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aid effectiveness

concept · in 60 videos (2008–2026)

Whether aid and charity achieve lasting results; early on the brothers vetted how charities work, praising Save the Children for sending 91% of donations to programs. From 2014 John argued foreign aid is extremely effective, citing polio cases falling from 350,000 a year to fewer than 400. Later he stresses strengthening whole health systems through sustained funding.

Videos by year: 2008: 2 · 2009: 1 · 2011: 3 · 2012: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2014: 6 · 2015: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2019: 8 · 2020: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2022: 6 · 2023: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2025: 9 · 2026: 3

Also known as: what makes good charity, no magic bullet, the work begins when the money is raised, community-owned asset people pay a fair price to maintain, does aid work

Also named in the threads: Hank asks viewers to donate to Water.org for the Savann Tabak well (2011) · Savann Tabak well: the vlogbrothers' Water.org campaign for a Haitian village (2011) · Hank: make one more Haiti video on how Water.org changes charity from dependence to independence (2011)

Questions

Often together

What comes up in the same parts of the videos; the number is how many parts.

Savann Tabak well (4) · child mortality (4) · extreme poverty (3) · othering (2) · Save the Children (3) · Partners In Health (4) · Sierra Leone (2) · Project for Awesome (2) · United States (2)

What the videos say

The most important statements of each year; all statements.

2008

  • 2008-04-08 · Nerdfighting in Bangladesh — John objects to how such charities raise money: black-and-white photos of unsmiling children with sad music. — 00:00:48
    • John is a big believer in giving to charities like Save the Children and Oxfam, which do amazing work with impressive efficiency. — 00:00:48
  • 2008-12-17 · Project for Awesome: DonorsChoose.org — Hank says DonorsChoose also pushes teachers to think of good uses for donors' money, since donors fund only ideas that sound good. — 00:02:17

2009

  • 2009-12-01 · Shaving for Pakistan — John says the world wants to help Pakistan but doesn't know where to start (education, infrastructure or corruption); everyone is paralyzed while the Pakistani Taliban kill moderate leaders. (unsure) — 00:02:45

2011

  • 2011-03-21 · Helping Haiti — Hank explains Water.org requires a well committee spanning genders, religions, neighborhoods and families, so the well becomes a community asset rather than one church's or family's. — 00:01:12
    • Hank says Water.org has a very specific outline for a community to come together and build a sustainable water project that redefines the community, not a short-term fix. — 00:02:56
    • Hank says a key lesson from Haiti is that not all non-profits are equal; having done due diligence on how Water.org operates, he is comfortable asking viewers to donate to it. — 00:03:06
  • 2011-04-04 · Thoughts from The Well — Hank says what the village needs is a well plus community infrastructure to keep it a sustainable water source for the community's lifetime, and that Water.org is going to get them that. — 00:03:08
    • Hank says he will make one more video about Haiti, on how Water.org and its member organizations are changing charity from creating dependence to creating independence. — 00:03:40
  • 2011-12-17 · We Built a Well in Haiti — Hank: More than a well, the village has a community-owned asset that users pay a fair price for, the money funding maintenance so it still gives clean water 20, 30, 50 years from now; the community invested in, controls and maintains it. — 00:00:58

2012

  • 2012-12-17 · THE PROJECT FOR AWESOME 2012 IS HERE! Save the Children. — John says he loves Save the Children because it responds to a complex problem complexly: training teachers, HIV/AIDS work for orphans, training farmers for drought, disaster response, and training midwives and frontline health workers. — 00:01:21
    • John says Save the Children works with astonishing efficiency: 91% of donations go directly to programs rather than fundraising or overhead, and it works worldwide, from Pakistan to Angola. — 00:02:20

2013

  • 2013-12-17 · THE PROJECT FOR AWESOME 2013 IS UPON US! — John truly believes Sammy and more than a million children like him will be better off if Nerdfighteria partners with effective and efficient organizations like Save the Children. — 00:02:54

