The Foundation

The story of Scott Harrison, founder of the organization charity: water, does not begin like the stories of the average social entrepreneur.  Scott spent the first 10 years of his adult life as a night club promoter in New York City.  His life consisted of striving after more money, more status and better parties.

At age 28, Scott had the realization that the life he was living was not only unfulfilling, but destructive to himself and the people by whom he was surrounded.  Scott describes his revelation as follows: “I was the worst person I knew…I was emotionally bankrupt, I was spiritually bankrupt.  Everything I had as a value I walked away from…. There [wasn’t] a single redemptive thing about my life.”

Scott, after a process of returning to Christ, decided to begin applying for positions at various charities.  He started questioning what he could do to give back and live the exact opposite of the life he had lived before. He asked himself:

“What if I tried to serve God?… What if I actually served others?…What if I give back 1 of the 10 years and serve?”

After being rejected  from every nonprofit to which he had applied, Scott was finally given the opportunity to work with Mercy Ships, an organization that provides surgeries on the coast of Africa from a boat-turned-hospital.  Scott spent two years with them as a photographer, documenting every surgery and subsequent transformation that took place.

During a gap year, Scott returned to New York and held a photo show displaying the images he had captured over that first year.  The show raised $100,000, 100% of which went to Mercy Ships.

Not only was he extremely impacted by the work that God was doing through Mercy Ships, but he also sought a solution to the root problems of the Mercy Ship patients, many of whom suffered from severe tumors and infections.  Scott discovered that 80% of the illnesses that these people suffered from were caused by lack of clean water.

Although Scott was ashamed of his past life choices, he utilized his connections by hosting his 31^st birthday party charging $20 admission to 700 of his friends.  He earned $15,000 in one night. He used this initial capital to build 3 wells in Northern Uganda and repair 3 others.  Charity: water had begun.

 The Model

As Scott Harrison set out on the journey to start his own nonprofit, he wanted to reform the way charities are set up.  Firstly, he wanted to change the answer to the question “How much of my money will actually go to the actual cause?”  For charity: water, the answer to that question, from the beginning, is and has always been 100%.

The second aspect of charity he wanted to incorporate was the ability for contributors to see exactly where their money is going.  To do this, charity: water tracks the GPS location of each well that is excavated, making the specific wells available to view through Google Earth. Charity: water also tracks which donations are funding which project.

Other innovative campaigns such as a mobile exhibit that displayed dirty water in tanks as well as gave information about water quality around the world, have been utilized by this organization.  Said exhibit would be set up in different parks in New York City, to educate as well as fund-raise by selling $20 water bottles to support the organization.

One of charity: water’s main sources of donations is through a campaign called “birthdays”, which began with Scott’s idea to send out an email asking for $32 (the age he was turning) from each individual as a donation to charity water.  He raised $59,000, only a year after he had started charity: water.  Supporters of charity water can now do the same through the charity: water website.

The Impact

Since its establishment charity: water has funded 9,015 water projects, providing 3,300,000 people with clean water, in 20 countries.  Its renown and impact are growing every day, especially with a focus on design and marketing as well as authenticity and transparency as a nonprofit. To learn more visit their website or watch the interview with Scott Harrison below:

charitywater.org

http://youtu.be/yPLcMSpYisg