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P4A 2026 edition

project history · status: completed · last event: milestone (2026-07-08)

The 19th Project for Awesome, held February 13 to 15, 2026, with new rules for submissions and voting and no grants for Complexly. It raised over $4.2 million, and its grant recipients were announced in May.

Parts: Hank asks donors of more than $500 to join the P4A 2026 matching fund at projectforawesome.com/matching (2026) · John asks viewers to make a P4A 2026 video nominating a charity by February 8 (2026) · John asks viewers to join the P4A 2026 livestream on the vlogbrothers channel, February 13 to 15 (2026) · John asks viewers to donate to P4A 2026 at projectforawesome.com/donate for perks (2026) · Hank: do a Banana Loca on stream if the P4A 2026 Tiltify reaches $690,000 within ten minutes (2026) · John: shave off his P4A 2026 mustache on stream once the total reaches $1.5 million (2026) · Hank: the P4A 2026 Tiltify will reach $1 million (2026) · John: the P4A 2026 total will catch up with P4A 2025's if donations keep their pace (2026) · Hank: the P4A 2026 Tiltify will reach its $1,207,000 goal during his evening shift (2026) · John: stream an exclusive game of pacifist Fortnite with Stan Muller as a P4A 2026 perk (2026) · Hank: do two Banana Loca rolls when he gets back to the P4A 2026 livestream (2026)

Other editions: P4A 2008 edition · P4A 2009 edition · P4A 2010 edition · P4A 2011 edition · P4A 2012 edition · P4A 2013 edition · P4A 2014 edition · P4A 2015 edition · P4A 2016 edition · P4A 2017 edition · P4A 2018 edition · P4A 2019 edition · P4A 2021 edition · P4A 2022 edition · P4A 2023 edition · P4A 2024 edition · P4A 2025 edition

Told alongside: John: the P4A 2026 total will reach $2 million on the night of February 13 or early February 14, 2026 (2026) · The Anthropocene Reviewed: John's podcast reviewing facets of the human-centered planet (2017) · Hank's bit that the 2026 Project for Awesome is already in 2027, with every problem solved (2026)

About: Project for Awesome

date event what video
2026-01-09 announced Hank says the Project for Awesome is coming and just around the corner, February 13th to the 15th. There is Only One Source of Value 00:04:26
2026-01-16 rule change Hank announces P4A 2026 changes: submissions January 24 to February 8 made with human skills, voting February 10 to 18 with one vote per charity per account, Tiltify carts but no pre-packaged bundles, guest items, an ocean theme. 2026 P4A Changes! (Plus...GAMES!) 00:00:29
2026-02-10 milestone John says the 19th Project for Awesome starts in three days, but its fundraiser is already live with P4A-only perks such as a new episode of his podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed. I Was a Teenage Dirtbag 00:00:00
2026-02-10 rule change John says Complexly will not be eligible for a Project for Awesome grant, because the brothers should not benefit even indirectly from the P4A. I Was a Teenage Dirtbag 00:04:55
2026-02-13 launched Hank says the yearly Project for Awesome charity livestream begins today, moments or hours after he uploads, and thanks everyone for 19 years of it. Why Isn't Everybody a Nonprofit?! 00:00:00
2026-02-13 (happened 2026-01) setback Hank says the P4A livestream looks just like last year's (2025), although the company that hosted it before suddenly disappeared about a month ago. Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! 00:53:41
2026-02-13 milestone John announces that the 2026 Project for Awesome has passed a million dollars. Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! 02:08:07
2026-02-13 milestone Hank says the 2026 Project for Awesome has raised $1.6 million in total. Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! 01:16:29
2026-02-14 milestone John announces that the 2026 Project for Awesome has raised $2 million. Project for Awesome 2026 part 3! 00:23:54
2026-02-14 milestone John says the 2026 Project for Awesome has just passed $2.7 million, $300,000 short of $3 million, and every dollar donated now counts as two. Project for Awesome 2026 part 4! 00:15:58
2026-02-15 milestone The 2026 Project for Awesome passes $4 million during the livestream, reaching $4,018,000: the first time the P4A ever came near $4 million, they blew past it. Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! 04:59:42
2026-02-24 outcome John says the Project for Awesome raised over $4.2 million. Risk Is a Privilege 00:00:00
2026-05-15 milestone Hank announces the Project for Awesome 2026 grant recipients, congratulates them and points to a link in the description. The Weirdest Thing About Dogs (and Cats (and Horses)) 00:05:10
2026-07-08 milestone A livestream clip shows hosts reacting with disbelief to four million dollars. Project for Awesome Recap Video 2026!! 00:03:34

What is said about it

83 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).