2014

  • 2014-01-21 · Are Poor Countries Doomed? — John: Myth two is that foreign aid is a waste; John argues even small aid budgets have produced tremendous results. — 00:01:45
    • John says 25 years ago there were 350,000 new polio cases a year; today, thanks to the aid-funded polio eradication initiative, there are fewer than 400. — 00:01:58
  • 2014-07-22 · Ambiguous Victories and Real Progress: Behind the Beautiful Forevers — John says such non-straightforward stories about charity are rarely heard, especially from charities, because admitting uncertain, imperfect results is a terrible fundraising strategy. — 00:00:58
    • John argues that everywhere, including our own neighbourhoods, we must look at what charities do and how well, and not give just to feel good or ease guilt but to actually decrease world suck. — 00:02:11
  • 2014-07-29 · Listen: Thoughts from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — John: Saying he is no expert, John credits Ethiopia's seriousness about health and groups like the Gates Foundation and Save the Children helping execute an Ethiopian strategy rather than imposing one. (hedged) — 00:01:37
    • Dr. Gessesse told John of failed outreach: a dozen CPAPs arrived from a charity, all adult-sized and none of use to her. — 00:02:12
    • John draws the lesson: we have to listen to each other. — 00:02:20
  • 2014-08-19 · Baby Names: Thoughts from Rural Ethiopia — John: A story John heard often: Ethiopian women traditionally waited months to name babies because so many died, but with mortality falling thanks to smart aid and government investment they now name them at birth. — 00:00:13
    • The real heroes of Ethiopia's health successes are Ethiopian: community volunteers, health extension workers and mothers fighting to keep children healthy despite poverty. — 00:02:58
  • 2014-08-26 · Food Is Weird: Understanding Agriculture in the Developing World — John: Noting his own privilege is easy; harder is working out how each of us can help more people lead healthy, productive lives. Easy narratives are oversimplified; there is no magic bullet for poverty. (hedged) — 00:05:49
    • Sourcing and distributing the birthday llamas will be very hard: the work begins, not ends, when the money is raised, and no program works perfectly. — 00:06:14
  • 2014-09-23 · Looking Away — John says looking away makes it hard to listen, and listening is how we learn to actually help rather than imposing our own ideas of what others need. — 00:02:05
  • …and 5 statements more in 2014 — all statements of 2014

2015

2017

  • 2017-02-14 · Human Life Is Getting Better. Faster Than Ever Before. — John says the 2014 Gates letter pretty well destroyed the argument that foreign aid doesn't work. — video description
    • John says foreign aid has a reputation for not working but is in fact extremely effective. — 00:01:31
  • 2017-12-15 · Why Big Solutions Fail — Hank: Delivering health care, water or food where they are lacking used to be work that didn't get done; Save the Children and Last Mile Health now do it, training and employing local people as community health workers. — 00:01:53

2018

  • 2018-01-23 · On Emergencies — John does not say stop responding to emergencies: it is a both-and proposition, respond to emergencies and focus more attention and resources on long-term problems. — 00:02:53
  • 2018-02-13 · What Can't a Billion Dollars Buy? — John agrees: breakthrough technologies can transform, and better systems can be disproportionately effective because they keep producing results after funding stops. — 00:02:50
  • 2018-08-21 · SYSTEMS!!!! — John admires Partners In Health because it is systems-focused: it does not drop in with solutions but listens to and invests in communities. — 00:03:15

