How We're Spending Your Money: The Bank of Nerdfighteria's Quarterly Report

2016-09-06 · announcement · John · 3:44 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Projects (also: Global development) · mode: Announcements · tags: recurring series, self promotion, civic or action cta, community lore

In the Bank of Nerdfighteria's quarterly report, John says the Foundation to Decrease World Suck has paid out P4A 2015 grants, the Nerdfighter Kiva group has lent over $7.4 million, and Patreon money will expand and translate Crash Course, which has released a free AP World History curriculum.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Suit-jacket opener and a satirical mix-up with the three branches of US government

• ★ John jokingly lists the bank's 'three branches' as those of US government: an over-powerful executive, a judiciary that thinks corporations are people, and a legislature that passes nothing. (satire, hedged) — 00:00:11 · United States Congress

00:00:25 — Giving and lending branches: P4A 2015 grants, a Water.org well in Ethiopia, the Foundation's balance from ad revenue, the Kiva group's loans

• ★★ John reports that the Foundation to Decrease World Suck, the community's real charity, has finished paying out well over a million dollars in grants from the 2015 Project for Awesome. — 00:00:32 · Foundation to Decrease World Suck, Project for Awesome, world suck
• ★★ John says Water.org told him Nerdfighteria has just funded a capped spring water well in northern Ethiopia that serves over 2,000 people. — 00:00:46 · Nerdfighteria
• ★★ John says the Foundation to Decrease World Suck has just over $73,000 in the bank so far this year (2016), mostly from Vlogbrothers ad revenue. — 00:00:54 · Foundation to Decrease World Suck, Vlogbrothers, world suck
• ★★ John says half of the channel's ad revenue goes to the Foundation to Decrease World Suck and half sponsors online education projects. — 00:00:59 · Vlogbrothers, Foundation to Decrease World Suck, online advertising, world suck
• ★ John thanks viewers for watching the ad before the video, hoping there was one. (playful, hedged) — 00:01:08
• ★★ John reports the Nerdfighter Kiva group has now lent more than $7.4 million to entrepreneurs around the world. — 00:01:13 · Bank of Nerdfighteria
• ★ John says Kiva has lately taken important steps to improve outcomes with its partners (more in the description). — 00:01:19

00:01:24 — Spending branch: Patreon money funds a 2017 Crash Course expansion and translation project

• ★★ John says four Crash Course videos have gone up each week in 2016, currently on literature, the history of games, physics and philosophy. — 00:01:28 · Crash Course
• ★★★ John announces that from September 1 all Crash Course Patreon money raised for the rest of 2016 will fund a 2017 expansion to five videos a week by spring 2017. — 00:01:35 · Crash Course
• ★★ John hopes Crash Course will reach six videos a week by the end of 2017, including its first higher-education topics such as advanced physics and anthropology. (hedged) — 00:01:47 · Crash Course
• ★★ John says they are working to systematically translate Crash Course videos into multiple languages. — 00:01:56 · Crash Course
• ★★ John asks viewers with the talent and time to volunteer for the translation project to sign up via the form in the description. — 00:02:00 · Crash Course

00:02:12 — Free Crash Course AP World History curriculum built with BGC3 funding; thanks to BGC3 and Patreon supporters

• ★★ John says Joe and Stan in their office have worked for over a year, with help and funding from Bill Gates' BGC3, to build educational materials around Crash Course videos. — 00:02:12 · Crash Course
• ★★ John says textbooks are ridiculously, astonishingly, stupefyingly expensive. (playful) — 00:02:24
• ★★★ John says they have long felt textbooks should be free: free high-quality curricular materials online would let schools save on textbooks and invest in teachers, their most important resource. (hedged) — 00:02:29
• ★★★ John announces Crash Course released its first full curriculum last week (week of 29 August 2016), covering AP World History with readings, primary sources and assessment tools for students and teachers. — 00:02:44 · Crash Course
• ★★ John asks viewers to check out the curriculum and share it with their teachers; they want feedback from teachers and students to improve it. — 00:03:05 · Crash Course
• ★★ John says this is only the first course and he hopes they will find funding to create more full courses. (hedged) — 00:03:16 · Crash Course
• ★★ John thanks BGC3 and Patreon supporters and points viewers to Crash Course's Patreon, saying the biggest perk is knowing Crash Course would not exist without them. — 00:03:24 · Crash Course

