Project for Awesome
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| Abbreviation | P4A |
|---|---|
| Motto | Online Creators Decreasing World Suck |
| Formation | 2007 |
| Purpose | Charity |
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Region served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Hank and John Green |
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Parent organization
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Foundation to Decrease World Suck |
| Website | projectforawesome |
Project for Awesome (often abbreviated P4A) is a community-driven charitable movement on YouTube, created by the Green brothers, Hank and John, most notable for their VlogBrothers YouTube channel. Formerly dubbed the Nerdfighter Power Project for Awesome, the project has taken place in December every year since 2007. The movement was started to have YouTubers create innovative videos promoting their favorite charity and upload it by a certain deadline, with the aim that their promoted charity gains more awareness, and donations from audiences.
The event takes place in December each year, and lasts for 48 hours. From 2007 to 2013, the P4A began on December 17, and lasted until the 18th or 19th. From 2014, the dates of the event have changed, and been fixed as the second Friday and Saturday in December (12–13 in 2014). In 2016, the P4A was December 9-11.
The Foundation to Decrease World Suck is a non-profit corporation, based in Montana. It is designated as a 501(c)(3). The Foundation is the Project for Awesome's parent organization. The Foundation was informally established on March 6, 2007, by Hank Green of the VlogBrothers, during the Brotherhood 2.0 Project. However, it was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in the State of Montana in November 2011. The IRS then designated the Foundation with 501(c)(3) status on January 23, 2013. Key members of the Foundation include John Green, Hank Green, Mike Green, Michael Gardner, Benny Fine, and Valerie Barr.
In 2007, over 400 videos were posted, with promoted charities including UNICEF, Autism Speaks, and Toys for Tots. The 2007 Project was successful to the point where a large majority of videos, all having the same P4A thumbnail, on the front page were related to the cause. The Greens were able to accomplish this feat with the collaborative efforts of the community that follows their videos, Nerdfighteria, while also "sort of" hacking YouTube's algorithm. Reflecting on the event, Hank Green states, "YouTube was sort of a weird place that was fairly easy to sort of game the algorithms. And the way that the thumbnails worked and all of the different lists were important for getting views," adding, "it was sort of frowned upon to game the system, but we thought, 'What if we gamed the system for good?'" The 2007 Project was documented to be a success, one that the Greens hoped, and accomplished, to emulate over the following years, by uniting their community.
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