  • 2026-01-09 · There is Only One Source of Value — announcement: Hank says the Project for Awesome, a good and hopeful time every year, is just around the corner: February 13th to the 15th. — 00:03:53
  • 2026-01-13 · why we make art — announcement: John: In a mock 'message from our sponsor', John announces that the Project for Awesome begins in less than one month. (playful) — 00:00:58
  • 2026-01-16 · 2026 P4A Changes! (Plus...GAMES!) — announcement: Hank announces the P4A 2026 livestream begins at noon Eastern on Friday, February 13th and ends at noon Eastern on Sunday, February '5th'. — 00:00:00
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John announces that the 2026 Project for Awesome has already raised over $432,000, thanks to its matching donors. — 00:17:31
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — John worries that this year's (2026) P4A may have too many matching donors: for the first time he wonders whether they will raise enough to use the whole match. (hedged) — 00:17:31
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John brings back his podcast The Anthropocene Reviewed only for the P4A, with an episode reviewing the Galapagos Islands and Kurt Vonnegut's novel Galapagos, for a $10 donation. — 00:24:03
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John lists P4A 2026 perks including exclusive Dear Hank and John episodes and a dadcast with Travis McElroy and Hank. — 00:24:45
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John announces that the 2026 Project for Awesome has passed half a million dollars. — 00:26:46
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank reports 72 of 300 of his signed fish prints left and 50 of 300 of John's. — 00:46:05
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John explains that P4A money pays for community health workers and children's services in refugee communities through Partners In Health and Save the Children, plus charities the community votes for. — 00:51:13
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — John says a Nerdfighter advisory group helps list the smaller charities that get P4A grants each year, which can be transformational, and that the P4A has raised about $17 million over the years. (hedged) — 00:51:43
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank thanks the P4A livestream producers: the website is new and the whole back end of the Project for Awesome had to change. — 00:54:17
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — John offers 20 prints of the Good News Bridge, which his mother painted after learning Hank's cancer was treatable rather than the worst case; John and his parents were on a walk there when they heard. — 01:00:55
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank says the small Hanklerfish canvases he offers are experiments with new ways to make Hanklerfish: few, priced highly and about four inches across. — 01:02:03
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says the 2026 Project for Awesome has raised $838,000, already more than any of the first ten Projects for Awesome. — 01:10:53
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — ask: Hank points viewers to the P4A videos at projectforawesome.com: half the money goes to Save the Children and Partners In Health and half to charities the community votes for. — 01:13:07
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — ask: John asks viewers who can to donate at projectforawesome.com/donate, and those who can't to watch P4A videos and vote for the charities they want supported. — 01:14:04
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank says his new book, offered as a P4A perk in early form, is about the biology of cancer and his experience of having cancer; the perk is probably its first two chapters. (hedged) — 01:15:08
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says his 16-year-old son Henry, a very good boxer, will punch him when the P4A reaches a million dollars. — 01:17:37
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John adds two P4A perks: one of his own T-shirts from his wardrobe, and personalized book recommendations from him in a 10-minute conversation, for a large donation. — 01:50:18
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says only five of the ten T-shirts from his wardrobe are left and his personal book recommendations have sold out. — 01:58:11
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says the P4A digital download bundle includes a Delete This episode and Like Letters, the podcast he and Sarah make every year. — 02:00:14
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says this is the last year of P4A pressed pennies, because pennies are no longer being made. — 02:02:28
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John offers the 19th yearly P4A commemorative coin, which glows in the dark. — 02:03:25
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John offers 460 leftover signed quote posters from P4A 2024, each signed by one of Brennan Lee Mulligan, John, Hank, Alexis Nikole Nelson, Tyler Thrasher, Sabrina Cruz, Travis McElroy or the SciShow Tangents hosts. — 02:04:31
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says that for a $3,000 donation the creator of the Pizzamas role-playing game will host a one-shot with the donor. — 02:05:01
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says an anonymous donor just gave $30,000, which he thinks is the biggest gift ever made during a P4A stream. (hedged) — 02:08:36
