When You Can't Fix Everything…

2022-02-25 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:37 · watch on YouTube

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

Opening the 15th Project for Awesome at an uncertain, messy moment, Hank argues that big long-term crises deserve focus and, after Katherine's insight that all problems are connected, that any work making the world better (not perfect) counts; he then presents the first-half charities, PIH and Save the Children, the perks, matching and the livestream.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — A messy, uncertain moment for a charity livestream; John's point about neglected long-term crises

★★ Hank says this is in a way maybe not the best time for a charity livestream: it's a messy world and everyone wants to know what is happening and what it means. (hedged) — 00:00:00
★★ People hold opinions so strongly they present them as facts, but no one knows what the future holds, which can make it hard to focus on anything. — 00:00:00
★★★ Hank endorses what John has said for years: it is easy to focus on what happens now and ignore long-term crises, which feel normal and so get solved more slowly than they could. — 00:00:29 · John Green

00:00:56 — Katherine: all problems are connected; the one big goal is a better world, not a perfect one; first-half charities

★★ Walking around their neighborhood that morning, Hank told Katherine how powerless he felt in the moment. — 00:00:56 · Katherine Green
★★★ Katherine Green (quoted): Katherine told Hank that no problems are unconnected to other problems, so working on one thing is in a way working on everything. — 00:00:56 · Katherine Green
★★★ Hank says we are all ultimately trying to do one big thing, make the world better, so any work that makes it better counts: not perfect, better. — 00:00:56

“make the world better. Not perfect. Better.”
★★★ In the first half of the Project for Awesome they are raising money for Partners In Health and Save the Children. — 00:00:56 · Project for Awesome, Partners In Health, Save the Children · first in: 2016-12-09, The Difference A Decade Makes: The 10th Annual Project for Awesome Is Here!
★★ Hank says both organizations have proven good at looking at long-term crises and staying focused on them so the world can get better. — 00:00:56 · Partners In Health, Save the Children

00:01:37 — What Partners In Health and Save the Children do

★★ Partners In Health employs over 17,000 doctors in 11 countries, working on everything from cancer treatment to preventing malnutrition. — 00:01:37 · Partners In Health, cancer
- a number in question (doubtful): "over 17,000" — check against the recording
★★ Save the Children has operated for over 100 years, providing emergency response, education and health programs, and advocacy. — 00:01:37 · Save the Children
★★ In 2020 Save the Children supported nearly 200 million children and helped 12 million gain access to quality education. — 00:01:37 · Save the Children

00:02:06 — Perks, the 15-years plaques, the digital bundle of TikTok drafts, matching donors, the second half and the livestream

★★★ Hank invites donations at projectforawesome.com/donate, with many perks in exchange, all available only during the Project for Awesome. — 00:02:06 · Project for Awesome
★★ This is the 15th Project for Awesome and also the 15th year of Vlogbrothers. — 00:02:06 · Project for Awesome, Vlogbrothers
★★ A nerdfighter named Jim is making laser-cut wall plaques reading '15 years of Vlogbrothers' as perks for donors. — 00:02:06 · Nerdfighteria, Vlogbrothers
★★ Hank thinks this year's (2022) is one of the best slates of P4A perks ever; the designs are really good and make him happy. — 00:02:06 · Project for Awesome
★★ Perks include a challenge coin, socks, a poster, stickers, a deck of cards and, for the first time, a Project for Awesome puzzle. — 00:02:35 · Project for Awesome
★★ The digital download bundle includes all of Hank's and John's TikTok drafts of the last year, including ones John posted briefly then took down: over 200 TikToks. — 00:02:35 · TikTok, John Green
★★ Matching donors are in place now, so every dollar donated is doubled. — 00:02:35
★★ The second half, also matched, raises money for organizations voted on by the community at projectforawesome.com. — 00:03:04 · Project for Awesome, Nerdfighteria
★★ A livestream runs throughout at youtube.com/vlogbrothers, also at projectforawesome.com/live. — 00:03:04 · Vlogbrothers, Project for Awesome

Threads in this video

restate · Which causes deserve the most support? — Hank endorses what John has said for years: it is easy to focus on what happens now and ignore long-term crises, which feel normal and so get solved more slowly than they could. (00:00:29)
milestone · P4A 2022 edition — In the first half of the Project for Awesome they are raising money for Partners In Health and Save the Children. (00:00:56)
restate · What makes charity or aid work well? — Hank says both organizations have proven good at looking at long-term crises and staying focused on them so the world can get better. (00:00:56)
reminder · Brothers ask viewers to donate to P4A 2022 at projectforawesome.com/donate for perks (2022) — Hank invites donations at projectforawesome.com/donate, with many perks in exchange, all available only during the Project for Awesome. (00:02:06)
result reported · John asks donors of $500 or more to join the P4A 2022 matching fund via Google form (2022) — Matching donors are in place now, so every dollar donated is doubled. (00:02:35)

Where the stories that moved here went next

John asks donors of $500 or more to join the P4A 2022 matching fund via Google form (2022) — reported back; last: result reported, 2022-02-25

Mentioned

Central: Interconnectedness · Katherine Green · Project for Awesome

Also: Partners In Health · Save the Children · TikTok

Also centred on Interconnectedness: This is Going to Seem Dumb, but Stick with Me · Views · The Ones Who Love Us

← Previous: How to Make Potatoes While Dread Presses In from Every Direction · Next → Hard Week