Actually Free Money! (Really.) The Bank of Nerdfighteria's Quarterly Report

2012-03-13 · announcement · John · 3:57 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development (also: Personal life) · mode: Announcements · tags: fundraising ask, community lore, recurring series

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Intro (honey badger story and best news teased); Bank of Nerdfighteria quarterly report: its lending and giving arms

★★ John delivers the Bank of Nerdfighteria's quarterly report: the Bank has two arms, a lending arm and a giving arm. — 00:00:00 · Bank of Nerdfighteria

00:00:30 — Giving arm: the Foundation to Decrease World Suck becoming a charity; financials; $16,500 to each of five charities; zero operating costs; puff portal

★★★ John says the Foundation to Decrease World Suck, a Nerdfighteria project for over five years, is finally becoming an actual charity that can take tax-deductible donations; the process is ongoing and complicated. — 00:00:30 · Foundation to Decrease World Suck, Nerdfighteria, world suck
★★★ John reports the Foundation had over $9,000 at the end of last quarter and now about $30, a success because it went from $9,000 to $88,000 to nothing by giving all the money away. — 00:00:30 · Foundation to Decrease World Suck, It's Over 9000!
★★★ John says more than $16,500 went to each of five charities chosen by Nerdfighteria: Kids in Need of Desks, This Star Won't Go Out, the HP Alliance, Water.org and Kiva. — 00:00:59 · Foundation to Decrease World Suck, This Star Won't Go Out (charity), Nerdfighteria
★★ John says the Foundation's operating cost is still zero, so every donated dollar goes to charity. — 00:00:59 · Foundation to Decrease World Suck

00:01:24 — Thanks for the Project for Awesome; lending arm: how Kiva works, 99% repayment, Nerdfighter Kiva group grows from $75,000 to $239,000

★★ John thanks Nerdfighters for their hard work during the Project for Awesome and points to how much suck was decreased. — 00:01:24 · Nerdfighteria, Project for Awesome
★★★ John explains Kiva.org lets regular people lend to developing-world entrepreneurs (he lent to a farmer in Peru and a shopkeeper in South Sudan), who repay, giving them cheap credit others take for granted. — 00:01:24 · Nerdfighteria
★★ John says that on Kiva you get paid back 99% of the time. — 00:01:54
★★★ John reports the Nerdfighter Kiva group grew from $75,000 to $239,000 in loans last quarter, an increase he puts at 319% after checking with resident mathematician Daniel Biss. — 00:01:54 · Bank of Nerdfighteria, Daniel Biss
- a number in question (doubtful): "319" — check against the recording

00:02:23 — Over 9,000 members; near the top of monthly lending; the best news: free loans for the next 20,000 new Kiva members

★★ John says the Kiva group now has over 9,000 members and is near the top in total loaned this month (March 2012), between the atheists' and Christians' teams. — 00:02:23 · Bank of Nerdfighteria, It's Over 9000!
★★★ John's best news: the next 20,000 people to join Kiva through the link in the description get a free $25 loan to make to a developing-world entrepreneur. — 00:02:23 · doobly-doo

00:02:52 — Free loan paid for by a LinkedIn co-founder; story: Henry and the homemade stuffed honey badger; 'Honey Badger ate the edge'; sign-off

★★ John says the free loans are paid for by one of LinkedIn's co-founders (named in the description as Reid Hoffman), so viewers can make a $25 loan at no cost. — 00:02:52
★★ John hopes many Nerdfighters take the offer so the group grows and they discover the wonders of microfinance. (hedged) — 00:02:52 · Nerdfighteria
★★ John says a Nerdfighter on tour gave him a homemade stuffed honey badger, and his son Henry has become obsessed with it, asking of everything what sound it makes and what it eats. — 00:02:52 · Henry Green, Tour de Nerdfighting
★★ John told Henry that if you hear a honey badger it's too late and that honey badgers eat everything, so Henry now blames Honey Badger for the lost remote and the dinosaurs. (playful) — 00:03:21 · Henry Green
★★ Asked why the universe has no edge, Henry answers as John expected: Honey Badger ate the edge. (playful) — 00:03:21 · Henry Green

In the description and comments

★★★ John says that this year (2012) the Foundation to Decrease World Suck distributed more than $88,000 to charities chosen by the Nerdfighter community. — video description · Foundation to Decrease World Suck, Nerdfighteria, world suck

