Charity: Water
As I looked into Scott's story and his non-profit Charity:Water. I thought that it was a great story for CBS News and that it'd be fantastic to get to work along with producer Karen Raffensperger to tell.
Having lived in India while working for CNN and having spent quite a bit of time overseas in developing countries; the issue of fresh drinking water was one that resonated with me. Karen got excited about the story too as there are a number of innovative ways that Scott is using technology to track the water projects he builds and finds interesting ways to engage donors.
He raises money to cover the administrative costs of Charity:Water separately so that all of the funds can go directly to the water projects. Scott loves the grassroots effort seems to take particular pride in connecting with lots of donors who can give a modest amount (instead of engaging the multi-million dollar donors - though he made it clear he'd hardly turn those big-ticket donors away). Starting this fall, he plans to unveil a system that will let folks track even the smallest of donations.
He feels that one should give out of the excitement of trying to make a difference rather than the "guilt" that can go along with donating to a charity. Though after Karen and I spent some time with Scott we turned to each other and thought (aloud) "Well, what are WE doing with our lives"?
I hope you check out our story on the Evening News as it's the tale of one guy who was on a very different life path until he saw a problem that he decided he wouldn't ignore.
