The Diary of a CEOHow I Raised $700 Million: Charity: Water Founder: Scott Harrison | E153
CHAPTERS
- 2:00 – 10:40
A Childhood Marked By Invisible Illness And Caregiving
Harrison describes his mother’s collapse from carbon monoxide poisoning, her lifelong extreme chemical sensitivity, and how the family adapted their home so she could survive. As an only child, he became an essential caregiver, which gave him responsibility and work ethic but also an unusual, touch-deprived and isolated upbringing.
- •New Year’s Day 1980: mother collapses due to a carbon monoxide leak; blood tests show massive exposure.
- •Mother’s immune system never recovers; everyday substances like perfume, soap, car fumes, even radio waves make her violently ill.
- •The family creates elaborate ‘hacks’: foil-lined doors, hypoallergenic cleaning, an army cot washed in baking soda, masks for her face.
- •As a teen, Scott secretly tests her radio-wave sensitivity; she becomes very sick, confirming his belief in her condition.
- •He grows up without normal affection but with heavy responsibility—cooking, cleaning, laundering—and feels “needed,” which builds confidence.
- 10:40 – 18:00
Dark Side, Anger, And An Obsession With Fun
Harrison reflects on his ‘dark side’ as anger and discontent, which he now channels into fighting injustice. Deprived of a typical childhood, he overcompensates with fun for his kids and later in life, while also learning that too much fun can undermine discipline and work ethic.
- •He identifies anger and deep discontent with the way things are as his ‘dark side’.
- •Writing his book forced him to re-enter painful memories and addictive years.
- •As a father, he tends to over-index on fun—roller coasters, spontaneous trips—to compensate for his own childhood.
- •He worries this could deprive his kids of learning the value of work, which he gained from heavy chores and caregiving.
- •Sets up a lifelong tension between deprivation, overcompensation, and constructive use of inner turmoil.
- 18:00 – 24:00
From Band Dreams To Top-Tier Nightlife Promoter
After a failed attempt to manage a rock band, Harrison realizes promoters make the real money. He apprentices under a promoter and quickly rises to the top tier of New York’s nightlife scene by curating ‘fun’ and transgression, a stark contrast to his strict Christian upbringing.
- •Originally wanted his band to open for U2; quickly learns promoters, not bands, profit from gigs.
- •Becomes a promoter at 19, even before he’s legally allowed in clubs.
- •First big club experience (Club USA with a slide onto the dance floor) feels electric and illicit versus his religious background.
- •Recognizes his knack for ‘curating fun’—the same instinct that later powers charity: water’s brand.
- •Nightlife offers attention, power, and validation, filling psychological voids from earlier life.
- 24:00 – 42:00
A Decade Of Hedonism And The Emptiness Beneath It
Harrison details his extreme lifestyle: heavy smoking, drugs, casual sex, gambling and pornography, all pursued with an ‘all-in’ mentality. Health scares and an increasingly stark contrast between his nights and the normal lives of others lead to a growing sense of sadness, emptiness, and moral bankruptcy.
- •Smokes 40–60 cigarettes a day; cycles through cocaine, MDMA, marijuana, gambling, porn, and serial sex.
- •Sees his behavior as ‘playing it through to the end’ to prove there’s no happiness in these forbidden things.
- •Describes grim after-hours club scenes and going to bed at noon while others are on lunch breaks.
- •Experiences partial body numbness and neurological symptoms; extensive tests show nothing, raising the question: if he died soon, what would he have to show?
- •Realizes he’s never truly served others, mentored, or been a good partner: “emotionally, spiritually, morally bankrupt.”
- 42:00 – 51:00
Crisis, Spiritual Reckoning, And The Decision For A 180° Turn
Facing frightening symptoms and existential dread, Harrison turns back to the Bible and a book on purity and righteousness. He recognizes that small lifestyle tweaks won’t be enough; he needs a wholesale inversion of his values and behavior, but initially has no idea how to do that.
- •Begins reading scripture and a spiritual book from his father about returning to innocence and virtue.
- •Sees a jarring clash between his nightlife world and the virtues described: integrity, honor, peacemaking.
- •Attempts gradual change—smoking and drinking less, easing out of his relationship—but repeatedly relapses.
- •Concludes only a complete 180-degree life reversal will suffice; moderation won’t break the pattern.
- •Spends 7–8 months oscillating between intent to change and failure, culminating in a nightclub incident with a bouncer and a death threat that jolts him into leaving New York.
