Remix: Scott Harrison & charity: water, 5 years later
Nov 28, 2023
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Scott Harrison, Founder of charity: water, reflects on the organization's rapid scale over the past five years. Topics include rebranding and partnership with Airbnb.org, providing clean water access, transparency and empowering customers, the success of Charity Water's birthday initiative, co-creation in refugee response, and strategies for encouraging reviews and sharing episodes.
Visual storytelling and powerful images play a crucial role in engaging donors and supporters for charity: water.
Charity: water's commitment to radical transparency, with 100% of public donations directly funding clean water projects, resonates with donors and enhances accountability.
Deep dives
The power of storytelling and visual communication
Charity Water founder Scott Harrison discusses the impact of using visual images and storytelling to engage donors and supporters. By sharing powerful photos and stories, Charity Water has been able to generate compassion and inspire action, ultimately leading to increased support for their cause. Harrison emphasizes the importance of showing the human impact of the global water crisis and using various mediums, such as AI-generated images, to create awareness.
The commitment to radical transparency
Charity Water's distinct business model, where 100% of public donations go directly to providing clean water, is a key aspect of the organization's commitment to radical transparency. Scott Harrison explains that this model has resonated with donors who appreciate knowing that their contributions have a direct and tangible impact. He also discusses Charity Water's investment in sensor technology to monitor the functionality of water projects in real time, further enhancing transparency and accountability.
The importance of constant innovation in fundraising
Harrison highlights the need for continuous innovation in fundraising strategies to keep donors engaged. He shares the example of the successful birthday campaign, where individuals donate their birthdays to support Charity Water's mission. However, he also acknowledges the need to constantly come up with new ideas and campaigns to stay relevant and maintain donor interest.
Balancing analytical ROI with human impact
While Charity Water recognizes the importance of tracking metrics and ROI, Scott Harrison emphasizes that the organization's primary focus is on the human impact of their work. Balancing the needs of beneficiaries and donors, Charity Water remains committed to providing clean water to millions of people while ensuring that donors have a meaningful and fulfilling experience.
In the five years since Scott Harrison’s first appearance on Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman, the nonprofit organization he founded, charity: water, has scaled 5 times over. In this episode, he and host Bob Safian reflect on that journey by revisiting some of the stories and lessons from his original episode, and Scott shares new lessons of scale he's learned since.