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Let's Talk about Money

2024-11-19 · announcement · John · 5:16 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Projects (also: Global development) · mode: Announcements · tags: self promotion

In a suit for a money talk, John reports Good Store's 2024 giving so far (socks over $759,000, Sun Basin Soap $82,000, Keats & Co. coffee over $580,000 and tea over $60,000, just over $1.25 million in all) and where it goes, maternal care in Sierra Leone's Kono District and a new tuberculosis project in Lesotho, and thanks Hank for the idea.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — How the brothers earn their own money (book sales) and why that lets Good Store give away all its profit

  • ★★ John says the brothers earn their personal money almost entirely from book sales; they make enough, are doing fine, and viewers need not worry about them. — 00:00:06
  • ★★ John says that income is what lets the brothers run Good Store and donate 100% of its profit to charity; he will report how much that profit is and whom it benefits. — 00:00:16 · Good Store

00:00:26 — The 2019 commitment to a maternal and infant care center in Kono, monthly donors and the matching fund, and Hank's sock idea

  • ★★★ In 2019 the brothers committed to raising $25 million to help build a maternal and infant care center in the Kono District of Sierra Leone. — 00:00:26 · Sierra Leone, Maternal Center of Excellence
  • ★★ John says that in 2019 Sierra Leone had the world's highest rate of maternal mortality. — 00:00:35 · Sierra Leone, maternal death
  • ★★ Building a hospital is not simple, and the brothers knew they would eventually need far more than $25 million for its ongoing costs, such as hiring community health workers to find at-risk pregnancies. — 00:00:40 · Maternal Center of Excellence
  • ★★ To do right by the project in a long-term, open-ended way, thousands of people donate every month at pih.org/hankandjohn and dozens more fund a monthly match; John calls this the financial backbone of the maternal and infant care project. — 00:01:00 · Partners In Health

  • ★★ Needing still more money, Hank had the idea of a second ongoing funding source through selling socks; John thought it was not a good idea and says he was wrong. — 00:01:16 · Hank Green, Awesome Socks Club

    “Never bet against Hank Green.”

00:01:27 — The year's numbers: socks, Sun Basin Soap, Keats & Co. coffee and tea

  • ★★★ This year (2024) alone the socks have raised over $759,000 for the maternal and child health care project, John says, an amazing number though down from last year (2023). — 00:01:27 · Awesome Socks Club, maternal death
  • ★★ John gives two reasons sock income fell: some members cancel when their sock drawers fill up, and TikTok, which used to heavily subsidize advertising, stopped doing so. (hedged) — 00:01:37 · TikTok, Awesome Socks Club
  • ★ The socks are still going well, John says, mainly because people love them; he loves them too and is wearing a pair. (hedged) — 00:01:58 · Awesome Socks Club
  • ★★★ Between soap and shampoo bars, Sun Basin Soap has netted $82,000 this year (2024) so far: much less than the socks, but growing. — 00:02:16 · Sun Basin Soap
  • ★ Sun Basin Soap has an immense cult following: its buyers love it, almost every customer stays a customer, and people use a lot of soap. — 00:02:25 · Sun Basin Soap
  • ★ John says coffee grown and roasted by fairly treated people turns out to be far better than grocery-store coffee. — 00:02:33 · Keats & Co.
  • ★★★ The coffee has over 10,000 subscribers and has raised over $580,000 this year (2024), with steady growth helped by now shipping to Europe. — 00:02:42 · Keats & Co., Europe
  • ★★ The coffee has done even better since the rebrand to Keats & Co. and the addition of tea, which has raised over $60,000 since launching in August. — 00:02:57 · Keats & Co.

00:03:09 — Coffee and tea fund a new tuberculosis project in Lesotho; Good Store's 2024 total

  • ★★★ Because the soap and socks now give the maternal health care project enough, the brothers decided Keats & Co. coffee and tea would fund a new project fighting tuberculosis in Lesotho. — 00:03:09 · Keats & Co., Sun Basin Soap, Awesome Socks Club, tuberculosis
  • ★★ John says Lesotho is the epicenter of the global TB crisis, with the highest TB incidence in the world. — 00:03:22 · tuberculosis
  • ★★ John believes the Lesotho tuberculosis project can make a huge difference there and globally, by proving that investing in tuberculosis drives rates down dramatically and quickly. — 00:03:26 · tuberculosis
  • ★★★ Good Store's total donations for 2024 so far are just over $1.25 million. — 00:03:40 · Good Store

00:03:47 — Holiday gift bundles, a fan-made iRacing livery, and a print-and-post flyer

  • ★★ With the year not over and now Good Store's biggest season for sales and new customers, John points out its holiday gift bundles: a gift that comes with a story. — 00:03:47 · Good Store
  • ★★ Someone made an iRacing livery for Good Store, which John says shows that its marketing is mostly done by viewers; he appreciates that very much. — 00:04:04 · Good Store
  • ★★ The brothers made a print-and-post Good Store flyer that viewers can share in their communities, linked in the description. — 00:04:22 · Good Store

00:04:30 — Almost $9 million raised since the start; why Good Store encourages John; thanks to Hank, Newman's Own and shoppers

  • ★★ John tells Hank that Good Store might prove to be his best idea ever, which is really saying something. (hedged) — 00:04:30 · Hank Green, Good Store
  • ★★★ Since it started, Good Store has raised almost $9 million to support stronger health care systems in impoverished communities. — 00:04:34 · Good Store
  • ★★ John says global health funding in the world is flat or declining. — 00:04:39 · global health
  • ★★ In a weird time when he feels he needs encouragement, the story of Good Store encourages John tremendously. — 00:04:48 · Good Store
  • ★★ John thanks Hank for coming up with the weird idea of Good Store, Newman's Own for inspiring it, and everyone who has shopped there over the years. — 00:04:56 · Hank Green, Good Store

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Awesome Socks Club · Good Store · Keats & Co. · Lesotho · Sun Basin Soap

Also: Works: iRacing

Organizations: Maternal Center of Excellence · Partners In Health · TikTok

Concepts: community health worker · global health · maternal death · tuberculosis

Places: Europe · Kono District · Sierra Leone

Only in the description or credits: Newman's Own

Also centred on Lesotho: The world will change.

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