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Project for Awesome

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Project For Awesome
AbbreviationP4A
Formation2007; 17 years ago (2007)
45-3782765[1]
PurposeCharity
Region served
Worldwide
Key people
Hank and John Green
Parent organization
Foundation to Decrease World Suck
Revenue$3,070,186 (2023[1])
Websiteprojectforawesome.com
A 2011 Project for Awesome video promoting the Wikimedia Foundation.

Project for Awesome (often abbreviated P4A) is a community-driven charitable movement on YouTube, created by the Green brothers, Hank and John, run through their VlogBrothers YouTube channel and through their online community known as Nerdfighteria.[2][3] Formerly dubbed the Nerdfighter Power Project for Awesome, the project has taken place annually since 2007.[4][5][6] The movement was started to have YouTubers create innovative videos promoting their favorite charity and upload it by a certain deadline, with the aim that their promoted charity gains more awareness, and donations from audiences.

The event lasts for 48 hours. From 2007 to 2019, the P4A took place in December,[7][8][9][10] but in 2020 it was announced that the event would be moved to February moving forward.[11]

Background

The Foundation to Decrease World Suck is a non-profit corporation, based in Montana.[12] It is designated as a 501(c)(3).[13][12] The Foundation is the Project for Awesome's parent organization. The Foundation was informally established on March 6, 2007, by Hank Green of the VlogBrothers, during the Brotherhood 2.0 Project.[14][15] However, it was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in the State of Montana in November 2011. The IRS then designated the Foundation with 501(c)(3) status on January 23, 2013.[16] The Foundation is governed by a seven-member board of directors.

History

In 2007, over 400 videos were posted, which promoted charities including UNICEF, Autism Speaks, and Toys for Tots.[4] The 2007 Project was successful to the point where a large majority of videos, all having the same P4A thumbnail, on the front page were related to the cause.[4] The Greens were able to accomplish this feat with the collaborative efforts of the community that follows their videos, Nerdfighteria, while also "sort of" hacking YouTube's algorithm.[17][18] Reflecting on the event, Hank Green states, "YouTube was sort of a weird place that was fairly easy to sort of game the algorithms. And the way that the thumbnails worked and all of the different lists were important for getting views," adding, "it was sort of frowned upon to game the system, but we thought, 'What if we gamed the system for good?'"[18] The 2007 Project was documented to be a success, one that the Greens hoped, and accomplished, to emulate over the following years, by uniting their community.[17]

In 2013, an Indiegogo Campaign ran raising $721,696 for the campaign.[19] The total resulted in the campaign becoming the most funded Video / Web Campaign in Indiegogo history.[20] In 2013, a final total of $869,591 was raised.[20] As the Project for Awesome continued to grow in size, the Greens implemented a perk system on the Project's Indiegogo fundraising page. An example of a perk would be the 2014 project's, An Imperial Affliction, a prop novel read in The Fault in Our Stars.[21] Throughout the history of the project, the Greens have hosted a coinciding 48-hour livestream event.[21] Prior to the 2014 project, John stated, "Our goal is to find a way to raise $1 million," adding, "That's what we really hope will happen."[21] Following the 2019 campaign, Hank Green announced on Twitter that the Young Democrats of America passed a resolution honoring the work of the P4A.[22][23]

After 2019, the Project for Awesome was moved from December to February. The event was not held in 2020, with the 2021 event scheduled for Presidents' Day weekend in February 2021.[11] The 2021 Project for Awesome earned more in crowdfunded donations than any other year up to that point,[24] totalling $1,490,012,[25] reaching one million dollars in donations via Tiltify in under 36 hours.[26] The subsequent year's project was the first to pass the $3 million mark.[27]

Yearly earnings

Year Earned Ref(s)
2007 n/a [28]
2008 n/a [28]
2009 n/a [28]
2010 $140,000 [28]
2011 $64,000–$71,000 [29][30]
2012 $483,446 [29][31]
2013 $869,591 [20]
2014 $1,226,382 [32][33]
2015 $1,546,384 [34]
2016 $2,151,285 [35]
2017 $2,029,007 [36]
2018 $1,640,051 [37]
2019 $1,430,957 [38]
2021 $2,368,016 [25]
2022 $3,236,501 [27]
2023 $3,069,995 [39]
2024 $3,531,261 [40]

