By: Gregory Smith
OpenAI unveiled Sora, its newest GPT model, on February 15th, 2024. At its core, Sora is a sophisticated text-to-video creation tool with incredible production quality. For nonprofits, this new technology represents democratization. Eliminating video production costs offers a unique opportunity to save thousands in operational costs.
Nonprofit fundraising expert Whit Hunter, the strategist behind Betterworld, which has helped over 100,000 nonprofits raise funds for free online, believes Sora AI will democratize access to enterprise-level fundraising tools and dramatically improve the funds retained by nonprofit organizations this year.
The introduction of Sora AI is poised to make a difference in New York, where the cost of living and operating a nonprofit can be significantly higher than the national average.
Nationally, nonprofits are constantly under pressure to produce results on limited budgets and are responsible for maximizing the impact of every dollar. The average fundraising video costs between $2,500 and $15,000. Yes, those numbers are accurate for 2024, creating a significant entry barrier for most nonprofits to use video marketing for fundraising campaigns.
Video marketing is proven to increase the funds raised within a campaign. Sora is believed to democratize access to video production for the 66% of nonprofits in the US with budgets under $1 million who have never had access to this level of video production.
Here are the three ways Sora AI will impact nonprofits:
1. Costs will be dramatically reduced
Nonprofits are responsible to their donors for maximizing the impact of every dollar. So, with Sora AI removing the cost of video production, there will be more funds to make an impact. If one optimistically sets a high-impact fundraising video that costs only $5,000 (the lower end of the range), $5,000 can make a significant difference in local communities.
2. More funds will be raised
57% of people who watch nonprofit videos go on to donate. Despite this, expenses like videos are an out-of-reach luxury and therefore often deemed unnecessary … despite the fact most nonprofit leaders are aware it increases the connection to their audience and drives donations.
Understandably, despite the potential upside, $5,000 is $5,000, and it can often be a significant percentage of your marketing budget (if you’re lucky to have one) and often impossible to justify. SORA AI makes this former luxury accessible at 0 cost for all nonprofits.
3. Nonprofit teams will be more productive
It’s no secret that nonprofit leaders and teams are overwhelmed, and out of the hundreds of processes they oversee, they will no longer need to hire a video production agency or freelancer, spending hours on back-and-forth content revisions or countless meetings mapping out the storyboarding. Time is one resource nonprofit leaders do not have, but Sora will take a process that previously required months and reduce it to minutes.
Hunter mentions: “I’m extremely excited to see Sora AI launch. We built BetterWorld with the same ideals – to make enterprise-level fundraising solutions free for nonprofits. Sora is doing the same by enabling nonprofits to save time and money and, most importantly, make more impact at no cost. Every nonprofit should plan how to incorporate iterative video into their fundraising and promotion strategy when it launches in the next few months.”
Not only does Sora democratize video production for smaller nonprofits across the United States, but in the bustling, competitive landscape of New York, it enables these organizations to stand out. By leveraging Sora’s advanced capabilities, New York-based nonprofits can produce high-quality videos that capture the essence of their missions and the vibrancy of the city they operate in. This is especially beneficial for nonprofits focusing on local issues such as homelessness, education, and environmental sustainability, allowing them to tell their stories more compellingly and connect with donors on a deeper level.
Published by: Martin De Juan
