GoPro has a new program in place to help nonprofits raise awareness and get help for social causes. GoPro for a Cause aims to make the world a better place.
Rather than throwing money at one social issue or another, GoPro wants to help promote different social causes. With GoPro for a Cause, the company hopes to inspire people to share their stories, engage and inspire others to get involved as well. GoPro touts its new program as a "corporate social responsibility platform to drive awareness of social causes that align with the GoPro brand."
"By providing capture equipment, media production, content distribution and financial support, GoPro for a Cause helps altruistic individuals and organizations grow their movements, share their stories, and inspire the world," GoPro explains.
GoPro CEO Nick Woodman announced the initiative at the TechCrunch Disrupt SF conference, revealing 10 organizations that will initially benefit from its support for their causes. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Bicycles Against Poverty, Mauli Ola Foundation and Oceanic Preservation Society are among the first recipients.
Woodman told TechCrunch's Matt Burns that GoPro is not just a company that makes action cameras, it's a great force in media content that wants to use its power for good. GoPro knows how to get people to watch a video, and GoPro for a Cause will leverage this to raise awareness and serve as inspiration.
"From the beginning, we've had a vision to scale GoPro as a platform to inspire. Our goal with GoPro for a Cause is to help social causes inspire a global audience with their stories," said Woodman. "The world has given so much to GoPro and we're excited to give back."
Strapping on a GoPro camera and capturing breathtaking content during an adventure is the easy part. Turning lengthy footage into a short video to inspire people is more difficult — which is why GoPro is offering its support for producing and distributing the videos.
The company is also working on a cloud-editing solution that would allow GoPro camera owners to more easily edit and cut footage to get a highlight video. GoPro users and nonprofits should soon be able to produce GoPro videos more easily, though it's unclear just when such a solution will become available.