00:03:36 — Sign-off: John will answer questions in comments

In the description and comments

• ★★ John adds that every Crash Course video is now available for download at thecrashcourse.com for teachers and students who can't access YouTube online. — video description · Crash Course
• ★★★ John says a big problem facing microfinance is that access to banking and cheap credit helps individuals grow businesses but has not reduced poverty across a social order; absolute poverty is extremely complicated. — video description · extreme poverty
• ★★ John says Kiva is now experimenting with more levers against poverty, from zero-interest loans to working with organizations that approach poverty holistically rather than just as banks. — video description

Threads in this video

• milestone · P4A 2015 edition — John reports that the Foundation to Decrease World Suck, the community's real charity, has finished paying out well over a million dollars in grants from the 2015 Project for Awesome. (00:00:32)
• progress update · John: keep Nerdfighters up to date on how the vlogbrothers pre-roll money is spent (2014) — John says half of the channel's ad revenue goes to the Foundation to Decrease World Suck and half sponsors online education projects. (00:00:59)
• milestone · Bank of Nerdfighteria: the Nerdfighters' Kiva lending team — John reports the Nerdfighter Kiva group has now lent more than $7.4 million to entrepreneurs around the world. (00:01:13)
• announced · Crash Course 2017 expansion to five or six videos a week, funded by Patreon (2016) — John announces that from September 1 all Crash Course Patreon money raised for the rest of 2016 will fund a 2017 expansion to five videos a week by spring 2017. (00:01:35)
• announced · Crash Course translation into multiple languages (2016) — John says they are working to systematically translate Crash Course videos into multiple languages. (00:01:56)
• asked · John asks viewers with the time and talent to volunteer for Crash Course translation via a form (2016) — John asks viewers with the talent and time to volunteer for the translation project to sign up via the form in the description. (00:02:00)
• milestone · Crash Course curriculum materials (2014) — John announces Crash Course released its first full curriculum last week (week of 29 August 2016), covering AP World History with readings, primary sources and assessment tools for students and teachers. (00:02:44)
• asked · John asks viewers to check out the free Crash Course AP World History curriculum and share it with their teachers (2016) — John asks viewers to check out the curriculum and share it with their teachers; they want feedback from teachers and students to improve it. (00:03:05)
• reminder · John asks viewers who value and can afford it to support Crash Course and SciShow on Patreon (2015) — John thanks BGC3 and Patreon supporters and points viewers to Crash Course's Patreon, saying the biggest perk is knowing Crash Course would not exist without them. (00:03:24)
• milestone · Crash Course: launch of the brothers' educational channel (2011) — John says four Crash Course videos have gone up each week in 2016, currently on literature, the history of games, physics and philosophy. (00:01:28)
• milestone · Vlogbrothers pre-roll ads and the Vlogbrothers Creator Grants (2014) — John says half of the channel's ad revenue goes to the Foundation to Decrease World Suck and half sponsors online education projects. (00:00:59)
• milestone · Crash Course Literature: another mini-series planned for summer 2016 — John says four Crash Course videos have gone up each week in 2016, currently on literature, the history of games, physics and philosophy. (00:01:28)

Where the stories that moved here went next

• John: keep Nerdfighters up to date on how the vlogbrothers pre-roll money is spent (2014) — open (updates through 2026, not reported done); last: progress update, 2026-10-09
• Vlogbrothers pre-roll ads and the Vlogbrothers Creator Grants (2014) — running; last: looked back, 2026-10-09
• P4A 2015 edition — completed; last: outcome, 2016-11-01
• Crash Course: launch of the brothers' educational channel (2011) — running; last: milestone, 2026-05-26
• Bank of Nerdfighteria: the Nerdfighters' Kiva lending team — running; last: looked back, 2024-01-16

Mentioned

Central: Bank of Nerdfighteria · Crash Course

Also: People: Bill Gates

Projects: Foundation to Decrease World Suck · Project for Awesome

Organizations: Kiva · Patreon · Supreme Court of the United States · United States Congress · Water.org

Concepts: online advertising · open educational resources

Places: Ethiopia

Only in the description or credits: BGC3 · extreme poverty · Joe · microfinance · Stan Muller

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