John: keep Nerdfighters up to date on how the vlogbrothers pre-roll money is spent (2014)
promise · status: open (updates through 2026, not reported done) · last event: progress update (2026-10-09) · owner: John
John's July 2014 promise to keep Nerdfighters up to date on how the vlogbrothers pre-roll ad money is spent; updates followed from 2014 to 2022, from grants to educational creators such as Physics Girl to the Partners In Health maternal-mortality project in Sierra Leone.
Part of: Vlogbrothers pre-roll ads and the Vlogbrothers Creator Grants (2014)
Told alongside: John asks viewers to apply for, or point educational creators to, the Vlogbrothers educational-content grants (2017) · The Financial Diet: YouTube show, one of Hank's newest video projects (2015) · Nerdfighteria revenue (Pizzamas royalties, Life's Library proceeds) redirected to charity (2018) · P4A 2015 edition · John asks Nerdfighters to take the survey on pre-roll ads on vlogbrothers and on education content (2014)
About: online advertising
| date | event | what | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-07-15 | promised | John promises Nerdfighters the brothers will keep them up to date on how the pre-roll money is spent. | Exciting Announcements and Mosquito-Borne Illnesses 00:00:25 |
| 2014-09-19 | progress update | Hank tells viewers how the pre-roll money is being spent: an equipment grant for Physics Girl and money for Kelly Kend's documentary. | The Oculus Rift is Freakin Me Out 00:03:29 |
| 2014-10-14 | progress update | John says the foundation now has about $45,000, partly from Nerdfighter projects like Nerdcrafteria (he says 'Minecrafteria') and more Vlogbrothers income - its best shape ever going into P4A. | A Minor Crisis 00:01:44 |
| 2015-05-26 | progress update | Bank of Nerdfighteria update: Vlogbrothers ad revenue is split in half between the Foundation to Decrease World Suck and a fund sponsoring online educational content such as Physics Girl and The Financial Diet. | Sixteen Parts 00:02:05 |
| 2015-12-08 | progress update | John says the Foundation already has $80,000 before P4A starts, mostly from Nerdcrafteria and Vlogbrothers ad revenue, half of which sponsors online educational projects and half goes to the Foundation. | The Bank of Nerdfighteria's Semiannual Report 00:02:42 |
| 2016-02-05 | progress update | Through the Vlogbrothers ad revenue grants, this month (February 2016) the brothers sent money to Science With Tom, Eternally Curious, SimonOxfPhys and Unacademy, India's largest free education initiative. | Honest YouTube Talk Time 00:01:39 |
| 2016-09-06 | progress update | John says half of the channel's ad revenue goes to the Foundation to Decrease World Suck and half sponsors online education projects. | How We're Spending Your Money: The Bank of Nerdfighteria's Quarterly Report 00:00:59 |
| 2017-11-28 | progress update | John says that since 2014 all Vlogbrothers ad revenue has been split evenly between the Foundation to Decrease World Suck and a fund sponsoring online educational content. | Let's Talk about Money 00:00:04 |
| 2021-02-09 | progress update | A chunk of Vlogbrothers ad revenue sponsors educational video projects, and John often discovers new favourite channels that way. | Lesser Known YouTube Channels I Love 00:00:56 |
| 2021-08-17 | progress update | John says the brothers' share also seems high, because the money belongs to Nerdfighteria, not to them; that is why half goes to grants for educational creators and half to charity. | Who Owns Nerdfighteria? 00:02:26 |
| 2022-02-08 (happened 2021) | progress update | John says vlogbrothers earned just over $145,000 in 2021: half went to the brothers' Partners In Health maternal-mortality project in Sierra Leone, the rest was split between a Complexly educational fund and grants to emerging educational creators such as Tom Lum, Alexis Nikole and Flipping Physics. | How Much Money Vlogbrothers Makes from YouTube (...and where it goes) 00:00:58 |
| 2023-10-06 | progress update | Hank says that for over ten years half of the Vlogbrothers channel's ad revenue has gone to grants for small educational internet creators, since getting started is harder than it used to be. | I Quit 00:07:20 |
| 2024-11-01 | progress update | Hank asks for applications for the Vlogbrothers sponsorship: half of their money helps newer educational creators on any internet platform. | Working Through a Crisis with My Brother 00:00:29 |
| 2026-05-29 | progress update | Hank says the brothers justified taking the ad money by putting half into a pool granted to small educational creators, first YouTubers and now on multiple platforms: over 10 years, dozens of grants. | Chemo Cow Body Odor YouTube Helen Hunt Commute 00:05:20 |
| 2026-10-09 | progress update | Among the Vlogbrothers things he is proudest of, Hank names the yearly bets on educational creators funded by a piece of Vlogbrothers ad revenue, which he calls the most rational thing. | The Productivity Lie 00:05:58 |
What is said about it
7 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).
- 2014-07-15 · Exciting Announcements and Mosquito-Borne Illnesses — announcement: John says the brothers will do what the vote decided and promises Nerdfighters updates on how the money is spent. — 00:00:25
- 2014-09-19 · The Oculus Rift is Freakin Me Out — announcement: Hank says vlogbrothers has run pre-roll ads for over a month, building a pile of cash the brothers are distributing to awesome creators. — 00:03:22
- 2015-05-26 · Sixteen Parts — John: So far this year (2015) the Foundation to Decrease World Suck has raised about $40,000, mostly from people watching ads on Vlogbrothers; John thanks viewers for 'ingesting' the advertising. — 00:02:18
- 2017-11-28 · Let's Talk about Money — John says he and Hank don't do this because they are noble but because they can afford to: they have other jobs that pay well. — 00:00:33
- 2023-10-06 · I Quit — Hank names past grant recipients: Alexis Nikole, Answer in Progress, The Financial Diet, Wendover Productions, Real Engineering, and Kurzgesagt in the first year. — 00:07:20
- 2023-10-06 · I Quit — ask: Hank invites people making mostly long- or short-form educational video, or who know someone who is, to apply via the description link; grants are usually $1,000 to $3,000. — 00:07:58
- 2026-05-29 · Chemo Cow Body Odor YouTube Helen Hunt Commute — Hank recalls YouTube going from no ads to sidebar ads to pre-roll ads; the brothers left pre-roll off for over a year, until it became normal and the money was just sitting there. — 00:03:31