Scott Harrison's Charity Transformation

A story about how Scott Harrison went from being a successful NYC party promoter to founding Charity Water, now one of the largest privately backed charities.

"Scott Harrison grew up with a really unusual childhood. His mom got terribly ill from a gas leak in their new house that killed her autoimmune system. She couldn't go outside or touch unsanitized objects. They had to sanitize everything, even books in the oven before she could read them. His religious family didn't sue, saying it was God's plan.

When Scott turned 18, he rejected religion and went to New York, becoming successful in the party scene. He became a party promoter, making a killing by convincing rich guys to pay $5-6,000 to buy $100 bottles of alcohol. He got paid $25,000 a night by vodka companies just to drink their liquor, had the fancy watch, model girlfriends, nice penthouse.

But after a few years, he felt empty inside. He decided to change his life and started Charity Water. His breakthrough came when he threw his 30th birthday party, asking guests to donate $30 instead of gifts. Three months later, he sent them photos showing how their money built water wells, turning a 4-hour walk into a 10-minute walk for villages. He included videos of women and children thanking them, showing the difference between dirty and clean water.

The organization struggled until Michael Birch, who had just sold Bebo for $850 million, gave them a surprise $1 million investment after a meeting. Since then, they've raised hundreds of millions of dollars, becoming one of the biggest privately backed charities because of their 100% transparency model and ability to show donors the direct impact of their contributions."