- 51:00 – 59:00
Escape From New York And A Call To Serve
After the bouncer incident, Harrison drives north with a Bible, Scotch, and cigarettes, then retreats to the French Pyrenees. The further he gets from New York, the more he feels he never needs to return. He decides to ‘tithe’ a year of his life to humanitarian work and applies to major NGOs, all of which reject him—until Mercy Ships calls.
- •Rents a Mustang and drives north, relishing distance from his toxic environment and relationship.
- •Reads the Bible while drinking and smoking; experiences internal transformation as scenery turns to quiet, natural beauty.
- •Conceptualizes a time tithe: give one year of his wasted decade in service to God and the poor.
- •Applies online to ten large humanitarian organizations; all reject his application—no one wants a reformed nightclub promoter.
- •While on a bike in rural France, he hits a small reception patch and gets a call from Mercy Ships inviting him to interview in Germany.
- 59:00 – 1:06:00
Mercy Ships: Cutting Off The Old Life On A Hospital Vessel
Harrison convinces Mercy Ships to accept him as a volunteer photojournalist, leaning on his NYU communications degree and email list. On the eve of boarding, he intentionally binges his vices one last time and then quits them all at once, stepping onto a 522-foot hospital ship bound for West Africa and a radically new environment.
- •Positions himself as a comms professional and promoter: he can document surgeries and broadcast stories to 15,000 nightclub contacts.
- •Mercy Ships runs a large hospital ship bringing volunteer surgeons and nurses to African ports for year-long deployments.
- •The symbolic ‘gangway’ moment: he decides to abandon smoking, drugs, gambling, pornography, and sex outside marriage before boarding.
- •Smokes 60 cigarettes and drinks heavily the night before; then goes cold turkey and never returns to those behaviors (save moderate drinking years later).
- •Finds the new environment—Christian doctors, purposeful work, no vices available—deeply liberating and like ‘coming home.’
- 1:06:00 – 1:16:00
Witnessing Extreme Suffering And Surgical Miracles
Arriving in Benin and then Liberia, Harrison covers a massive triage event where over 5,000 people vie for 1,500 surgical slots, some having walked a month. Overwhelmed by cases like a boy suffocating behind a volleyball-sized tumor, he initially falls apart until a doctor tells him to ‘focus on the hope.’ He then documents transformations and shares them with his former nightclub audience.
- •Government grants a football stadium for patient screening; over 5,000 sick people queue for 1,500 surgeries.
- •Conditions include facial tumors, cleft lips/palates/faces, flesh-eating disease, severe burns from war atrocities, and leprosy.
- •First patient he photographs, Alfred, is a 14-year-old with a massive facial tumor, barely breathing; Scott breaks down emotionally.
- •A senior surgeon urges him to toughen up and focus on those who can be helped.
- •Documents Alfred’s 8.5-hour surgery and his celebratory return to his village; replicates this for 1,500 patients over the year.
- •Emails detailed stories and photos to former club-goers, replacing invites to fashion parties with images of transformative surgeries.
- 1:16:00 – 1:25:00
Discovering The Water Crisis As Root Cause
On his second year with Mercy Ships in post-war Liberia, Harrison leaves the ship to understand daily life and is shocked by the filthy water sources people rely on. He learns that half the population drinks contaminated water and that half the country’s disease burden is water-related. Surgeon Gary Parker challenges him to devote his life to clean water, framing it as the greatest kind of ‘doctoring.’
- •Liberia after 14 years of civil war has no functional grid: no electricity, water system, sewage, or mail.
- •Physician ratio is 1:50,000 versus 1:300 in the US; only two surgeons and nowhere to operate.
- •In rural areas, people drink from swamps, ponds, and muddy rivers; he’s horrified: “You’ve got to be kidding me they drink this.”
- •He contrasts this with selling $10 Voss water bottles in clubs that people barely touched.
- •Learns 28 diseases are directly linked to dirty water, and half of Liberia’s disease burden comes from water, sanitation, and hygiene deficits.
- •Dr. Gary Parker suggests he could be “the greatest doctor” if he focuses on bringing clean water to everyone, setting his life mission.
- 1:25:00 – 1:30:00
Prototype Impact: Using Storytelling To Fund Surgeries
Between Mercy Ships tours, Harrison returns to New York with his photos and tests whether his promotional skills can raise money for good. A donated Chelsea gallery show of 108 images moves even jaded nightlife contacts, raising around $100,000 for surgeries and showing him the power of visual storytelling and transparent impact.
- •Hosts a photo exhibition in a donated Chelsea gallery featuring before/after surgical stories.
- •Cold, seemingly indifferent club regulars are moved to tears by the images and captions.
- •Raises about $100,000 for Mercy Ships through art sales and donations.
