Water.org
33
10
"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: Kansas City, MO
Founded: 2009
Mission: Water.org is challenging the traditional approach to assisting people in developing countries. Our goals are to draw attention to the world's number one health problem, unsafe and inadequate water supplies, and to raise funds to help fight this immense problem - one community at a time. Our mission is to inspire people to act: Donors - to provide consistent financial resources with a sense of solidarity for those in need of safe water Staff and volunteers - to seek innovative and efficient solutions to meeting the global water supply needs of today and tomorrow People in need of safe water - to take the lead in meeting their own needs Together, people form the "water partnership" that allow us to realize our vision. Develop high quality, sustainable water projects. We use our expertise to foster high-quality, sustainable, community-level water supply projects. We promote innovative solutions that enable communities to take a leading role in solving their own water supply problems. Enable donors to invest wisely. We exist to create a global awareness of the water supply crisis and to help people respond. We carefully invest donors' funds in only the highest quality projects through locally-based water development organizations. We hold ourselves accountable to donors and to people who benefit from the projects they support.
Tags:
local partnerships, water, community ownership, appropriate technology, sanitation, hygiene, sustainability, watercredit, microfinance
Summary
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Gary White.
White is CEO and co-founder of Water.org. His entrepreneurial vision has driven innovations in the way water and sanitation projects are delivered and financed, and these innovations now serve as a model in the sector. In March 2009, White was inducted into community of Skoll social entrepreneurs, when WaterPartners received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. (WaterPartners, co-founded by White,…
See full bio.
Financial Data
Overhead Ratio:
19.83%
Total Revenue:
$5,945,270
From the Nonprofit
The nonprofit has not added any comments yet. If you are a representative of this nonprofit and would like to leave a comment, please email us at
feedback@myphilanthropedia.org
with your request.
Contact Info
Address:
920 Main Street, Ste. 1800
Kansas City, MO 64105, USA
Twitter:
Story:
Expert Reviews of Water.org
Evidence of Impact Summary:
Most experts mention one of Water.org's strengths is their micro-finance program, Water Credit. Water Credit allows households to obtain loans for water and sanitations services that they are willing to pay for, but can't afford to purchase up front. Their projects are focused on long-term sustainability and are innovative and well researched. They also have a great public presence.See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
Water.org is very successful in their marketing and fundraising, in which Matt Damon's celebrity presence is a huge asset. In addition they have an innovative approach, in particular their micro-finance program that ultimately allows them to deliver services based on their clients' needs rather than donors' preferences.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
Experts suggest one area Water.org can improve on is their assessment and evaluation. One expert suggested they can potentially collaborate with academic institutions to rigorously evaluate the impact of their programs. Other suggestions include having stronger women programs and scaling sanitation programs, optimizing volunteer and local area supporters, lowering administration cost, and improving their marketing and social media outreach.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
Select the boxes to display the results according to expert type.
Show:
Show:
X
Foundation Professionals (F)
X
Researchers and Faculty (R)
X
Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
X
Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Influential in Raising Awareness about WASH |
|||
|
O
|
They have strong institutional knowledge, a strong mix of grassroots and grasstops influence, they are really elevating the issue of water. | ||
Strong Programs |
|||
|
R
|
Water.org has successfully redefined access to water and sanitation services and products. They have developed a micro-finance program, WaterCredit, that allows households to obtain loans for water and sanitations services that they are willing to pay for, but can't afford to purchase up front. | ||
|
N
|
The Water Credit initiative is the impact that I'm most impressed by. Having a general fund that continues to feed itself and pay forward the support that was provided is one of the best ways to ensure community ownership, community driven design, and the need for local expertise. | ||
|
R
|
They have increased more sustained functioning of water projects over time. | ||
|
R
|
The first results of their WaterCredit initiative are encouraging, and reveal promising ways to leverage donor funds for greater, more sustainable impacts on the ground. | ||
|
N
|
I have learned a good deal about their micro-finance market approach to delivering sustainable water projects with local community buy in. They have grown systematically and strategically and are important leaders in the water sector to emphasize market approach. | ||
|
R
|
Their impact is the number of successful projects and number of regions they work in. | ||
Long Term Sustainability |
|||
|
F
|
They have long-term sustainability. | ||
Innovative |
|||
|
N
|
They have innovative and well researched approach that aims to have the greatest impact for communities in need, to increase efficiency, and to apply the most relevant interventions in particular communities. This organization is a leader for others in the field in terms of approach and thought process. | ||
|
O
|
They have a great public presence and produce innovative work around financing. | ||
Strong Advocacy |
|||
|
N
|
They have great advocacy work, and are really starting to build up a good story about water and sanitation needs worldwide. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
Select the boxes to display the results according to expert type.
