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    Lumen5: AI Video Creation from Blog Posts

    Lumen5 transforms your blog posts, impact stories, and written content into professional social media videos in minutes—automatically creating scenes, selecting visuals, and adding AI voiceovers without any video production experience. With a 50% nonprofit discount, it's an affordable way for resource-constrained teams to scale video content creation.

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    What It Does

    Spending hours creating videos from scratch while your blog posts with compelling impact stories sit unread? Lumen5 uses AI to automatically transform your existing written content—blog posts, articles, annual reports—into engaging social media videos optimized for platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, turning what used to take a full day into a 15-minute task.

    The platform addresses a critical nonprofit challenge: creating video content when you don't have a videographer, production budget, or time to learn complex editing software. Simply paste your blog post URL or written content, and Lumen5's AI analyzes the text, extracts key points, generates a video script, selects relevant visuals from its extensive media library, and creates a complete video draft with scenes, text overlays, music, and optional AI voiceovers.

    According to Salesforce.org, budget constraints are one of the biggest challenges nonprofits face in marketing. Lumen5's drag-and-drop interface and AI automation eliminate the need for hiring agencies or video specialists, allowing your 2-person communications team to produce professional video content that drives 3x higher social media engagement compared to text-only posts.

    Best For

    Organization Size

    • Small to mid-sized nonprofits
    • Organizations with 2-15 staff members
    • Teams without dedicated video producers

    Best Use Cases

    • Repurposing blog posts into social videos
    • Creating fundraising campaign videos
    • Producing donor awareness and impact videos
    • Scaling social media video production

    Ideal For

    • Marketing and Communications Managers
    • Development Directors
    • Executive Directors managing social media
    • Content creators without video skills

    Key Features for Nonprofits

    Blog to Video Conversion

    Automatically transform written content into engaging videos

    Paste your blog post URL or text, and Lumen5's AI extracts key points, creates scenes, and selects relevant visuals from millions of stock photos, videos, and music tracks—no manual editing required.

    • WordPress and Medium integration for one-click imports
    • AI analyzes content structure and creates optimal scenes
    • Extensive media library with millions of stock assets

    AI Script Writing

    Generate video scripts from ideas in seconds

    Don't have written content yet? Lumen5's AI Script Composer generates complete video scripts from brief prompts or ideas, creating multiple script options you can select and customize before visual creation.

    • Advanced AI Script Composer in paid plans
    • Multiple script variations to choose from
    • Customizable scripts before video generation

    AI Voiceover Generation

    Professional narration without recording studios

    Create lifelike AI voiceovers for your videos in multiple languages and voice styles—perfect for impact stories, donor thank-you messages, and awareness campaigns without hiring voice talent.

    • 2 minutes free AI voiceover on Community plan
    • Longer voiceover videos on paid plans with more voices
    • Multiple voice options and language support

    Platform-Optimized Formatting

    Automatically adjusted for every social platform

    Lumen5 automatically adjusts video dimensions, formats, and lengths to suit different social platforms—no need to manually resize for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or TikTok.

    • Automatic formatting for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok
    • Square, vertical, and horizontal aspect ratios
    • Platform-specific best practices built in

    Brand Customization

    Maintain consistent nonprofit branding

    Upload your logo, set brand colors and fonts, and ensure every video maintains your nonprofit's visual identity—critical for building brand recognition and donor trust.

    • Custom logo placement and watermarking
    • Brand color and font consistency
    • Professional templates customizable to your brand

    Clip Maker for Short-Form Content

    Transform long videos into shareable clips

    Upload longer recordings (webinars, training sessions, event videos) and Lumen5's AI identifies the most engaging moments, creating short highlight clips perfect for social media promotion.

    • Auto-highlighted segments from longer videos
    • Perfect for repurposing event content
    • Saves hours of manual editing time

    How This Tool Uses AI

    Understanding what's actually AI-powered versus standard features helps nonprofits set realistic expectations and maximize Lumen5's value.

