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Unscripted and Unhinged

2019-10-25 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:59 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Global development (also: Projects) · mode: Personal essay · tags: fundraising ask, self promotion, calendar ritual

In an unscripted catch-up, Hank says DFTBA now gives the brothers' profits to charity and the PIH Sierra Leone campaign is past half its first goal, argues that waiting for the 'best' use of money is a trap and that giving now beats investing to give later because poverty and illness are taxes that pay for nothing, then plugs fundraising tours, Complexly's pilot season and next week's Pizzamas.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — No script; YouTube's tree-planting fundraiser; land for a new DFTBA warehouse

  • ★ Hank says he usually writes a script, but this video has none: the document just says 'good morning, John'. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★ Hank says the whole YouTube community is coming together to raise money to plant trees, which is lovely. — 00:00:00 · YouTube
  • ★★ Hank says he just bought land to build a warehouse on because DFTBA has grown too much. — 00:00:00 · DFTBA Records

00:00:29 — DFTBA profits to charity, the PIH campaign past half its goal, and doing the project carefully

  • ★★★ 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. — 00:00:29 · DFTBA Records, John Green
  • ★★ Hank says they have already raised more than half of their initial goal of $240,000 at pih.org/hankandjohn. — 00:00:29 · Partners In Health
  • ★★ Hank says John, mostly, and he have worked on the project a long time and been careful: if asking many people for money and risking their own, they want the best impact. — 00:00:29 · John Green

00:01:12 — 'Best' is a trap; give now rather than invest to give later; poverty as a tax that pays for nothing

  • ★★★ Hank says 'best' is a trap: if you ask whether something is the best possible use of money you will never do anything. — 00:01:12
  • ★★ Hank says money usually sits invested in the stock market, and advisors told him to wait for it to grow and give more later. — 00:01:12

  • ★★★ Hank says poverty, illness and hardship are taxes that pay for nothing: they make stability and contribution harder, and losing your mother lowers your odds of stability for life. — 00:01:42 · extreme poverty

    “Poverty and illness and hardship are taxes that pay for nothing.”

  • ★★★ Hank says his money doesn't disappear in Sierra Leone: its value grows in children, nurses, parents and communities, just in ways he can't see or control. — 00:02:11 · Sierra Leone

  • ★★ Hank says financial advisors don't love this reasoning because it makes them no money, and there are no highly paid charity donation advisors. (playful) — 00:02:11
  • ★★ Hank says advising donors is a little what he and John try to do, and invites people to email hankandjohn@gmail.com so they can help them make the most of their dollars. — 00:02:11 · John Green

00:02:40 — Fundraising tours and the map, Complexly's pilot season (History Pop, Stories Retold, Hashed Out)

  • ★★ Hank says that to raise money for this the brothers will go on more tours. — 00:02:40
  • ★★ Hank asks viewers to tell them where to tour by clicking on the map linked in the description. — 00:02:40
  • ★★ Hank says Complexly is two-thirds through a pilot season: three shows with three episodes each. — 00:02:40 · Complexly
  • ★★ Hank says History Pop explores history through pop culture, with a Deadwood and a Chernobyl episode up so far. — 00:03:04
  • ★★ Hank says Stories Retold is an all-ages animated channel retelling fairy tales with modern morals. — 00:03:04
  • ★★ Hank says Hashed Out confronts the complexities of communicating in 2019: journalism, Twitter, bias and leaks. — 00:03:04 · Twitter
  • ★ Hank says Complexly staff are doing these projects on top of their normal work, thinks it's really cool, and thanks them. — 00:03:04 · Complexly

00:03:33 — Pizzamas next week, sign-off and the PIH ask

  • ★★ Hank says Pizzamas starts next week (week of 28 October 2019), when he and John go back to 2007 vlogbrothers and make videos every day, so he will see John on Monday. — 00:03:33 · Pizzamas, Vlogbrothers, John Green
  • ★★ Hank closes by asking viewers to give to Partners In Health or check out the pilots. — 00:03:33 · Partners In Health

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In a comment John praises Hank's video and asks viewers to donate at pih.org/hankandjohn; people able to give $2,000 or more should email the address Hank named or sparksflyup. — creator comment · Partners In Health
  • ★★ In a comment reply Hank says taxes are more efficient than charity within a country, but foreign aid follows policy goals, and he would rather the rich give money away than gain more control. — creator comment
  • ★★ In a comment reply Hank says he draws a salary as CEO of Complexly and DFTBA but mostly already made his money: he sold VidCon a couple of years ago. — creator comment · Complexly, DFTBA Records, VidCon
  • ★★ In a comment reply Hank says good data show large income increases improve recipients' lives, and that they are building a hospital, since dying is the most destabilizing thing. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Projects: Complexly · DFTBA Records · Hashed Out · History Pop · Pizzamas · Stories Retold

Organizations: Partners In Health · Twitter · YouTube

Terms: doobly-doo

Concepts: extreme poverty · Financial adviser · journalism · reforestation · stock market

Places: Sierra Leone

Only in the description or credits: VidCon

Later videos replying to this one