Talk:Scott Harrison (charity founder)

POV and reliability
Almost the entire article is based upon his own statements about events in his life. They are not third party sources. He's a reliable source for what he wants to say about himself and his opinions, but not for what actually took place. I also removed some promotionalism for his organization.  DGG ( talk ) 19:02, 3 November 2017 (UTC)

Proposed Edit
The line about Scott's mother healing from her illness is out of date. In June 2018, Scott's mother passed away, which he wrote about in the below LinkedIn article. Scott also set up a donation page on charity: water's website in honor of his mother when she passed, which I've linked to as well.

For full disclosure, I work for a public relations firm that represents Scott Harrison and charity: water.

Ahackett302 (talk) 19:47, 16 October 2018 (UTC)


 * Proposed Edit: Career Section

The line about Scott "having sex with a girl of conscience" is inaccurate. That description is not included in the articles that are sourced. For more context on Scott's trip to Uruguay, the below articles in CNBC and Wall Street Journal include descriptions.

For full disclosure, I work for a public relations firm that represents Scott Harrison and charity: water.

Ahackett302 (talk) 20:13, 16 October 2018 (UTC)

Reply 16-OCT-2018
Regards,  Spintendo   20:47, 16 October 2018 (UTC)
 * Additionally, sections of the article which were not germane to the BLP topic (such as the health status of the subject's family members) or else were discussing only the subject's opinions and/or motivations were omitted.

Proposed Addition: Scott's book
Scott's debut book Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World was published on October 2, 2018 by Currency, an imprint of The Crown Publishing Group under Penguin Random House.

The book debuted at #7 on the New York Times bestseller list for hardcover nonfiction.

For full disclosure, I work for a public relations firm that represents Scott Harrison and charity: water.

Ahackett302 (talk) 21:27, 16 October 2018 (UTC)

Reply 16-OCT-2018
 Spintendo   22:15, 16 October 2018 (UTC)

non rs
removing content sourced to self published blog and placing it here

He served aboard the Anastasis in West Africa, taking over 60,000 photos in 13 months.

Bangabandhu (talk) 14:33, 22 April 2020 (UTC)

Proposed Edit
WRT:"While charity:water has claimed to spend 100% of its funding on programming costs, in 2017 Harrison received $325,278 from the organization." This wording implies to me as a reader that the organisation is somehow not keeping its word on how it spends its money. However, the reality appears to be more complicated. "On day one, we made a bold promise that 100% of public donations would always bring clean water to people in developing countries. To maintain that promise, we found a separate group (now, about 150 individuals and families from around the world) to fund our overhead costs. Since then, we’ve treated the two sides of our business differently — with separate purposes, separate fundraising goals, and separate bank accounts for water project funding and operations funding." Therefore I feel the wiki page wording is casting aspersions and should be changed. I suggest that the model should be elaborated on so it is clear that 100% of donations received for water works are spent on water works. Whether the operations & water works split can be compared to other charities and how they operate should be Out of Scope of this article.

Roughana (talk) 06:47, 7 January 2021 (UTC)

Proposed Edits to Scott Harrison's Wikipedia Page
WP:PAID charity: water is my employer.


 * Specific text to be added or removed: In the first paragraph, please add "the New York Times bestselling book" in front of Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World.[3]
 * Reason for the change: Thirst is a New York Times bestselling book.
 * References supporting change:
 * ❌. While true, seems overly promotional to include that before the book title, and isn't needed to better understand the article subject.  Spencer T• C 06:40, 23 January 2022 (UTC)


 * Specific text to be added or removed: Under Early Life and Career replace "Scott Harrison was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.[4] Harrison began working as a nightclub and party promoter in Manhattan.[2] He spent the next 10 years organizing parties for the likes of MTV, VH1, Bacardi and Elle.[5] In August 2004, after a shooting at a nightclub he promoted in Uruguay,[6] Harrison quit his job and volunteered as a photojournalist for the Christian charity Mercy Ships, which operates a fleet of hospital ships offering free healthcare, being inspired by his father’s gift of A.W. Tozer’s book, “The Pursuit of God”.[7]"

with During his two years with Mercy Ships, Harrison was exposed to the conditions of the impoverished in Liberia, particularly those living without access to clean and safe drinking water. As a response, Harrison founded charity: water in 2006. The charity is a non profit organization that works to bring clean water to people in developing nations through its use of public donations, which directly fund water projects such as building wells and sanitation facilities.[8][9] As of 2020, the organization has raised $557 million and funded 78,350 water projects in 29 countries which will serve more than 13 million people. charity: water claims to spend 100% of its public funding on programming costs, with a separate bank account for operational costs that is funded by a group of wealthy donors. This claim is independently audited by KPMG annually. In 2019, Harrison received $383,636 from the organization.
 * Reason for the change: The previous information was outdated. We've updated with the most recent independently audited information.
 * References supporting change: See above.
 * ❌ Why is the Pre-2004 information being removed? How exactly is that "outdated"? Additionally, are there independent sources for the impact of charity: water (not from the organization's website?  Spencer T• C 06:40, 23 January 2022 (UTC)


 * Specific text to be added or removed: Add new section titled Thirst. Copy: In 2018, Harrison published Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World. It went on to become a New York Times Bestseller. The book’s website claims that 100% of the author's net proceeds from the sale of Thirst will fund charity: water projects around the world.


 * Reason for the change: Thirst is a significant part of Harrison's story and should be included in his Wikipedia page.
 * References supporting change: See abov
 * ❌ Is there an independent source supporting the claim that the proceeds from book sales will fund projects?  Spencer T• C 06:40, 23 January 2022 (UTC)


 * Specific text to be added or removed: Under Guest Appearances, lowercase "charity: water" and add the following: He has also been featured by Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, The Wall Street Journal , CNN , USA Today , Wired , Forbes , and Fast Company , among others.
 * Reason for the change: We've added Scott's most recent media coverage.
 * References supporting change: See above.
 * ❌ I have removed the Guest Appearances section as overall they are not notable, and then it leads to the inclusion of a messy list of various press appearances. If they are related to important career milestones, then that should be added to the section on Harrison's career and cited as a reference. The features in and of themselves are not notable.  Spencer T• C 06:40, 23 January 2022 (UTC)


 * Specific text to be added or removed: Under Personal Life, change the first sentence to: "Harrison is married to Viktoria Harrison, who led design and branding for charity: water until 2016."
 * Reason for the change: Viktoria Harrison left charity: water in 2016.
 * ✅ Tweaked the text to reflect the reference but would need an updated reference.  Spencer T• C 06:40, 23 January 2022 (UTC)

Andiriggs (talk) 19:17, 14 October 2021 (UTC)


 * I will start responding to some of the requests above in-line for clarity. See my comments above.  Spencer T• C 06:40, 23 January 2022 (UTC)