Nerdfighteria revenue (Pizzamas royalties, Life's Library proceeds) redirected to charity (2018)
project history · status: completed · last event: milestone (2026-10-09)
From 2018 the brothers sent the money their Nerdfighteria work makes to charity: Pizzamas royalties to the Foundation, Life's Library proceeds and most of DFTBA's profit to Partners In Health. By 2019 all their DFTBA profit distributions went to charity, and they still described the practice in 2025.
Told alongside: John asks viewers to buy Pizzamas 2026 merch at pizzamas.com before Pizzamas ends (2026) · Pizzamas 2026 edition · Partners In Health maternal health project in Liberia funded by DFTBA profit (2019) · Life's Library book club: launch and first year (2018) · John invites viewers to join Life's Library at lifeslibrarybookclub.com (2019) · John: Partners In Health will break ground on the Maternal Center of Excellence in spring 2021 (2020) · John: keep Nerdfighters up to date on how the vlogbrothers pre-roll money is spent (2014) · SciShow: launch of Hank's science channel (2011)
About: Pizzamas, Foundation to Decrease World Suck, Life's Library, Rosianna Halse Rojas, Partners In Health, DFTBA Records
| date | event | what | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-10-16 | launched | All profits from Life's Library go to Partners In Health, which they have worked with for over a decade and which provides health care to the poor. | Life's Library 00:02:16 |
| 2018-10-29 | milestone | This year (2018) all Pizzamas profits and royalties go to the Foundation to Decrease World Suck, to be used as matching funds during the Project for Awesome. | PIZZAMAS IS HERE! 00:00:31 |
| 2018-11-08 | launched | John says more of the brothers' Nerdfighteria work is shifting to supporting charity: Pizzamas royalties go to the Foundation and proceeds of Life's Library, his book club with Rosianna, to Partners In Health. | Let's Talk Money: The Bank of Nerdfighteria's Semi-Annual Report 00:01:05 |
| 2019-02-22 | milestone | With big goals for maternal health in Liberia with Partners In Health, Hank says DFTBA will give the vast majority of its after-tax profit to PIH for that project, with more information soon. | I Don't Want The Same Things Anymore 00:02:56 |
| 2019-04-23 | milestone | Life's Library has slots open for its new book, Isabel Allende's House of the Spirits; sign up at lifeslibrarybookclub.com, with all proceeds going to Partners In Health's work in Sierra Leone. | untitled 00:02:26 |
| 2019-10-25 | milestone | Hank says, having not mentioned it on the channel, that DFTBA now gives all the profit distributions that would go to him and John to charity. | Unscripted and Unhinged 00:00:29 |
| 2020-12-08 | looked back | John says a few years ago the brothers decided their portion of the profits from these businesses should go to charity. | A Love Letter to My Brother, Basically 00:01:27 |
| 2021-08-17 | looked back | 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 |
| 2021-10-15 | looked back | Hank says that may be part of why they started donating all Pizzamas profit: not making money helps it not feel like work. (hedged) | What is Pizzamas? ...and a New Friend 00:01:56 |
| 2022-01-04 | outcome | With PIH's own fundraising and support from Life's Library and the Awesome Socks Club, ground has broken on the Maternal Center of Excellence. | After 15 Years on YouTube, THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING 00:00:58 |
| 2023-09-25 | milestone | The description says all Pizzamas proceeds go to support PIH's work, with an emphasis on tuberculosis treatment and diagnosis. | PIZZAMAS IS HERE!!! video description |
| 2024-09-23 | milestone | John says all the money made at pizzamas.com this Pizzamas goes to Partners In Health; keeping it would be morally repugnant. | IT'S HERE! 00:01:46 |
| 2024-10-04 | milestone | Hank thanks John for a wonderful Pizzamas and says, as always, 100% of Pizzamas profit is donated to help Partners In Health build health systems where most needed. | Trees are Destroying the Earth (Again) 00:05:05 |
| 2025-01-24 | looked back | Hank says half the money from this channel supports up-and-coming online educators and the other half goes to Partners In Health. | Am I OK? 00:05:55 |
| 2025-09-29 | milestone | John says they donate 100% of their Pizzamas proceeds to Partners In Health. | PIZZAMAS IS UPON US! 00:04:31 |
