#53: Why Your Nonprofit Isn't Getting Attention (And How to Fix It)
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
In this episode of the StoryBrand Podcast, host Kyle Reed sits down with Scott Harrison, founder of charity: water, to explore how clear, simple messaging has driven over $1 billion in donations and served more than 20 million people globally. Scott shares his journey from nightclub promoter to nonprofit founder, revealing how he transformed the charity sector with a revolutionary 100% donation model and radical transparency. (01:00)
- Main Theme: How nonprofits can break through the noise with simple, trustworthy messaging and innovative approaches to donor engagement in an increasingly distracted world.
Speakers
Scott Harrison
Scott Harrison is the founder and CEO of charity: water, a nonprofit organization that has revolutionized charitable giving by bringing clean drinking water to people in developing countries. After spending ten years as a nightclub promoter in New York City, Scott experienced a crisis of conscience at 28 and volunteered as a photojournalist on medical missions in Liberia, West Africa for two years. This experience led him to start charity: water in 2006, which has since raised over $1 billion and helped more than 20 million people access clean water through 186,000 water projects worldwide.
Key Takeaways
Build Trust Through Radical Transparency
Scott Harrison revolutionized nonprofit giving by creating two separate bank accounts - one where 100% of public donations go directly to water projects, and another for operational costs funded by a small group of board members and entrepreneurs. (08:00) This model addresses the fundamental trust issue where 70% of Americans believed charities wasted their money. The organization tracks every donation and provides satellite imagery and proof of where each dollar went, creating unprecedented accountability in the nonprofit sector.
Start With Problems Your Audience Has Never Experienced
Harrison identified a key insight: people readily support causes they've personally experienced (like cancer or ALS), but struggle to connect with problems they've never faced. (02:42) He overcame this by using powerful visual storytelling - showing 50,000 photos of people drinking dirty water and 20-second videos of clean water shooting from the ground as communities celebrated. This visual approach made the abstract problem of dirty water tangible and emotionally compelling to Western audiences.
Make Giving Accessible and Personal
The birthday campaign started when Scott asked for $32 (his age) instead of traditional gifts for his 32nd birthday, raising $60,000. (15:39) This evolved into a global movement where seven-year-olds ask for $7 and 89-year-olds ask for $89, making giving accessible regardless of economic status. The campaign has raised over $100 million by transforming birthdays from consumption-focused events into opportunities for generosity and impact.
Evolve from Hero to Guide in Your Messaging
Rather than positioning charity: water as the hero solving the water crisis, Harrison shifted the organization to guide status while making donors, local partners, and beneficiaries the heroes. (18:54) Whether it's a seven-year-old selling lemonade, someone listening to Nickelback for seven days straight, or a grandmother getting clean water for the first time, the organization amplified others' stories rather than their own, creating deeper emotional connection and ownership among supporters.
Adapt to Attention Economy Challenges
Scott acknowledged that strategies that worked in early social media no longer function in today's saturated attention economy. Where charity: water once had millions of organic social media reach, a recent email campaign achieved only 0.6% click-through rate. (21:17) Their response has been creating immersive, 60-minute in-person experiences with VR, haptic technology, and Dolby Atmos sound to capture sustained attention in an age where people check phones during movies.
Statistics & Facts
- 700 million people worldwide currently drink dirty, toxic, poisonous water - representing about one-tenth of the global population. (01:03) When Scott started charity: water 20 years ago, it was one in six people; now it's one in eleven, showing measurable progress toward the goal of zero.
- At charity: water's founding, 70% of Americans polled believed charities wasted their money. (08:58) This statistic drove Scott's decision to create the 100% donation model to address fundamental trust issues in the nonprofit sector.
- charity: water has completed 186,000 water projects and helped over 20 million people access clean water, yet this represents only 2.8% of the total problem. (26:35) The organization has raised over $1 billion total, with $40 currently able to provide one person with clean water access.