    What's Actually AI-Powered

    🤖 Content Analysis & Scene Creation

    Type of AI: Natural language processing trained on millions of articles and videos

    What it does: Analyzes your blog post structure, identifies key points and topics, determines the most important sentences, and breaks content into logical video scenes

    How it learns: Trained on patterns from successful video content; understands narrative flow and visual storytelling principles

    Practical impact: Instead of manually deciding which sentences to feature, the AI extracts the most impactful quotes and creates a coherent video narrative automatically

    🤖 Visual Matching & Media Selection

    Type of AI: Computer vision and semantic understanding

    What it does: Analyzes the meaning of your text and automatically selects relevant stock photos, videos, and graphics from millions of media assets

    How it learns: Uses image recognition and keyword association to match visuals to content context

    Practical impact: If your blog mentions "children learning to read," Lumen5 automatically finds and suggests relevant educational imagery—no manual search required

    🤖 AI Script Composer

    Type of AI: Generative AI similar to ChatGPT for script writing

    What it does: Generates complete video scripts from brief prompts or ideas; creates multiple script variations for you to choose from

    How it learns: Trained on effective video script patterns and storytelling frameworks

    Practical impact: Instead of starting from scratch, you get 3-5 complete script options within seconds based on your topic or campaign goal

    🤖 AI Voiceover Generation

    Type of AI: Text-to-speech neural networks

    What it does: Converts your script into lifelike spoken narration with natural intonation and pacing

    How it learns: Trained on thousands of hours of human speech patterns

    Practical impact: Create professional narration without recording equipment or voice talent; perfect for donor thank-you videos and impact stories

    🤖 Clip Maker & Highlight Extraction

    Type of AI: Video content analysis and engagement prediction

    What it does: Analyzes long videos to identify the most engaging moments and automatically creates shareable short clips

    How it learns: Trained on patterns of what makes video content engaging (speaking pace, topic changes, visual interest)

    Practical impact: Turn a 45-minute webinar into 5 shareable social clips without watching the entire recording

    What's NOT AI (But Still Useful)

    • •Template Library: Pre-designed by humans, not AI-generated—provides professional starting points
    • •Drag-and-Drop Editor: Manual customization interface for adjusting scenes, timing, and visuals
    • •Brand Customization: You manually upload logos, set colors, and define brand guidelines
    • •Platform Export Options: Format adjustment is automatic based on your selected platform, but not AI-driven

    AI Transparency & Limitations

    ⚠️ Data Requirements

    AI works immediately without a "training period" since it's pre-trained, but content quality improves when you provide well-written, structured blog posts. Short or poorly formatted text yields less effective videos.

    ⚠️ Human Oversight Still Required

    • AI-selected visuals should be reviewed for relevance and sensitivity (especially when covering social issues)
    • AI-generated scripts need tone and accuracy checks to match your nonprofit's voice
    • Voiceover pronunciation should be verified, especially for names and specialized terminology
    • Final video should be reviewed for brand consistency and message alignment

    ⚠️ Known Limitations

    • AI may occasionally select visuals that are generic or miss cultural context—manual replacement is easy but necessary
    • Script generation works best with clear prompts; vague inputs produce vague scripts
    • AI voiceovers, while good, may lack the emotional nuance of human narration for highly sensitive topics
    • Video export can take longer than expected (reports of 10-20 minute wait times for processing)

    🔒 Data Privacy

    • Your content is not used to train AI models for other users
    • Videos and media are stored securely on Lumen5's servers
    • You retain full ownership of your created videos
    • Videos can be downloaded and exported at any time

    When AI Adds Real Value vs. When It's Just Marketing

    ✅ Genuinely Useful AI

    • Content analysis and scene creation (would take 1-2 hours manually)
    • Visual matching from millions of assets (impossible to search manually)
    • Script generation from prompts (saves 30-60 minutes of writing time)
    • AI voiceovers (eliminates need for recording equipment and voice talent)

    ⚠️ AI That's Nice But Not Essential

    • •AI-suggested templates (pre-built human-designed templates work just as well)

    ❌ When You May Not Need AI

    • •If you already have professionally produced videos, Lumen5's AI won't improve quality—it's for creating videos from text, not enhancing existing footage
    • •If you need highly customized, brand-specific visuals, AI stock photo selection may feel generic—consider hiring a designer

    Bottom Line

    Lumen5 uses AI where it genuinely saves time and enables nonprofits to create video content they otherwise couldn't afford—content analysis, visual selection, script generation, and voiceovers. It's not using AI for every feature, which is actually a good sign. The AI focuses on solving the real problem: creating professional videos without video production expertise or budget.

