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Vlogbrothers pre-roll ads and the Vlogbrothers Creator Grants (2014)

project history · status: running · last event: rule change (2026-05-29) · last mentioned: 2026-10-09

In July 2014 the brothers said they would turn on pre-roll ads on vlogbrothers and split the income between the Foundation to Decrease World Suck and grants for educational creators. The grants have gone out every year since, to dozens of creators, and in 2026 applications moved to the summer for the first time.

Parts: John asks Nerdfighters to take the survey on pre-roll ads on vlogbrothers and on education content (2014) · John: keep Nerdfighters up to date on how the vlogbrothers pre-roll money is spent (2014) · Hank: post his interview with Kelly Kend on hankschannel (2014) · John asks viewers to apply for, or point educational creators to, the Vlogbrothers educational-content grants (2017)

Told alongside: The Financial Diet: YouTube show, one of Hank's newest video projects (2015) · P4A 2015 edition

About: online advertising, Foundation to Decrease World Suck

date event what video
2014-07-08 proposed John asks whether and how to run pre-rolls; options: keep things as they are, delete ads entirely, or run pre-rolls and give all the money to the Foundation to Decrease Worldsuck or to education and Nerdfighter projects, or a mix. The Future of Nerdfighteria 00:02:17
2014-07-15 announced John says the brothers will turn on pre-roll ads on vlogbrothers and split the income between the Foundation to Decrease World Suck and a fund for educational video projects. Exciting Announcements and Mosquito-Borne Illnesses 00:00:17
2014-09-19 milestone Hank reports vlogbrothers has run pre-roll ads for over a month and the money is now being distributed as grants to creators, first Physics Girl and Kelly Kend. The Oculus Rift is Freakin Me Out 00:03:22
2015-05-26 milestone 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 milestone John says the Foundation to Decrease World Suck already has $80,000 before the 2015 Project for Awesome, mostly from Nerdcrafteria and vlogbrothers ad revenue, half of which sponsors online educational projects. The Bank of Nerdfighteria's Semiannual Report 00:02:42
2016-09-06 milestone 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 milestone John says the educational fund has given grants to dozens of projects, and submissions are now open for the next round of grants. Let's Talk about Money 00:00:14
2021-02-09 looked back Recent Vlogbrothers educational grants went to Soph's Notes and This Glorious Clockwork. Lesser Known YouTube Channels I Love 00:00:56
2021-08-17 looked back John says the brothers' share of Vlogbrothers' YouTube revenue ends up half in grants for educational creators and half in charity. Who Owns Nerdfighteria? 00:02:26
2022-02-08 milestone 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
2022-02-08 looked back John says they have handled ad revenue this way for years, possible only because both have other jobs: books for John and, for Hank, 10,000 jobs including books; and since their books sell better thanks to vlogbrothers, it is not accurate to say they keep none of the value it creates. How Much Money Vlogbrothers Makes from YouTube (...and where it goes) 00:01:27
2023-10-06 looked back 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 milestone 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
2025-09-30 looked back Hank says a lot of the channel's revenue goes to small educational creators through grants. WHO ARE WE AND WHAT ARE WE DOING 00:05:45
2026-05-29 rule change The description says Vlogbrothers Creator Grant applications, taken in the fall in past years, now open June 1-30, 2026, the first year in summer. Chemo Cow Body Odor YouTube Helen Hunt Commute video description
2026-05-29 looked back 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
2026-06-19 looked back Hank explains the Vlogbrothers Creators Grants: part of the channel's ad money goes into a pool, and every year creators of somewhat educational content apply for small grants. You Have to Poop in the Eiffel Tower 00:04:38
2026-10-09 looked back 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

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

  • 2014-07-08 · The Future of Nerdfighteria — John: Five: vlogbrothers has never run pre-roll ads because the brothers find pre-rolls annoying; it has only display ads. — 00:01:59
  • 2014-07-08 · The Future of Nerdfighteria — John says pre-roll ads are about 99% of YouTube's revenue, and that with them vlogbrothers could earn five or six times what it does now (he can't give actual numbers). (hedged) — 00:02:08
  • 2014-07-15 · Exciting Announcements and Mosquito-Borne Illnesses — announcement: John reports that tens of thousands answered his question from last week (week of 7 July 2014); they voted overwhelmingly to turn on vlogbrothers pre-roll ads and split the income between the Foundation to Decrease World Suck and a fund for educational video projects. — 00:00:13
  • 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
  • 2014-09-19 · The Oculus Rift is Freakin Me Out — announcement: Hank: The first recipients are YouTube's Physics Girl, who gets an equipment grant, and Kelly Kend, who is making a documentary about consent and sexual assault. — 00:03:29
  • 2014-09-19 · The Oculus Rift is Freakin Me Out — Hank says he found Kelly's work, reached out, and offered her some of Nerdfighteria's money; she is very excited. — 00:03:42
  • 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
  • 2016-09-06 · How We're Spending Your Money: The Bank of Nerdfighteria's Quarterly Report — sponsor: John thanks viewers for watching the ad before the video, hoping there was one. (playful, hedged) — 00:01:08
  • 2017-11-28 · Let's Talk about Money — John: Recent recipients of the educational grants funded by Vlogbrothers ad revenue include the YouTube channels Draw Curiosity, Step Back History, Mr Beat, Neuro Transmissions, Cogito, Up and Atom and Soliloquy, as well as Odd Quartet and the Anthropological Life Podcast. — video description
  • 2017-11-28 · Let's Talk about Money — announcement: 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. — 00:00:04
  • 2022-02-08 · How Much Money Vlogbrothers Makes from YouTube (...and where it goes) — announcement: John says half the money went to the brothers' Partners In Health project to reduce maternal mortality in Sierra Leone; the rest was split between a Complexly educational fund and a fund for emerging educational creators. — 00:00:58
  • 2024-11-01 · Working Through a Crisis with My Brother — ask: John: Hank points to the description for P4A art, the Vlogbrothers grant and the New York Times article; John adds a link to pre-order his new book. — 00:09:20