Awesome Way to Raise Awareness (and to do a lot of good)
The holiday season is a popular time for people to donate to their favorite charities. On December 17 and 18, thousands of them were featured in a two-day “virtual charity drive” called The Project for Awesome (P4A). John and Hank Green, brothers behind a very popular Internet show broadcast on YouTube called the VlogBrothers, sponsor the project. (You might also know John as the author of wildly popular Young Adult books, including New York Times bestseller The Fault in Our Stars.) The brothers started The Project for Awesome in 2007 as a way to raise awareness and donations for all kinds of charities. As of this posting, this year’s P4A effort has raised over $700,000.
© 2013 Project for Awesome
How it Works
The event is hosted on YouTube over a 48 hour period. Anyone is able to participate. People make online videos supporting their favorite charities (organizations must be a nonprofit, with 501(c)3 status with the IRS). Participants submit their videos to the Project for Awesome project page and the videos go live on December 17. The videos are divided into various categories–poverty, hunger, animal rights, water, arts & education and other subjects–to make it easier to search.
During the 48 hours of the Project for Awesome, everyone is encouraged to view as many videos as they can to raise their own awareness of problems that need fixing in the world. The P4A organizers encourage everyone to vote for their favorite videos, leave comments about the videos that they watch, and to vote for the charities that they support the most. There is a DONATE button available for people who wish to contribute some money to help these charitable organizations.
While people are learning more about the charities featured on the P4A site, money is also raised through the purchase of a wide variety of items created specifically for P4A and sold on the crowdfunding site Indidgogo. For 2013 these perks included: calendars featuring both the Men of YouTube and the Women of YouTube, a variety of t-shirts, commemorative coins, a chance to win a Harry Potter book signed by J.K. Rowling, individual art and craft projects, and lots of other memorabelia from well-known YouTube contributors such as Grace Helbig, Craig Benzine (Wheezy Waiter), Charles Trippy, Alex Day, and many, many more. Even though The Project for Awesome ends after 48 hours (so the organizers can get some sleep), the Perk donations are available until December 21.
Plus, for every comment made during the Project for Awesome livestream, the Green brothers personally donate one penny. This may not sound like a lot, but last year there were more than 700,000 of them, adding up to $7,000. When the 48 hours of the Project for Awesome are finished, all of the comments are tallied and the top ten charities that received the most votes get a share of all of the money raised.
Lasting Impact
The Green brothers are committed to charitable causes, having officially formed The Foundation to Decrease World Suck in 2011. This is a nonprofit parent organization of the Project for Awesome. While the fundraiser only lasts 48 hours, the impact of the exposures to literally thousands of charities nationwide lives on. And the goodwill and money raised will mean a lot to people who have never heard of the Project for Awesome.
So, mark December 2014 on your calendar. Make a video if you want to. Find some time to participate, comment, vote, and learn. Most importantly, Don’t Forget to Be Awesome.