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — John: After the P4A passes $1 million, John takes the live camera to his home gym, where his son Henry punches him in the stomach. — 02:09:17
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says the 2026 P4A has raised $1.065 million with matching, which he believes already passes each of the first 11 Projects for Awesome. (hedged) — 02:13:06
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says the P4A will not livestream continuously through its 46 hours: they learned a few years ago that streaming at 3 a.m. is too much, and want people to sleep. — 02:19:49
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — John says streaming the full 48 hours turned out not to raise more money or votes, so it was counterproductive. — 02:20:37
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says P4A 2026 donations are coming in at a rate between those of 2024 and 2025, closer to 2025. — 02:25:18
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says the 2026 Project for Awesome raised $1.1 million in its first two and a half hours. — 02:44:05
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — ask: John explains how to vote in the 2026 Project for Awesome: open any video at projectforawesome.com and press the red 'vote for charity' button. — 02:51:29
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John thanks viewers for the 29,730 P4A 2026 votes so far; voters must register quickly, which helps prevent spam, traditionally a significant problem. — 02:52:12
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says the 2026 Project for Awesome has raised $1.116 million overall, with almost $400,000 in Tiltify donations. — 02:53:39
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John tells a donor that, according to the website, 2026 is the last year of P4A pressed pennies because the mint is no longer making pennies, but he will advocate for doing them again. — 02:56:20
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John thanks the anonymous donor of $30,000 earlier in the stream, the largest P4A 2026 gift by a factor of about 10. — 03:15:14
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John: Handing over to Hank, John says the 2026 Project for Awesome has raised $1.144 million, ahead of 2023 and 2024 at this point and just behind 2025. — 03:18:39
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank says the 2026 Project for Awesome has raised $1.185 million some three and a half to four and a half hours in. — 03:48:35
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank says Katherine's Little Arts perk, 50 small canvases at $200 each, is almost gone already, with five of 50 left. — 03:51:29
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank thanks a donor for a $10,000 gift that came in during his Batman segment. — 04:44:01
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank offers foil prints of the mural he and Sara Sandoval painted when he was in Los Angeles; 437 of 500 are left. — 04:46:51
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank says P4A 2026 voting and donations close in four days, 19 hours and 33 minutes. — 05:11:52
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank says Tyler Thrasher has three P4A 2026 perks up, including a signed Tyler Thrasher fish print. — 05:22:06
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank says 20 or 50 of Tyler Thrasher's books are left and his glowing flowers are sold out, but items left in unpaid carts come back online about 10 minutes later. — 05:27:55
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — ask: Hank asks viewers to donate to the P4A and buy perks, because he wants to reach $500,000 before John comes back. — 05:29:25
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank says the total is at $487,000, and $13,000 more would pop another balloon before John arrives. — 05:47:54
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank says three of Tyler Thrasher's 50 signed books are left as P4A 2026 perks. — 05:55:10
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank explains that the P4A raises money through a Tiltify campaign and other ways, and that half of it goes to Save the Children and Partners In Health, two extraordinarily effective global health organizations. — 06:01:35
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: Hank announces that P4A 2026 Tiltify donations have reached $500,000. — 06:17:16
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John opens a donation poll at projectforawesome.com/donate on whether he keeps his P4A mustache all weekend, looking like Ned Flanders, or shaves it that night. — 06:19:11
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — ask: John says that whether or not viewers can donate, they can be part of the P4A by voting at projectforawesome.com, which has had around 30,000 votes so far. — 06:37:38
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says the mustache poll ended in favour of shaving after someone gave about $2,000 at the end to have it shaved, which he calls a great decision. — 06:46:29
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John offers Sarah and Alice's Natural Intelligence portraits, strange collage portraits of human beings, as P4A perks, along with the right to name one for $100. — 07:07:23
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John: Taking up a suggestion, John says he will shave his mustache once the 2026 P4A total reaches $1.5 million. — 07:12:54