Humor (significant)

John reports the Foundation to Decrease World Suck had more than $9,000 at the end of last quarter. — 00:00:30

“today, we have, like, $30 in our coffers, which represents a tremendous success”
John announces the Kiva group has over 9,000 members and waits for a reaction to the meme. — 00:02:23

“Is that meme too old and that joke too subtle? Sorry.”
After Henry's Honey Badger eats remotes and dinosaurs, John asks him why the universe has no edge. — 00:03:21

“That's right, Hank. Honey Badger ate the edge.”
Told that honey badgers eat everything, Henry applies it to the extinction of the dinosaurs. — 00:03:21

“Honey Badger, eat dinosaurs!”

Threads in this video

proposed · Foundation to Decrease World Suck becomes a real non-profit (2012) — John says the Foundation to Decrease World Suck is finally becoming an actual charity able to take tax-deductible donations; the process is ongoing. (00:00:30)
outcome · P4A 2011 edition — John reports the Foundation gave all its money away: more than $16,500 to each of five charities chosen by Nerdfighteria, and thanks Nerdfighters for their Project for Awesome work. (00:00:59)
result reported · Hank asks viewers to vote at projectforawesome.com for the charities of P4A 2011 videos they like (2011) — John reports the five charities that received more than $16,500 each were chosen by Nerdfighteria. (00:00:59)
thanks · Hank asks viewers to make, curate and promote P4A 2011 videos on December 17-18 (2011) — John thanks Nerdfighters for all their hard work during the Project for Awesome. (00:01:24)
restate · Is microfinance an effective way to fight poverty? — John says Kiva gives developing-world entrepreneurs access to the inexpensive credit and banking others take for granted, and hopes viewers discover 'the wonders of microfinance'. (00:01:24)
milestone · Bank of Nerdfighteria: the Nerdfighters' Kiva lending team — John reports the Nerdfighter Kiva group went from $75,000 to $239,000 in loans in a quarter and now has over 9,000 members. (00:01:54)
asked · John asks non-members to join Kiva via his link and make a free $25 trial loan funded by a LinkedIn co-founder (2012) — John asks people who are not Kiva members to join through his link and make a free $25 loan paid for by a LinkedIn co-founder; the offer covers the next 20,000 new members. (00:02:23)
told · John's son Henry and the homemade stuffed honey badger from a Nerdfighter (2012) — John tells how a homemade stuffed honey badger from a Nerdfighter on tour obsesses Henry, who now has Honey Badger eat remotes, dinosaurs and the universe's edge. (00:02:52)
callback · Hank's 'Dude, no edge!': his obsession with the universe having no edge (2012) — Henry's answer to why the universe has no edge: 'Honey Badger ate the edge'. (00:03:21)

Where the stories that moved here went next

John asks non-members to join Kiva via his link and make a free $25 trial loan funded by a LinkedIn co-founder (2012) — asked again year after year (last 2014); last: reminder, 2014-05-27
Hank asks viewers to vote at projectforawesome.com for the charities of P4A 2011 videos they like (2011) — reported back; last: result reported, 2012-03-13
P4A 2011 edition — completed; last: looked back, 2012-12-11
Foundation to Decrease World Suck becomes a real non-profit (2012) — completed; last: looked back, 2024-01-16
Bank of Nerdfighteria: the Nerdfighters' Kiva lending team — running; last: looked back, 2024-01-16

Mentioned

Central: Bank of Nerdfighteria · Foundation to Decrease World Suck · Henry Green · honey badger · Kiva

Also: Projects: Project for Awesome · Tour de Nerdfighting

Works: Slaughterhouse-Five

Organizations: Kids in Need of Desks · LinkedIn · The Harry Potter Alliance · This Star Won't Go Out (charity) · Water.org

Terms: doobly-doo

Concepts: microfinance

Memes: It's Over 9000!

Only in the description or credits: Daniel Biss · Reid Hoffman

Also centred on honey badger: Honey Badgers: The Crazy Truth

Also centred on Kiva: June 28: How to Be a Microfinancier · How to be a Microfinancier Part 2 · Brotherhood 2.0: July 2nd: The Law of Compound Nerdfighting · October 24th: RANDOM NERDFIGHTING · Puppy Elephant Defends Capitalism · Awesome Bankers?

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