Fireside Chat, Interview
Scott Harrison: Founder and CEO, charity: water
- Aims to eliminate the 663 million people lacking access to clean water.
- Plans to leverage the 42% of Americans distrustful of charities and the 70% who believe charities waste money as a strategic entry point.
- Maintains a model where 100% of all public donations fund water projects, with overhead raised separately.
- Utilizes technology to provide hyper-transparent impact proof by uploading every water point to Google Earth with satellite imagery.
- Develops an "epic and imaginative brand" by recruiting top design talent from companies like Twitter, Tesla, Apple, Facebook, and Google.
- Ensures project sustainability and cultural appropriateness by empowering local partners to lead operations rather than deploying Westerners.
- Preserves the 100% donation model through a share donation program where the founder receives no financial benefit from raised shares.
- Credits donor support to maintain 100% of public funds for field projects, including the repayment of 3% credit card fees on donations such as $10,000 gifts.
- Secures three-year commitments from donors to manage working capital and mitigate insolvency risks.
- Identifies 30, 50, or 100 families to fund ongoing staff and operational overhead costs.
- Targets the recruitment of the 1,000 wells or 1,000 water projects required to respond to a $10 million fundraising goal via the share program.
- Provides drilling rigs and trucks to local partners in India to expand their operational capacity.
- Implements an equity program for entry-level employees offering a 50% salary bonus based on a weighted system that caps executive benefits.
- Structures the employee equity program to vest over a period of up to 10 years.
- Expects that while no employees will become millionaires, the equity program will enable staff to take extra vacations or provide better family support.