    Real-World Nonprofit Use Case

    A youth literacy nonprofit with a 3-person team was publishing compelling impact stories on their blog every month, but these stories were getting limited engagement—averaging 150 views per post. They knew video content performed better on social media but didn't have the budget for a videographer or the time to learn complex editing software.

    After implementing Lumen5 with the 50% nonprofit discount, they began transforming each blog post into a 60-second video optimized for Facebook and Instagram. The process took 15-20 minutes per video: paste the blog URL, review AI-selected scenes and visuals, customize with their logo and brand colors, add an AI voiceover, and export.

    Within three months, their social media video posts were generating 3x higher engagement than text-only posts, with each impact story video reaching 800-1,200 people—nearly 10x their blog readership. More importantly, video posts drove a 35% increase in donation page clicks during their year-end campaign. The communications coordinator reported saving 5-6 hours per week compared to previous attempts at manual video creation, allowing the team to focus on storytelling rather than technical production.

    The key to their success: they treated Lumen5 as a blog content amplifier, not a replacement for quality writing. They invested time in crafting compelling blog posts, then used Lumen5's AI to quickly repurpose that content for video-first social platforms.

    Pricing

    Standard Pricing

    Community Plan (Free)

    $0

    • 720p video resolution
    • Up to 5 videos per month
    • 2 minutes of AI voiceover
    • Includes Lumen5 watermark

    Basic Plan

    $19-29/month

    • No Lumen5 branding (watermark removed)
    • Advanced AI Script Composer
    • Longer AI voiceover videos
    • More voice options

    Starter Plan

    $59/month

    • Everything in Basic
    • Higher video limits
    • Better resolution options

    Professional Plan

    $149/month

    • Everything in Starter
    • Advanced features
    • Higher quality exports

    Annual Discount: Save 25% when paying annually

    Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing with design team, bespoke templates, dedicated customer success, team collaboration, and enterprise security

    Free Trial: Available to test features before committing

    See Nonprofit Discount Section Below

    Lumen5 offers a significant discount for verified 501(c)(3) organizations—see details in the next section.

    Note: Pricing information is subject to change. Please verify current pricing directly with Lumen5 at lumen5.com/pricing.

    Nonprofit Discount & Special Offers

    💰 NONPROFIT PRICING

    50% discount available on all paid plans

    How to Access:

    1. Visit Lumen5's website and sign up for an account
    2. Contact Lumen5 support to inquire about nonprofit discount verification
    3. Submit your 501(c)(3) determination letter or nonprofit verification documents
    4. Discount applied once verification is complete

    Estimated Savings:

    Basic Plan

    $9.50-14.50/month

    (50% off $19-29)

    Starter Plan

    $29.50/month

    (50% off $59)

    Professional Plan

    $74.50/month

    (50% off $149)

    Annual Savings:

    With the 50% nonprofit discount plus the 25% annual discount, a Basic plan could cost as low as $7-11/month when billed annually—a total savings of $114-216 per year compared to standard monthly pricing.

    Important: Nonprofit discount availability and verification process may vary. Contact Lumen5 directly at lumen5.com to confirm current nonprofit program details and eligibility requirements.

    Learning Curve

    Learning Curve: Beginner

    Non-technical staff can create videos effectively within minutes

    Time to First Value:

    Initial setup: 10-15 minutes (account creation, brand customization)

    First video: 15-30 minutes (paste blog, review AI output, customize, export)

    Proficiency: 2-3 videos of practice to feel comfortable with the interface

    Ongoing: 10-20 minutes per video once proficient

    Technical Requirements:

    • No video editing experience required
    • Basic comfort with web browsers and social media
    • No coding or technical skills needed
    • Helpful: understanding of social media best practices

    Support Available:

    • Video tutorial library covering all features
    • Help documentation and knowledge base
    • Email support on all paid plans
    • Dedicated customer success for Enterprise customers
    • Active user community and forums

    User Feedback: Reviewers consistently praise Lumen5's intuitive interface. Most users report creating their first video within 15-30 minutes of signing up, with no prior video editing experience. The drag-and-drop editor and AI automation eliminate the technical complexity typically associated with video production.