2019

  • 2019-04-09 · The Only Psychiatric Hospital in Sierra Leone — John: A poster about chaining frustrated staff: all wanted to end chaining, but without medication or working infrastructure they had no other way to stop aggressive patients' harm; they needed support, not posters. — 00:01:05
    • A charity donated two huge generators that were far too powerful for the hospital's grid and shorted everything out; staff could have said what they needed, but no one asked. — 00:01:56
    • Single interventions like a poster campaign or a donated generator often fail because the whole system must change together; isolated investments yield isolated results, investing in systems yields systemic ones. — 00:04:39
    • Investing means time and attention to listen carefully, not barging in with preconceived solutions: what the community learned from a decade working with Partners In Health. — 00:05:05
  • 2019-04-23 · untitled — announcement: John: Nerdfighteria's project with Partners In Health Sierra Leone will provide ongoing funding to improve the health care system there, because long-term problems need long-term solutions. — 00:02:55
  • 2019-10-01 · Why Are Poor Countries Poor? — John believes progress will continue if the Ministry of Health, with organizations like PIH, can make long-term investments that address long-term problems. — 00:06:54
  • 2019-10-22 · Why We're Donating $6,500,000 — John says he and Hank are not experts, but learning from experts taught them that lasting change happens best through deep, ongoing, lasting partnerships, hence a long-term commitment of money and attention. — 00:04:24
  • 2019-10-25 · Unscripted and Unhinged — Hank says 'best' is a trap: if you ask whether something is the best possible use of money you will never do anything. — 00:01:12
  • 2019-11-26 · old fashioned parts video — John says the charities know better than the brothers where the funding gaps are and unrestricted funds are really important to charities, so the Sierra Leone project stays separate. — 00:02:31
  • 2019-12-03 · We Are Cats Now, I Guess? — John thinks it is really important to understand where the money goes and the good it does. — 00:02:04
  • 2019-12-06 · It is Much Easier to Destroy than Create — Hank says we need to support the master puzzle-solvers who understand each problem's unique shape, like the people at Partners In Health and Save the Children, the P4A's first-half charities. — 00:02:36

2020

  • 2020-01-28 · Looking Away (Again) — John says solidarity can be donations but also listening, paying attention, reading annual reports, or telling friends and family about these efforts. — 00:05:45
  • 2020-03-24 · Mental Health Tips from People Who've Been There — John says PIH values partnership enough to put it in its name, because in global health, as elsewhere, everyone needs to learn from everyone. — 00:00:29
  • 2020-07-21 · Somebody Once Asked . . . — John: There is encouraging news but it is very difficult; any effective healthcare response must include mental health care and real listening and reassurance. — 00:02:26
  • 2020-11-17 · Our Biggest Project Yet: A One Year Update — John: Too often people or institutions make big promises they fail to keep or short-term investments that are soon abandoned, which never strengthens the system. — 00:04:43

2021

  • 2021-02-12 · Doing Better — Hank says some people saw these problems and systems, judged them not good enough, and have worked for decades on systems that make them sustainably better. — 00:02:15
  • 2021-11-02 · enough — John says money donated now still grows, as more kids surviving to adulthood and more educational opportunities, growth far more transformational than stock appreciation. — 00:02:16

2022

  • 2022-02-08 · How Much Money Vlogbrothers Makes from YouTube (...and where it goes) — announcement: John: In the P4A's first half they raise unrestricted funds for pre-selected charities, this year (2022) Partners In Health and Save the Children, long-time partners, not for a particular project. — 00:02:26
  • 2022-02-22 · On the Death of My Hero — John says Farmer was never alone: partnership, built into PIH's name, with hospitals, governments, philanthropists and above all fellow clinicians, was the foundation of his work. — 00:01:56
  • 2022-02-25 · When You Can't Fix Everything… — Hank says both organizations have proven good at looking at long-term crises and staying focused on them so the world can get better. — 00:00:56
  • 2022-04-19 · How do you cross the Sad Gap? — John says their philanthropy then was about their own helplessness, not grounded in listening to those affected, so their attention moved with the world's: Japan's tsunami, Syrian refugees, Ebola. — 00:01:27
    • Joia Mukherjee (quoted): Dr. Mukherjee said charities leaving when the crisis ended would leave Sierra Leone's health system more fragile, so PIH was going and staying, to build a stronger system for the next catastrophe. — 00:02:26
  • 2022-07-12 · Nauseous Puddle Water — John says long-term systemic problems need long-term systemic solutions. — 00:02:44
  • 2022-11-15 · 3 Years In: What Happened, Why, and What's Next — John says part of what makes PIH special is that it responds both to acute health crises and to their chronic underlying causes. — 00:01:56

