Provides clean and safe drinking water to people in developing countries through fundraising for project implementation, raising awareness about the water crisis, and creating maintenance structures for communities helped. 100% of all public donations directly fund water projects.
Countries Served
Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia,
Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia,
Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Kenya,
Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique,
Nepal, Niger, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal,
Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda
Headquarters
40 Worth Street #330,
New York, NY 10013
Budget
$37,000,000
Problem
663 million people lack convenient access to clean and safe water. The absence of this basic necessity is the cause of—or material contributor to—a wide range of health, economic, and societal problems. Inadequate public sanitation facilities are a frequent analog to the absence of clean water.
Programs Offered
charity: water helps build, repair and upgrade drilled wells, biosand filters, rainwater catchments, piped systems, and spring protections. charity: water always works through local partner organizations, confirming their credibility, providing technical assistance and training, raising funds, and monitoring project implementation. All participating local partners agree to direct 100% of funds from charity: water to direct project costs.
Historical Results
As of March 2018, charity: water has funded 24,537 clean water projects, which serve over 8 million people across 26 countries.
In 2017 alone, they invested $37 million toward clean water solutions, serving 1.2 million people.
Use Of Funds
Here are some ways to support charity: water:
- Donate directly towards water projects — 100% of your donation of any size will be applied directly toward funding water project needs such as pumps, cement, pipes and local staff costs.
- Sponsor an entire water project — Starting at $8,000, you can fund an entire clean water project for a school in a developing country. As always, 100% of your gift will go directly toward the project, and once complete, you will receive GPS coordinates and photos of the exact community you’ve served.
- Donate towards charity: water’s overhead costs through The Well program — One can become a member of The Well by committing a minimum of $60,000 per year for three years.
Path to Credibility
charity: water publishes a detailed Annual Report that permits effective tracking of the use of donated funds and the impact of supported projects. They also prove every project funded with GPS coordinates, photos, and information about the community served on Google Maps.
charity: water heavily vets their local implementation partners and rations the funds they provide to ensure approved projects are constructed according to plan. All local partners have the policy that 100% of charity: water’s donations go to projects.
charity: water invests heavily in the sustainability of each project. Before implementation, local partners mobilize communities, train local caretakers, and establish water management committees to ensure the longevity of each new water point. Post-construction, charity: water evaluates and monitors each program in order to understand the real impact clean water has on the communities they serve.
Focusing Philanthropy team members have made two visits to charity: water, supplemented by several extended phone discussions with charity: water staff. These interactions covered the full range of diligence topics regarding institutional credibility, program effectiveness, performance tracking, etc. In addition, our team has spoken with third party experts about water project development and maintenance, alternative technologies, developing country infrastructure project management, linkage between clean water and other community and individual needs, and other topics. These latter discussions provided both a foundation for our thinking about water projects and organizations in general, and charity: water specifically. We are happy to support charity: water in light of the range of insights and feedback gained.
Multiple partners of Focusing Philanthropy are contributors to The Well program as well as to individual projects.
In December 2013, Focusing Philanthropy visited Bholtar, Nepal to see a well that was built at a school by NEWAH, one of charity: water’s local partners. NEWAH is an excellently-run organization and the children were overjoyed by FP’s presence.
In January 2017, Focusing Philanthropy visited Phnom Penh, Cambodia to view the water filtration systems that charity: water and their partner Clear Cambodia have installed throughout the country. Since Cambodia has a frequent and consistent wet season, the problem is not lack of water but access to safe, potable water. Instead of digging or drilling wells, they have an ingenious, easy to maintain water filtration system that can be installed at an individual’s home for a very low cost. They also install much bigger filtration systems that can deliver water for over 1,000 people a day at the local schools. Community members also have access to the clean water that the school filtration systems provide.
More Program Partners
Empowering young people with the knowledge, skills, and resources to make healthy decisions.
Preparing young women with limited resources to be the first in their families to attend college.
Expanding access to consistent, quality healthcare to patients in underserved communities.
Helping hard-working subsistence farm families gain food security and economic opportunity.