References

  1. ^ a b "Form 990". ProPublica. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
  2. ^ Perkins, Lucy (January 8, 2012). "Project for Awesome: Linking philanthropy with new media". Michigan Daily. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  3. ^ Kersten, Jenna (December 15, 2011). "Project for Awesome is this weekend". BuffaloNews. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  4. ^ a b c Saleem, Muhammad (December 18, 2007). "How 2 Nerdfighters Took Over YouTube". ReadWrite. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  5. ^ Yearley, Jay (December 17, 2010). ""Project for Awesome" day lets readers bring favorite charity into spotlight with social media". Chicago Now. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  6. ^ "Project for Awesome: 5 years of doing good". Official YouTube Blog. Blogspot. December 8, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  7. ^ Morrison, Kimberlee (December 16, 2013). "Vlogbrothers Host Seventh Annual Project for Awesome". Social Times. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  8. ^ About, Project for Awesome 2014. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
  9. ^ "P4A 2016 Lynx Thoughts". 2016-12-09.
  10. ^ "Project For Awesome 2016". www.projectforawesome.com. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  11. ^ a b "Project for Awesome". Project for Awesome. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  12. ^ a b "foundation to decrease world suck". 501(c)(3) Look up. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  13. ^ "Fight World Suck Homepage". Fight World Suck. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  14. ^ Green, Hank (March 6, 2007). "Brotherhood 2.0: Peeps and Genocide". VlogBrothers. YouTube. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  15. ^ Romana, Aja (December 17, 2012). "Project for Awesome raises over $200,000 in a few hours". The Daily Dot. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  16. ^ "Project for Awesome About". Project for Awesome. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  17. ^ a b Romano, Aja (June 26, 2014). "The definitive guide to the Vlogbrothers family tree". The Daily Dot. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  18. ^ a b Shore, Jennifer (November 9, 2012). "How 2 Brothers Turned a YouTube Experiment Into a Charitable Mission". Mashable. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  19. ^ "P4A 2013 Indiegogo Campaign". Indiegogo. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  20. ^ a b c Gutelle, Sam (December 23, 2013). "Vlogbrothers Raise $869,591 For Charity With Project For Awesome 2013". Tubefilter. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  21. ^ a b c Lindquist, David (December 10, 2014). "'Imperial' books among first Project for Awesome perks". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  22. ^ Green, Hank. "The Young Democrats of America passed a resolution supporting the Project for Awesome (and also re-naming their president's dog "Manhole") and I love it". Twitter. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  23. ^ "Resolutions from 2019 Fall National Committee Meeting" (PDF). YDA.org. Young Democrats of America. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  24. ^ Green, Hank (February 12, 2021). "Hank Green". Twitter. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
  25. ^ a b "Project for Awesome 2021". Archived from the original on 2021-02-17. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  26. ^ "Tiltify - Made for Fundraisers". tiltify.com. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  27. ^ a b Wurst, Emily (2022-03-02). "2022's 'Project for Awesome' Raised $3M for Charity in 48 Hours". Good Good Good. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  28. ^ a b c d Hustvedt, Marc (December 21, 2010). "Project for Awesome (P4A), Web Video Stars Raise Over $140k For Charities". Tubefilter. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  29. ^ a b Gutelle, Sam (December 21, 2012). "Vlogbrothers Raise $483,446 With Project For Awesome". Tubefilter. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  30. ^ Goldberg, Eleanor (December 19, 2011). "Project For Awesome Charity Videos Overtake YouTube, Raise $64,000 For Causes (SLIDESHOW)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
  31. ^ Gaydos, Matthew (December 23, 2012). "Another Year Of Decreasing World Suck". Behind the Tubes. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  32. ^ Cohen, Joshua (December 17, 2014). "The Vlogbrothers' Project For Awesome Raises Over $1.2 Million To Decrease Worldsuck". Tubefilter. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  33. ^ "Project for Awesome". Archived from the original on 2015-01-20. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
  34. ^ "2015 Edition Of Vlogbrothers' Project For Awesome Raises $1,546,384". 2015-12-28. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  35. ^ Gutelle, Sam (14 December 2016). "Vlogbrothers' 2016 Project For Awesome Raises $2.1 Million For Charity".
  36. ^ "Project for Awesome 2017". Project for Awesome. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  37. ^ "Project for Awesome 2018". Project for Awesome. Archived from the original on December 12, 2018. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  38. ^ "Project for Awesome 2019". Project for Awesome. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019.
  39. ^ WURST, EMILY; HARVEY, BRANDEN (19 February 2023). "'Project for Awesome' Livestream Raises $3M for Charity in 48 Hours". Good Good Good. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  40. ^ Wurst, Emily (18 February 2024). "Hank & John Green's 'Project for Awesome' raises $3.4M for charity, breaks record". Good Good Good. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
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