You know PornHub, but for the sake of appearances let's say this is the first time you've ever heard of the site. It is, hands down, one of the biggest, most popular porn sites on the internet. We're talking more than 78 billion views in 2014 (which was about 5,800 views per second, in case you were curious) kind of popular. In fact, the site has so much traffic that when Fallout 4 wanted to brag about how popular it was, it cited the fact that it had dropped PornHub's traffic by 10 percent on release day.

All that traffic represents serious cash flow. Since you've obviously never been to the site, every video has ad bars to the side. In some cases there are even in-video ads. There are also membership options, VIP sign-ups, PornHub-only cams, and a dozen other ways the site turns a profit.

So what does PornHub do with all that dosh? Well, a lot of it goes to keeping the business running (paying utilities, making sure the models are compensated, that the tech support folks get their checks, acquiring new content, expanding features, etc.), but a surprising amount of money goes into the site's charity efforts.

PornHub Cares

If you've never really searched around the site, you probably never stumbled across PornHub Cares, which is the official philanthropic branch of the site. Among the site's past charity endeavors, there's been a push to help the pandas (where the site donated $100 to efforts to preserve giant pandas for every panda-themed porn video that was uploaded), plant more trees (13,000 were planted as part of "PornHub gives America wood"), and college scholarships (applicants must submit a video answering a questions, but no lewd content is allowed from those trying to work their way through school).

These charities are in addition to the site's efforts to make legitimate sex education videos (including sex ed for older people in a series by famed porn star Nina Hartley), and that time earlier this year when PornHub dispatched snow plows to New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts so that people could "get plowed" by PornHub after the big blizzard crippled the Northeast.

What's their game?

There are a lot of people who have looked on PornHub's efforts with suspicion. The Susan G. Komen Foundation (which has seen its share of controversy) turned down money PornHub had raised for breast cancer awareness, research, and prevention. Their scholarship has also come under fire from people who claim the site could just give the money to other organizations, instead of making sure their name was attached to it.

At the end of the day, though, there are two facts we need to acknowledge. PornHub is a business, and it makes a lot of money. One of the best ways for businesses to seem approachable, and even friendly, is to donate money to charitable causes that create actual value for people on the receiving end of them. So, whatever your feeling is about the adult entertainment industry, the effects of hub sites in general, or about PornHub in particular, the fact is they are dedicating resources to helping promote good causes. And when the local government falls through on giving their citizens accurate, useful sex ed, or making sure the streets are clear after heavy snowfall, it's nice to know someone out there is stepping up to make that happen.

Further Reading

For more interesting topics by yours truly, check out:

What's The Difference Between A Fetish and A Kink?

The Danger Word (It's Like The Opposite Of A Safe Word)