Getahn Ward

gward@tennessean.com

Kickstarter campaign starts Tuesday with initial $2 million target to fund design of The Purpose Hotel.

Each room at hotel, which could cost $80 million to $150 million to build, will sponsor a child's education.

Jeremy Cowart has photographed celebrities such as Sting, Emma Stone, The Kardashians and Taylor Swift.

Locally, the Omni Nashville hotel gives guests the option of reusing the same bath towers and wash cloths to conserve water.

A random thought while staying at a Los Angeles hotel room four years ago inspired celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart to pursue a lodging concept with "change the world in your sleep" as its tagline.

On Tuesday, the Hendersonville native who The Huffington Post named the most influential online photographer two years ago plans to take a step toward bringing that dream to reality with launch of a Kickstarter campaign. The initial target of $2 million would fund the design phase for the first Purpose Hotel, which is planned for Nashville.

The concept upon which Cowart and his business partner Michael Moore hope to build a for-profit global hotel chain takes social responsibility in the lodging industry to another level.

"This is a business with a cause and our cause is to help as many charities and organizations as possible," said Cowart, who has photographed celebrities such as Sting, Emma Stone, The Kardashians and Taylor Swift.

Under the concept, each of the estimated 200-to-300 rooms at The Purpose Hotel will sponsor a child's education. Internet fees would help fight human trafficking. And the lobby would have a Charity: Water well for guest to experience the sustainable water work of that nonprofit organization.

In addition, everything from furniture and blankets to soap and shampoos used at the hotel will have a purpose with Cowart partnering with nonprofit groups such as Nashville's social enterprise Thistle Farms to provide supplies including ethically-sourced coffee and artwork made by humanitarian artists. Meanwhile, other partners will provide the hotel with environmentally friendly janitorial cleaning, other services and gifts for contributors to the Kickstarter campaign.

Overall, the first Purpose Hotel could cost between $80 and $150 million, which Cowart and Moore hope to raise through crowdfunding and other methods. Among rewards, donors to the fundraising effort would receive portraits and photography prints from Cowart's collection, plus items from partners such as nonprofit organization Fashionable and jewelry company The Giving Keys.

Drew Dimond, a hotel industry consultant with offices in Indianapolis and Nashville, considers Tennessee's capital city an ideal place to introduce The Purpose Hotel concept.

But he said Cowart would need a sustainable marketing campaign, association with more widely known celebrities, link to a major hotel brand with a national reservation system and good management to be successful.

"Although it will be perceived as a worthy cause -- with more 'bang for a guest's philanthropic buck,' he will have to deliver a good product," Dimond said.

Memphis-based hotel industry consultant Chuck Pinkowski said he understands the sustainability part of the products that The Purpose Hotel will use. But he wonders how Cowart and Moore plan to sell the idea to hotel operators and consumers and the cost to operations to maintain the socially responsible philosophy.

"How do you show the value – the return – for this effort?" he asked. "I guess it’s like Tom Cruise's line in the movie – 'Show me the Money!'”

Cowart, a father of four including two children adopted from Haiti, said he received good feedback from hospitality industry leaders after his recent speech during a social good summit at the United Nations.

"Even the hotel people are telling us this industry is boring," he said. "We're trying to inject life into a fairly stale industry. They're all moving in or starting to lean in that direction."

One local example of socially responsible and environmentally friendly practices in the industry is the LEED-Silver certified Omni Nashville hotel giving guests the option of reusing the same bath towers and wash cloths to conserve water.

If the Nashville hotel is successful, Cowart looks to take the concept to cities such as Los Angeles, New York and Miami.

The Purpose Hotel is the latest venture for the photographer, whose decade-long career has included capturing images in more than 25 countries. Cowart's work has been featured in Rolling Stone and USA Today and on A&E and ESPN.

His other previous ventures have included social photography community OKDOTHIS and See University, which offers online photography courses. Cowart also founded Help-Portrait, a global movement of photographers, hairstylists and makeup artists who use their time, tools and expertise to give back to those in need.

Recalling the inspirational moment for The Purpose Hotel in Los Angeles, Cowart said the number for the hotel room where he stayed was designed like a name tag that read: "Hello, my name is Room 121."

That led him to wonder: "What if every room had a story and that story was a child's face and a child's name and you realize that room was sponsoring that child through an organization like Compassion International," he said.

The photographer who has worked with many nonprofits during his career then thought about bringing in some of those groups as partners under one roof to benefit from and support the cause.

After three years of doubting that he could build a hotel chain from scratch, Cowart said he finally found the courage last fall to start assembling a team.

"Since then, it's a been a whirlwind of positive momentum," he said. "We're trying to turn the industry on its head a little. By choosing this hotel brand, you will essentially be changing the world in your sleep."

Reach Getahn Ward at 615-726-5968 and on Twitter @getahn.