water changes everything.
why water? Clean water means health, income and education – especially for women and kids.
Health + Sanitation Diseases from unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren’t strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses. 90% of the 30,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are in children under five years old. The WHO reports that over 3.6% of the global disease burden can be prevented simply by improving water supply, sanitation, and hygiene.
Women + Children In Africa alone, people spend 40 billion hours every year walking for water. Women and children usually bear the burden of water collection, walking miles to the nearest source, which is unprotected and likely contaminated.
Food Supply Feeding our world takes up to 90% of our freshwater withdrawals. When a water project is built in a community, members can often use the new water source to grow small gardens near their homes and secure their own food supply. Self-sufficient households are less affected by conflict, famine or inadequate government services
Gender Equality In most rural communities worldwide, women and young girls are responsible for walking to collect water for their families. Building a water project nearby can give women the freedom to pursue an education or earn extra income. Water Committees are often the first chance for women to step into elected leadership roles.
The Future At the end of 2012, we hit a milestone - we reached three million people served. But by 2050, the world’s population is estimated to grow by three billion and 90% will be in the developing world. Unless sustainable water solutions are scaled fast, regions already stressed for water sources will be over capacity.
the return Every $1 invested in improved water supply and sanitation can yield from $4 to $12 for the local economy, depending on the type of project.
charity: water We’re a non-profit organization on a mission to bring clean and safe drinking water to every person on the planet.
How We Work We invest the money we raise into organizations with years of experience to build sustainable, community-owned water projects around the world. Our team works closely to ensure that every dollar is accounted for and then provides reports back to our donors. Learn about our approach, the solutions we fund and our partners on the ground.
Our Progress We’re passionate about solving the water crisis in our lifetime, using 100% of all public donations to fund water projects, and proving where every dollar goes with photos and GPS coordinates. Since 2006 we have funded 11,727 water projects which have brought clean water to over 4 million people.
Where We Work We fund water programs in 22 countries around the globe - in Africa, Asia, Central and South America. Water scarcity, poverty, political stability and strong partner organizations all play a part in where we choose to work. We focus on providing rural communities with their first access to clean water.
what makes us different 1
100% model Private donors fund our operating costs so 100% of your donations go straight to the field.
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proving it
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local partners
We prove every water project we build using photos and GPS coordinates on Google Maps.
We work with strong local partners on the ground to build and maintain water projects.
Pipeline is the next big thing at charity: water. It’s a system of local leaders, innovative technology and trained mechanics all working together to keep water flowing at charity: water projects around the world.
How We Do It We’ll train and equip local mechanics to quickly respond when repairs are needed. These teams will typically handle 50-100 water points in their area. We’ll begin installing the remote sensor, our latest pilot project, in thousands of our water projects around the world. We’ll also continue to invest in new innovations that bring clean water to people in need. We’ll provide on-the-job training to further develop the skills of our local partners and equip them with drilling rigs and tools (like trucks, motorbikes, computers and mobile phones) to help them do their jobs.
make a difference Every $1 counts towards something in the PIPLELINE project. Here are a few ways we use donations to fund our projects.
$35 Can fund 9 gallons of fuel for traveling technicians in Ethiopia.
$50 Can fund maintenance pump training for two pump attendants in Tanzani.
$100 Can fund 365 pounds of cement to fix broken well aprons in Ethiopia
$1000 Can fund 7 days of sanitation training for 15 social workers in Ethiopia
fundraise
Here, you can start a fundraising campaign and bring clean drinking water to people in need around the world. 100% of the money you raise builds water projects, and every single dollar is tracked using photos and GPS coordinates so you can see your impact.
Start Your Campaign Create your own campaign page and ask friends and family to donate. You can do pretty much anything to fundraise for clean water -- give up your birthday, ask for donations instead of holiday gifts, run a race or do something quirky! It takes less than a minute to set up your campaign at my.charitywater.org/p/createcampaign
$32,193,308 has been raised on mycharity:water.org since 2006! 10
the birthday project Remember your best birthday? Bring that feeling back by pleding your birthday to charity: water.
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Pledge Your Birthday The first step is simple – go to www.charitywater.org/birthdays to sign up and share your pledge to let the world know you’re serious.
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Start A Campaign When your birthday is near, we’ll remind you to start a fundraising page and ask your friends to donate to clean water for your big day.
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Give People Clean Water We’ll use 100% of the money you raise to fund clean water projects. When complete, you’ll see the exact projects you funded with photos and GPS.
volunteer
We love our volunteers. Read more to find out about three easy ways to start volunteering for charity: water today.
Volunteer In NYC Join our NYC MeetUp group. From hand-writing thank you notes to helping out at special events, MeetUp is where we post all our opportunities.
Volunteer In The Field We’re looking for volunteers to visit and report on our projects around the world. Placements are available in Ethiopia, Liberia and Uganda.
Stay Connected Join our volunteer Facebook group to communicate with each other and our staff. We post updates and would love to hear your feedback and ideas.
visit www.charitywater.org/volunteer for more info
from our founder Here is a short message from the founder of charity:water, Scott Harrison, describing his definition of charity.
The Meaning of Charity For me, charity is practical. It’s sometimes easy, more often inconvenient, but always necessary. It’s the ability to use one’s position of influence, relative wealth and power to affect lives for the better. charity is singular and achievable. There’s a biblical parable about a man beaten near death by robbers. He’s stripped naked and lying roadside. Most people pass him by, but one man stops. He picks him up and bandages his wounds. He puts him on his horse and walks alongside until they reach an inn. He checks him in and throws down his Amex. “Whatever he needs until he gets better.” The dictionary defines charity as simply the act of giving voluntarily to those in need. It’s taken from the word “caritas,” or simply, love. In Colossians 3, the Bible instructs readers to “put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” Although I’m still not sure what that means, I love the idea. To wear charity. Scott Harrison-Summer 2006
200 Varick Street, Suite 201 New York, NY 10014 tel. 1-646-688-2323 fax. 1-646-638-2083 support@charitywater.org