    Integration & Compatibility

    Connects With

    Content Platforms:

    WordPress, Medium (for automatic content import and repurposing)

    Social Media:

    Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok (with automatic dimension and format optimization)

    Storage Services:

    Dropbox, Google Drive (for media file access and storage)

    Brand Asset Platforms:

    Bynder, Frontify (for brand asset management)

    Video Hosting:

    YouTube (with embed codes for website integration)

    Custom Integrations:

    API available for custom workflows and integrations

    Platform Availability

    • Web-based: Works in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge (no software download required)
    • Desktop: Web-based interface (no desktop app required)
    • Mobile: Limited mobile app functionality; best used on desktop/laptop

    Data Portability

    • Video Export: Download finished videos in multiple resolutions
    • Platform-Specific Formats: Optimized exports for each social platform
    • Media Assets: Upload and store your own photos, videos, and logos
    • Vendor Lock-in Consideration: Videos are created within Lumen5; you can export final videos but not the editable project files

    Pros & Cons

    Pros

    • Genuinely saves time: Transform blog posts into videos in 15-20 minutes versus hours of manual editing
    • Beginner-friendly interface: Zero video editing experience required; drag-and-drop simplicity
    • Excellent for content repurposing: Specializes in blog-to-video conversion that other tools don't handle as well
    • 50% nonprofit discount: Makes professional video creation affordable for budget-constrained organizations
    • Platform optimization: Automatically formats videos for Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok
    • AI voiceovers included: Professional narration without recording equipment or voice talent
    • Free plan available: Test before committing, good for very small organizations

    Cons

    • Export times can be slow: Users report 10-20 minute wait times for video processing
    • Free plan limitations: 720p only, watermark included, just 5 videos/month
    • Basic plan doesn't include 1080p: May need higher-tier plans for HD video quality
    • AI-selected visuals can be generic: Stock photos may require manual replacement for better cultural context
    • Limited customization: Less flexibility than professional video editors like Adobe Premiere
    • Best for short-form content: Not ideal for long, complex video projects
    • Requires well-written content: AI works best with quality blog posts; garbage in, garbage out

    Alternatives to Consider

    If Lumen5 doesn't feel like the right fit, consider these alternatives:

    InVideo

    More AI-driven with stronger multilingual support

    InVideo offers more AI-driven script generation from text prompts, extensive template library, and better multilingual support. Starting at $25/month with a free tier available.

    Best if: You need to generate videos from scratch with AI prompts rather than repurposing existing blog content, or if you need strong multilingual capabilities for international audiences.

    Kapwing

    Better for collaboration and quick edits

    Kapwing offers real-time collaborative editing, creator-focused tools (meme generators, subtitle styling, video resizing), and quick editing capabilities. Free tier available with watermarks.

    Best if: You have multiple team members who need to collaborate on video projects in real-time, or if you need more manual control over editing versus heavy AI automation.

    Pictory

    Similar features with different strengths

    Pictory focuses on text-to-video conversion and automatic highlight extraction from long videos, starting at $19/month (annual). Similar to Lumen5 but with stronger emphasis on clip extraction from longer recordings.

    Best if: You have long-form video content (webinars, training sessions) that you want to turn into short social clips, in addition to blog-to-video conversion.

    Why Choose Lumen5 Instead?

    Lumen5 excels at blog-to-video conversion with excellent AI automation, beginner-friendly interface, platform-specific formatting, and a generous 50% nonprofit discount. If your primary goal is repurposing written content into social videos without learning complex editing tools, Lumen5 is the best choice. Its WordPress/Medium integration and focus on content marketers make it ideal for nonprofits with active blogs who want to amplify their storytelling through video.

    Getting Started

    Your First 48 Hours with Lumen5

    1

    Sign up for the free Community plan (15 minutes)

    Start with the free tier to test Lumen5's features before committing. No credit card required.

    Pro tip: Upload your logo and set brand colors during initial setup—this saves time on every future video.