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John announces that the 2026 Project for Awesome has reached $1.5 million, three quarters of the way to $2 million. — 07:24:29
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says his guest Danielle Bainbridge offers two P4A perks: a review of someone's manuscript, which he might get himself, and a personal essay workshop. — 07:29:23
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John says the 2026 Project for Awesome has raised $1.526 million in total. — 07:58:58
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — John says he has read a couple of versions of the manuscript of Hank's book about cancer, offered as a P4A perk, and calls it brilliant on how cancer works and what it wants. — 08:05:05
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — John says the 2026 Project for Awesome could reach $2 million that night or early the next morning. (hedged) — 08:07:18
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John announces that P4A 2026 Tiltify donations have passed $550,000. — 08:07:47
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — announcement: John launches a signed mystery book perk: a signed copy of one of his books, such as Turtles All the Way Down, Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars, The Anthropocene Reviewed or Everything Is Tuberculosis. — 08:08:39
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 Kickoff! — John says the $100 signed mystery books sold out quickly because they were underpriced, a lesson learned: they will not underprice them next time. — 08:09:51
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! — John says the 2026 Project for Awesome has raised $1.56 million in total, after $560,000 of Tiltify donations. — 00:09:03
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! — Hank pops balloons holding tasks as the Project for Awesome passes fundraising marks: at $560,000 raised, the next comes at $575,000; he says he has already done the one he dreaded most. — 00:11:52
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! — Hank says the P4A Tiltify, where people donate for perks, has raised $589,000, and matching donors make each donation worth about double. — 01:16:02
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! — Hank says the Project for Awesome Tiltify stands at $661,000 and doubts it can gain $100,000 in his last shift. (hedged) — 04:17:01
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! — Hank says the Project for Awesome Tiltify has raised $671,000 and is unsure it will reach $700,000. (hedged) — 04:39:03
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! — Hank says about 2,000 people are still watching late at night and he had hoped the P4A Tiltify would reach $700,000 before he goes to bed, $20,000 in half an hour. — 05:26:30
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! — announcement: Hank promises to do a Banana Loca if the Project for Awesome Tiltify reaches $690,000 in the next ten minutes. — 05:26:58
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! — Hank announces that the Project for Awesome Tiltify has reached $690,000 within the ten minutes. — 05:35:44
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! — Hank reports that the 2026 Project for Awesome has raised $1.9 million. — 05:49:12
  • 2026-02-13 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 2! — Hank: Near the end of his shift, Hank says the Project for Awesome Tiltify stands at $696,000, short of $700,000. (hedged) — 05:55:10
  • 2026-02-14 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 4! — announcement: Hank announces that the 2026 Project for Awesome total has reached $3 million. — 05:07:40
  • 2026-02-14 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 4! — announcement: Hank announces that the 2026 Project for Awesome has hit its Tiltify goal for the night with time to spare. — 06:29:13
  • 2026-02-15 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! — announcement: John: A $12,000 gift from the donor Pythagonal takes the 2026 Project for Awesome over the $3.3 million goal, to $3.308 million, and John says he is a little sick. — 02:25:59
  • 2026-02-15 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! — announcement: John: At $3.339 million in total and $1.305 million on Tiltify, John says it is truly possible this will be the biggest Project for Awesome ever, which happens at $1.479 million on Tiltify, $174,000 away. — 02:35:45
  • 2026-02-15 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! — John: The 2026 Project for Awesome passes $3.4 million; John says about $117,000 more on Tiltify will make it the biggest ever, thanks to matching donors who put up over $1.5 million. — 02:54:09
  • 2026-02-15 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! — John says this is the 19th Project for Awesome; they have done it or something like it since 2007, in long livestreams full of silliness, joy and hope. — 03:15:49
  • 2026-02-15 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! — John says that with $3.5 million raised, the Project for Awesome has now raised over $30 million in its history. (hedged) — 03:21:37
  • 2026-02-15 · Project for Awesome 2026 part 5! — announcement: John says voting and the Tiltify fundraiser end on Wednesday, February 18 at 11:59 a.m. Eastern, while the livestream ends in an hour and 38 minutes. — 03:30:36
  • 2026-07-08 · Project for Awesome Recap Video 2026!! — Hank: A livestream clip shows hosts repeating "four million dollars" in disbelief, calling it unbelievable and not normal. — 00:03:34