| 2026-09-18 | looked back | Hank says views may suit brand deals, but Vlogbrothers does none: they make things with people, such as artists' Pizzamas shirts whose money goes to Partners In Health. | John was Wrong about YouTube Views 00:08:15 |
| 2026-09-28 | milestone | John says no one is paying him to praise the shirts, because 100% of the Pizzamas royalties go to support Partners In Health. | Death. Taxes. Pizzamas. 00:02:14 |
| 2026-10-02 | milestone | The description asks viewers to get their Pizzamas at pizzamas.com, noting that all the value Pizzamas captures goes to Partners In Health. | the most powerful attention-consuming tools in the history of the world video description |
| 2026-10-07 | milestone | Hank announces that Pizzamas has officially broken even, so every further purchase adds to what goes to Partners In Health. | The 5 Meanest Things We've Named a Species 00:03:36 |
| 2026-10-08 | milestone | John asks viewers to get Pizzamas items at pizzamas.com, available only for the next few days; all proceeds go to Partners In Health. | The Test of a First Rate Intelligence 00:01:28 |
| 2026-10-09 | milestone | Hank says Pizzamas pays artists and product designers to make amazing pizza stuff, available for the last time, with the profit donated to Partners In Health. | The Productivity Lie 00:08:58 |
What is said about it
14 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).
- 2018-10-16 · Life's Library — announcement: John announces Life's Library, developed with Rosianna Halse Rojas and DFTBA.com: every six weeks for a year a group reads a book at least a year old and discusses it on Discord. — 00:00:58
- 2018-10-16 · Life's Library — announcement: John: Books are chosen alternately by Rosianna and John; the physical subscription mails the book with a letter from John, bookplates by artists, postcards and other surprises. — 00:01:17
- 2018-10-16 · Life's Library — announcement: John: Subscribers also get digital extras: a podcast by Rosianna and John about each book, a discussion guide, and Q&As with the authors when available. — 00:01:32
- 2018-10-16 · Life's Library — announcement: John: A digital subscription lets members get the book from a local library or bookstore and receive the other resources by email. — 00:01:46
- 2018-10-16 · Life's Library — announcement: John: Those who cannot afford either option can still borrow the book from a library and join the Discord discussion. — 00:01:56
- 2018-10-16 · Life's Library — announcement: John: The books will range from YA novels to mysteries to memoirs, to read broadly and celebrate many kinds of books. — 00:02:02
- 2018-10-16 · Life's Library — announcement: John: The physical subscription costs $25 per book including free domestic and international shipping; the digital subscription costs $10 per book. — 00:02:08
- 2018-10-16 · Life's Library — recommendation: John: The first book, if they pull it off, will be Jacqueline Woodson's If You Come Softly, published 20 years ago but still blisteringly contemporary; Woodson is one of John's favorite writers. — 00:02:26
- 2018-10-16 · Life's Library — announcement: John: Life's Library will only happen if enough people sign up, so John cannot promise it will. — 00:02:40
- 2018-10-16 · Life's Library — recommendation: John adds that Life's Library would make a great gift for family and friends. (playful) — 00:02:57
- 2019-02-22 · I Don't Want The Same Things Anymore — announcement: The description says that, because of how their accounting works, DFTBA profit going to Partners In Health extends back through the entire last year (2018). — video description
- 2019-02-22 · I Don't Want The Same Things Anymore — announcement: Hank explains that DFTBA profit not going to Partners In Health is either held as an operating reserve or distributed to small minority owners who invested when the company needed it. — video description
- 2019-02-22 · I Don't Want The Same Things Anymore — Hank says this is DFTBA's own business money, whether it comes from Kurzgesagt, Lindsay Ellis, the McElroy Brothers or Life's Library. — 00:02:56
- 2021-08-17 · Who Owns Nerdfighteria? — John stresses the 'in part': the brothers can afford not to make money from Vlogbrothers and DFTBA only because they earn elsewhere, John from books and Hank from his many jobs. — 00:02:55