Nick Kristof, NY Times columnist and native Oregonian, has a wonderful piece in the NYT profiling Scott Harrison, the former hard-living nightclub promoter who transformed himself into a hydrophilanthopist and founder of the highly-successful charity:water in just three years.
His secret? Harrison is an unparelleled fund-raiser, promoter, and marketer.
Kristof writes:
Armed with nothing but a natural gift for promotion, and for wheedling donations from people, Mr. Harrison started his group, called charity: water — and it has been stunningly successful. In three years, he says, his group has raised $10 million (most of that last year alone) from 50,000 individual donors, providing clean water to nearly one million people in Africa and Asia.
The organization now has 11 full-time employees, almost twice as many unpaid interns, and more than half a million followers on Twitter (the United Nations has 3,000). New York City buses were plastered with free banners promoting his message, and Saks Fifth Avenue gave up its store windows to spread Mr. Harrison’s gospel about the need for clean water in Africa. American schools are signing up to raise money to build wells for schools in poor countries.
“Scott is an important marketing machine, lifting one of the most critical issues of our time in a way that is sexy and incredibly compelling — that’s his gift,” said Jacqueline Novogratz, head of the Acumen Fund, which invests in poor countries to overcome poverty.
It is a remarkable story about an even more remarkable man. More power to Scott Harrison and his ilk.
“Guilt has never been part of it. It’s excitement instead, presenting people with an opportunity — ‘You have an amazing chance to build a well!' " - Scott Harrison
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