Radical Transparency: Behind the charity:water September Birthday Campaign
Today, charity:water launched what has become its annual social media outreach campaign. Since its inception in 2006, the September birthday campaign has helped charity:water grow its base of supporters by embracing social media and providing the platform and tools for individuals to lead their own campaigns.
Through this year's campaign, charity:water seeks to raise enough money to provide clean drinking water to the Bayaka people, a marginalized tribe of hunter-gatheres in the Central African Republic. Some of the last hunter-gatherers in the world, the Bayaka people have lost the ability to sustain themselves because of the encroachment of logging operations into the forests they have inhabited and sustained themselves.
"The Bayaka have an incredible story, but almost no access to clean water," stated Scott Harrison, founder and CEO of charity:water, "And so today begins our campaign to give every single one of them access to clean water. While we're at it, we'll keep going and reach 70,000 of their neighbors. It'll take us $1.7 million and 1,700 September birthdays to get there."
While these numbers may seem audacious, charity:water has a track record of success. It all started when Scott Harrison donated his own birthday to help raise the initial funds that launched his fledgling non-profit, charity:water. He chose to create his own, instead of working with an existing charity, because he believed he could do more by building an organization from scratch.
What started as a commitment to radical transparency has grown into a vibrant community that has helped provide over 1 million people with clean drinking water in 17 countries. Their success offers lessons for companies and non-profits seeking success in rallying supporters online.
Harrison cites three factors that have propelled their success:
1. Their decision to direct 100% of general donations to building wells, not overhead costs.
2. Tying individual donations to the GPS coordinates on a Google map of the well that person has helped build.
3. Embracing online media and providing a platform and tools for individuals to personally rally their friends and families.
If you'd like to see these principles in action, you can learn more at http://www.charitywater.org/september.
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