2023

  • 2023-02-17 · COUNTDOWN TO THE PROJECT FOR AWESOME — Hank says both organizations help people with the least by building strong foundations for communities, and that evidence and experience show people given resources and a foundation will build. — 00:02:33
  • 2023-05-02 · GOOD NEWS — John: Many Sierra Leonean hospitals have special care baby units but few function: staff, training, supplies and maintenance matter, and Koidu's unit thrives because its team has that support. — 00:05:21

2024

  • 2024-02-16 · How Much Does it Cost to be a Nerdfighter — Hank says they work with Partners In Health because it sees crises where others see the status quo and stays focused on huge problems, news or not, by strengthening health systems. — 00:05:05
  • 2024-03-12 · How We End TB — John says that to really address TB the whole health system must be strengthened so it can search for cases, treat those it finds and prevent future ones. — 00:03:50
  • 2024-03-19 · Our $80,000,000 Bet — John believes the only way to end TB is with public-private partnerships like this one; this one is relatively small and much bigger ones are needed. — 00:01:56
  • 2024-06-18 · The Tea — John says long-term problems like the systemic impoverishment of Sierra Leone's health care system demand long-term solutions like ongoing funding for it. — 00:01:56
  • 2024-11-19 · Let's Talk about Money — John: To do right by the project in a long-term, open-ended way, thousands of people donate every month at pih.org/hankandjohn and dozens more fund a monthly match; John calls this the financial backbone of the maternal and infant care project. — 00:01:00
  • 2024-11-26 · Good News — John says the community is a tiny part of Sierra Leone's progress on maternal deaths; Vicky Reed and her colleagues would be the first to point out that it only works through deep partnership with the government, the main driver of health care quality in the country. — 00:03:26

2025

  • 2025-01-28 · This Is Not Normal — John says the progress is the result of sustained, ongoing, open-ended funding and collaboration. — 00:05:21
  • 2025-02-11 · What's at Stake — John says philanthropy cannot replace USAID's at-scale responses, but supporting global health charities is more important than ever. — 00:04:22
  • 2025-05-06 · Health CARE: Thoughts from Lima — John says PIH is good at providing blueprints governments can expand: mobile x-ray vans and backpack x-ray machines began as PIH-only projects and were taken up by the Ministry of Health. — 00:01:27
  • 2025-05-13 · I Have the BEST News — John says it also needed the Ministry of Health's support: PIH is not building a parallel health system, and the facility belongs to Sierra Leoneans through their government. — 00:03:33
  • 2025-06-10 · 90,000,000 Lives for $20 — John says private philanthropy simply cannot step up and fill these gaps. — 00:06:12
  • 2025-10-28 · Elon Cancelled This...Let's Do it Anyway — John says we know how to eliminate TB from a community: actively search for cases, cure everyone found, and give close contacts preventive therapy. — 00:00:29
  • 2025-10-31 · We Did It… — Hank says PIH and the Ministry of Health work with the community to make it last: employing local women in construction, training health workers, building sustainable infrastructure. — 00:07:43
  • 2025-11-13 · Fighting TB in Kids: A Discussion with Doctors without Borders — John says that in high-level talk about the future of aid, we must remember that if it doesn't include batteries, something is deeply wrong with it. — 00:36:02
  • 2025-11-25 · Poverty Is Expensive — John says this is why, in aid, we worry so much about corruption in poor countries and so little about price gouging from rich countries. — 00:05:21

2026

  • 2026-02-24 · Risk Is a Privilege — John says the reluctance to invest in impoverished communities is the main reason maternal and child mortality were so high in Sierra Leone. — 00:02:55
  • 2026-04-14 · Babies. Babies. Babies. — John is reminded that long-term problems demand long-term solutions: after seven years with Partners In Health and Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health, they are seeing the transformation. — 00:03:24
  • 2026-04-28 · What I Can't Show You — John says that after seven long years of fundraising and building, the MCOE is the kind of long-term response that transforms not just its patients' lives but its community's. — 00:03:24