When Hemphill pulled together his prototype in 2019 – featuring the equine therapy nonprofit, Healing Strides of Virginia – he had zero TV experience and no idea if his concept would fly. But year after year, nonprofits kept agreeing to be included, marketing firms kept donating their skills, media outlets kept airing what Buzz4Good was producing, and investors kept funding the work.