369. Below the Surface of charity: water's $700M Impact - Scott Harrison

Jan 9

Written By Andie Murphy

Scott Harrison, Charity Water, We Are For Good Podcast

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Overview

Meet Scott. This nightclub promoter turned nonprofit founder won’t stop until all people have access to clean water. In 16 years, charity: water funded over 111,000 water projects in 29 countries bringing water to more than 15 million people. With a focus on innovation, Scott leads charity: water with optimism, storytelling and a can-do-attitude. You won’t want to miss this conversation that’s a pep-talk for anyone making a difference - wherever you are in the world 🌏💛

💡Learn

What Scott thinks about instead of the nonprofit sector
How charity: water’s monthly giving community, The Spring, started + grew to 65K donors giving more than $23M back annually
The importance of optimism + building believers

Today’s Guest

Scott Harrison, Founder and CEO of charity: water

“We’ve helped 15 million people get water and there are 770 million people that need water.”

— Scott Harrison, Founder and CEO of charity: water

Episode Transcript

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Episode Highlights

Scott’s story and journey to where he is today (4:00)
Mindsets that you lean on as you build the vision and bring the team along (14:00)
charity: water’s unique funding model (22:00)
Building believers (28:00)
The Spring monthly giving program (37:00)
A powerful moment of philanthropy in Scott’s life (44:00)
Scott’s One Good Thing: Share your stories. (47:00)

Powerful quotes

“I spend no time thinking about the sector.” -Scott

“I’m focused on exponential growth and radical disruption.” -Scott

“This is a fraction of what I’d imagined and a fraction of what I had hoped we’d achieve. That’s an animating factor for me. We haven’t done it yet.” -Scott

“We’ve helped 15 million people get water and there are 770 million people that need water.” -Scott

“Optimism is really important. Far too many charitable founders seem to really have the blues. They don’t seem to feel great about the future.” -Scott

“I’m not inspired by pessimism or a gloomy outlook on anything.” -Scott

“If the first pillar was the 100% model, the second pillar very quickly was proof.” -Scott

“Sometimes people lead with the issue. That’s not often what a donor wants to hear. The donor wants to know why you care.” -Scott

“The beauty of water is that it is a solvable problem. We know how to construct 14 different water technologies to get people clean water.” -Scott

You have to be out there telling stories. That's what moves the mission forward. That's what moves relationships forward.” -Scott