charity: water provides clean water through sustainable solutions

charity: water is a non-profit organization with the mission to “bring clean and safe drinking water to every person on the planet.”  Since 2006, they have funded 9,015 water projects in 20 countries, providing 3,300,000 with clean water.  They achieve this through finding strong local partners at the sites where they are providing clean water, creating sustainability, and providing education and community empowerment.  charity: water is providing a sustainable solution that enables the community that they serve.  Their approach includes four steps: Planning, Implementation, Maintenance, and Proving It.  Just looking at the Planning stage, it is apparent that charity: water’s success lies in their ability to work from the inside out, creating empowerment for the community.

During the Planning stage, charity: water selects partners by examining how well the organization aligns with the mission of charity: water.  They assess the quality of water, water hardware, and sustainability.  They examine the partners’ ability to use funds effectively by looking at their operational capacity and fiduciary responsibility.   Partners choose a water point locations through the assessment of need and based on geography.  They consider different factors including: risk of overlap with work of other organizations, community’s willingness to participate, and potential to develop strong relationships with local stakeholders.  charity: water considers only community-centered organizations who are in tune with what the community can realistically support and sustain.

Their human-centered approach is effective because they have identified the best practices for involving a community through providing education on clean and safe drinking water, while supporting this through building relationships with strong partners who have an extensive knowledge of implementing these water projects.  Is charity: water changing the way that philanthropic organizations bring and support change?

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