    Sign Up for Free
    2

    Create your first video from a blog post (15-20 minutes)

    Choose one of your strongest blog posts about impact, success stories, or your mission. Paste the URL into Lumen5.

    Pro tip: Start with a blog post that's 600-1,000 words—long enough for good content but short enough for quick video. Blog posts with clear sections and compelling quotes work best.

    3

    Review and customize AI output (10-15 minutes)

    Lumen5's AI will create scenes and select visuals automatically. Review each scene, replace any generic stock photos with more relevant options, and adjust text if needed.

    Pro tip: Don't over-edit your first video. Accept 80% of what the AI suggests and focus on replacing 2-3 visuals that don't match your content. You can perfect your process later.

    4

    Export and share on social media (5 minutes + processing time)

    Choose your target platform (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn), let Lumen5 optimize the format, and export. Be patient—processing can take 10-20 minutes.

    Pro tip: While your first video renders, start planning your next 2-3 videos. Identify which blog posts would make great video content. Build a content repurposing workflow.

    After Your First Video:

    Track the video's performance on social media compared to your typical text-only posts. Most nonprofits see 2-3x higher engagement with video. If Lumen5 is working for you, inquire about the 50% nonprofit discount and consider upgrading to remove the watermark and increase video limits.

    Need Help with Implementation?

    Setting up new AI video tools can feel overwhelming, especially when you're already stretched thin managing fundraising, programs, and communications. If you'd like expert guidance getting started with Lumen5—from account setup to creating your first campaign videos—we're here to help.

    One Hundred Nights offers implementation support tailored to nonprofits: quick setup assistance, video strategy consultation, content repurposing workflows, and hands-on training for your team.

    Contact Us to Learn More

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Is Lumen5 free for nonprofits?

    Lumen5 offers a free Community plan with limited features (720p resolution, 5 videos per month, includes watermark). More importantly, Lumen5 provides a 50% nonprofit discount on all paid plans for verified 501(c)(3) organizations. This makes the Basic plan effectively $9.50-14.50/month, making it very affordable for nonprofit budgets.

    How does Lumen5's blog-to-video feature work?

    Simply paste your blog post URL or text content into Lumen5, and the AI analyzes the content to extract key points, creates a video script, and automatically pairs your text with relevant visuals from its media library. You can then customize the video using the drag-and-drop editor before finalizing. The entire process takes 10-20 minutes versus hours of manual video editing.

    Does Lumen5 include AI voiceovers?

    Yes, Lumen5 includes AI voiceover capabilities. The free Community plan includes 2 minutes of AI voiceover per month. Paid plans offer longer AI voiceover videos with more voice options. The voiceovers are lifelike and suitable for professional nonprofit content, though you should always review for tone and accuracy.

    What integrations does Lumen5 support?

    Lumen5 integrates with WordPress and Medium for automatic content import, social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok) for optimized publishing, storage services (Dropbox, Google Drive) for media access, and brand asset platforms (Bynder, Frontify). It also offers an API for custom integrations and automatically adjusts video dimensions for different social platforms.

    What's the difference between Lumen5 and InVideo for nonprofits?

    Lumen5 specializes in blog-to-video conversion and content repurposing with a simpler interface, starting at $19/month with a 50% nonprofit discount. InVideo offers more AI-driven script generation from prompts and multilingual support, starting at $25/month. Choose Lumen5 if you primarily want to repurpose existing blog content into videos. Choose InVideo if you need to generate videos from scratch with AI prompts.

    Do I need video editing experience to use Lumen5?

    No, Lumen5 is designed for users with zero video editing experience. The interface is beginner-friendly with drag-and-drop editing, pre-made templates, and AI automation that handles the technical aspects. Most users report creating their first video within 15-30 minutes of signing up.

    Can Lumen5 help with nonprofit fundraising and awareness campaigns?

    Absolutely. Lumen5 is excellent for creating fundraising campaign videos, donor thank-you videos, impact story videos, event promotion content, and awareness videos about your mission. Organizations report that video content created with Lumen5 drives 3x higher engagement on social media compared to text-only posts, significantly boosting fundraising and awareness efforts.