UP | uncultured project

One Million Views. And, as of a few hours ago, this project is more popular on YouTube than even The ONE Campaign. I think we just pwned Bono

I said before that I like to focus on one difference at a time and I’m not doing this to become a celebrity. So why does it matter how many views this project gets or how popular this project is?

That’s because – even though I don’t like to play the numbers game – there are organizations that do play that game. And we just sent a big message to them.

You don’t need big PR dollars to engage people on the issue of global poverty, you don’t need to guilt people to get them to donate, and you don’t need big name celebrities to get people interested in your work.

Let’s continue to change the conversation. I’ll need your help every step of the way.

Following-up on my blog post about the Tour de Nerdfighting – here’s my video from that event. There is also lots of deleted scenes and bonus footage from this event up on my secondary channel. Hope you check it out!

[UPDATE: The Project 1010 guys took the video down but I'm told the a new version will be up soon. I'll fix the video link in this post when that happens.]

I recently stumbled upon this charity in Kenya called The 1010 Project. I just had to share this with you. Why? Just look at the video:

You aren’t left feeling pity or like you’ve been taken on a guilt-trip. This is how you change the conversation about global poverty.

I also want to get in touch with these guys because I want to know how they were able to get permission to use Sigur Ros’s music. A while back I tried to get permission but I never heard back from those guys…

Save the Children does amazing work – that’s why I love using this project to highlight the good work that they do. One of the reasons for this is because they are very much on the same wavelength as me on a lot of issues.

If you’ve been following this project for a while, you know I want to change the conversation about global poverty. Coming back home I’ve found charity-related commercials full of sad images, sad music, and guilt-inducing please for donations.

What I admire about Save the Children is they haven’t resorted to those kinds of tactics. I’ve seen a lot of commercials and promo materials from Save the Children and I have yet to find a single one that is a guilt-trip or portrays the poor as objects of pity.

Save the Children is also willing to try new things when it comes to interacting with people over the internet. I’m really thrilled that when I came up with Challenge Poverty – Save the Children jumped on board and even made a video response:

This project is less about me and more about the online community that is supporting this journey every step of the way. Here’s a new video from a friend of mine by the name of Matt. He votes for the pond sand filter part of Challenge Poverty in a really creative and passionate way. I have to admit I never thought of the issue like that until I saw Matt’s video.

Hello from Plano, Texas! I’ve got some great news. First, I got to meet Hank & John Green. They are even more amazing in real life than they are online. If you want to see them, they are going on a Cross-America trip called the Tour de Nerdfighting. Check this map to see when and where they will be next – you can even RSVP by clicking on the city location.

Second, if you’ve ever wanted to make a donation but 1) Can’t or don’t want to use PayPal and 2) Don’t like how PayPal takes a cut of every donation – than there is a great opportunity for you to get involved in this project in a way that guarantees 100% of your donation is used. And best of all? I don’t ever have to touch a dime.

Hank and John will be accepting donations at every stop of their tour up until November 12th. On November 12th, they’ll be in Westport, Conneticut – the home town of Save the Children USA. If all goes according to plan – they’ll be handing over the donations directly to Save the Children. That money will be spent based on how you guys vote in my Challenge Poverty video. Voting is still open – so please do get involved!

I don’t have to touch your money, 100% of the funds raised go straight to helping the poor, you get to decide how it’s spent, and it all helps one of the world’s greatest international charities. How more awesome can it get?

Click the jump for some photos from the Plano event…

Continue reading ‘Tour de Nerdfighting’