- •Discovers his dogged emailing and narrative framing can convert past partygoers into donors.
- •This small-scale success convinces him his ‘promoter’ skillset can be re-purposed for humanitarian causes, paving the way for charity: water.
- 1:30:00 – 1:38:00
Founding charity: water And Inventing The 100% Model
Returning from Africa at 30 with no savings and sleeping on a friend’s closet floor, Harrison decides to tackle the water crisis by launching charity: water. Noting widespread distrust of charities, he designs a dual-bank-account model separating public donations (100% to water projects) from overhead funded by a private circle of entrepreneurs, and he uses his birthday as the first fundraising experiment.
- •Back in New York, broke, living in a friend’s apartment, but energized by a clear mission.
- •Interviews peers at MTV, fashion magazines, banks and finds pervasive skepticism about where charity money goes.
- •Architects two separately audited bank accounts: one for public donations (projects only), one for overhead (staff, rent, flights, etc.).
- •Initially uncertain how to fund overhead, but convinced the clarity will resonate and rebuild trust.
- •Launches with a birthday party on September 7 during Fashion Week: free club, one hour of open bar, $20 mandatory donation at the door.
- •Raises $15,000 from 700 attendees (including a drug dealer’s first-ever $500 gift), funds wells in northern Uganda, and sends every donor photos, video, and GPS proof: “You did this.”
- 1:38:00 – 1:44:00
Near-Bankruptcy, Unshakeable Integrity, And A Million-Dollar Lifeline
In charity: water’s second year, the 100% model is wildly popular with the public, but overhead funding lags. With nearly $1M in the water account and no payroll funds, advisors urge him to ‘borrow’ against project money. He refuses, ready to shut down rather than break the model—until entrepreneur Michael Birch unexpectedly wires $1M into the overhead account.
- •Year one raises $2M, year two on track for $6M in public donations, but overhead donors are scarce.
- •At crisis point: about $1M in project funds ready to build 100 wells, but no money to pay nine staff.
- •Lawyers and advisors recommend temporarily dipping into the water account with an IOU.
- •Harrison refuses, believing using even a single donor dollar for overhead would permanently compromise trust and the brand’s foundation.
- •As he explores how to shut the charity down, a prior cold-email contact, Bebo founder Michael Birch, visits the office, seems unimpressed, but later wires $1M for overhead.
- •The gift buys 13 months of runway; today 131 entrepreneurs globally fund all overhead, enabling millions to give with full confidence that 100% goes to water.
- 1:44:00 – 1:53:00
Scale, Velocity, And A Philosophy Of Service
Harrison shares current impact numbers—15 million people served, operating in 29 countries, helping ~2 million people per year—and frames the work as just beginning compared to 771 million still without clean water. He rejects the notion of balanced work/life but describes seasons of intense travel followed by child-focused periods, and articulates service and generosity as the core of a fulfilled life.
- •charity: water has now raised over $700M and provided clean water to more than 15 million people—about 1/50th of global need.
- •Roughly 771 million people (10% of humanity) still drink dirty water; in the last year alone charity: water reached ~2 million (~5,000 people per day).
- •He sees the organization as in the ‘second inning’ of its potential, with scope for exponential growth.
- •Rejects simplistic ‘work/life balance’; describes seasons—e.g., 90 flights and 100 speeches pre-COVID, then intense family time during the pandemic.
- •Draws on exposure to both extreme poverty and extreme wealth to conclude that meaning doesn’t lie in assets or status but in being useful to others.
- •Critiques the phrase ‘giving back’ and advocates a cultural norm of simple, joyful ‘giving’ as a muscle that strengthens with use.
- 1:53:00
How To Participate: Monthly Giving And Building A Culture Of Generosity
In closing, Harrison outlines practical ways listeners can support charity: water, especially through The Spring, its monthly giving community, and The Well, the circle of entrepreneurs funding overhead. He emphasizes that even small, recurring amounts can reliably fund water for individuals and communities, and that the organization remains obsessive about transparency and impact storytelling.
- •Introduces The Spring, a global monthly giving community (150+ countries) where 100% of contributions fund water projects.
- •Notes approximate impact cost: about £30 / $40 to give one person clean water, making it accessible for many monthly donors.
- •Highlights that donors receive proof and stories of impact instead of consumer perks.
- •Mentions The Well, a group of 131 families/entrepreneurs (including Spotify, Shopify, LinkedIn founders) who underwrite all overhead.
- •Reiterates that service and generosity are central to a fulfilling life and invites Stephen Bartlett to see field projects firsthand.
