How I Raised $700 Million: Charity: Water Founder: Scott Harrison | E153

Scott Harrison traces his life from a difficult childhood caring for a chronically ill mother, through a decade of hedonistic nightclub promotion in New York fueled by drugs and excess, to a personal collapse that prompted a radical 180-degree life change. He volunteered as a photojournalist on a Mercy Ships hospital ship off West Africa, where he witnessed extreme suffering and discovered that dirty water was driving half the disease he saw. He founded Charity: Water with a radical 100% model, separating overhead from public donations, and nearly went bankrupt before entrepreneur Michael Birch wired a million dollars to save it. Fifteen years later the organization has raised $700 million and reached 15 million people, with overhead funded by 131 entrepreneur families. Harrison reflects on service, generosity, and fulfillment as the real recipe for a meaningful life.

• After half his body went numb and tests found nothing, Harrison confronted that he was emotionally, spiritually, and morally bankrupt and needed a complete life change.
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• The night before boarding the hospital ship he deliberately smoked his last three packs and got drunk, then quit cigarettes, drugs, and pornography for 17 years.
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• He built Charity: Water on a 100% model: two separate bank accounts so every public dollar goes to water while entrepreneurs fund overhead.
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• About 18 months in, almost a million in the water account but about to miss payroll, he started calling lawyers to shut the charity down rather than borrow from donor funds.
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• Entrepreneur Michael Birch wired a million dollars into the overhead account at midnight, taking the charity from bankrupt to 13 months of funding.
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• His first photo gallery show of 108 images for nightclub friends raised about $100,000 for Mercy Ships.
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• On day one, a 31st birthday party in a meatpacking-district club raised $15,000, including $500 from a weed dealer making his first-ever charitable gift.
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• Harrison's mother collapsed on New Year's Day 1980 from a carbon monoxide leak caused by a faulty heat exchanger in their new house.
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• His mother became allergic to the modern world, reacting to perfume, soap, and car fumes, and wore an N95-style mask most of her life.
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• His nightlife 'fun' included cocaine, MDMA, 40 to 60 cigarettes a day, gambling, and strip clubs.
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• At the time there was roughly one physician per 50,000 Liberians, versus about one per 300 Americans.
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• More than 5,000 sick people showed up for 1,500 available surgery slots at the football-stadium patient screening, some having walked for over a month.
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• Half of Liberia was drinking dirty contaminated water and half the disease was caused by it, with 28 diseases trackable to dirty water.
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• As of recording, 10% of the world (771 million people) lacked clean water and Charity: Water had helped 15 million of them.
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• Charity: Water's overhead is now paid by 131 entrepreneurs including founders of Spotify, Shopify, WordPress, and LinkedIn.
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• The famous Charity: Water video summarizing his story has done about 25 million views on YouTube.
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