Show:
Show:
X
Foundation Professionals (F)
X
Researchers and Faculty (R)
X
Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
X
Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Successful Fundraising |
|||
|
R
|
Very successful at raising money and marketing. | ||
|
N
|
Innovative and imaginative leadership. Ability to marshal the public media to carry its stories. Access to funding sources. | ||
Innovative Approach |
|||
|
N
|
Even with proper training and capacity building, without resources, communities may still not be able to implement their own solutions. In the case of charity, ownership can also be a challenge when funds can likely have donor agendas rather than their own. Having access to low interest loans, can address both those issues. I think their funding model is much stronger than all the other organizations mentioned. | ||
|
F
|
Very innovative micro-finance approaches, a leader in the field. | ||
|
R
|
The organization is pragmatic in searching for non-traditional solutions to the recalcitrant challenges of water supply. They are also dedicated to rigorous impact analysis of their work, which will help them continue to improve programs. | ||
Strong Partnerships |
|||
|
N
|
This non-profit is a trend setter in the field and also openly shares their innovations with others, seeing other organizations not as competition, but as collaborators working towards the same goal. | ||
|
O
|
They have strong partnerships and leadership. | ||
Keep Costs Low |
|||
|
R
|
Water for People recruits engineers to volunteer in projects, which keeps cost lower. Both organizations focus on local capacity development for maintenance and repair. | ||
Strong Marketing |
|||
|
N
|
Strong leadership; celebrity Matt Damon a powerful voice; creative marketing and online expertise | ||
|
N
|
Marketing, in particular the merging of two non-profits (water.org was a merger between Water Partners and Matt Damon's NGO) and their celebrity presence inevitably raises the profile of the organization and the institution. | ||
Geographical Focus |
|||
|
R
|
Their focus on geographical areas is their strength. | ||
Strong Leadership |
|||
|
N
|
Adding Matt Damon to the mix was brilliant. He has brought the awareness of their group to the forefront. I think Gary White provides great leadership, and they seem to have their funding and implementation funds in great shape. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
Select the boxes to display the results according to expert type.
Show:
Show:
X
Foundation Professionals (F)
X
Researchers and Faculty (R)
X
Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
X
Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Improve Marketing |
|||
|
O
|
Their weakness is their messages are too "inside baseball"/water tech-y. | ||
|
N
|
This nonprofit could improve their marketing and social media outreach in order to garner greater resources and donors. | ||
More Rigorous Evaluation |
|||
|
R
|
Could partner with academic institutions to do a better job of rigorously evaluating the impact of their programs. | ||
|
R
|
While both organizations emphasize hygiene, they don't focus enough on water quality in the home. Both could be stronger in evaluating impact of their projects. | ||
|
N
|
I am not aware of post-construction data that water.org collects or publishes. I think there is a lot to be learned from the intersection of micro-finance and public services such as water and sanitation provision and we tend to only hear the positive stories. It would be incredibly valuable for the sector as a whole to learn from their challenges as well. | ||
Stronger Women Programs |
|||
|
N
|
I would like to see stronger women's program that doesn't just attempt to include women and ensuring that there is a certain percentage of women involved, but that there are specific programs specifically targeting women's capacity building in construction and business development. | ||
Optimize Volunteers & Local Area Supporters |
|||
|
F
|
Could better optimize use of volunteers and local area supporters. | ||
Scale Sanitation Programs |
|||
|
R
|
Like many watsan organizations, Water.org has made the most headway in its water-related initiatives. I would challenge the organization to push harder for scalable sanitation solutions. | ||
Be More Collaborative |
|||
|
N
|
Be more collaborative. Offer to participate with other organizations, not tell them how they should operate. | ||
|
N
|
I wish they were more interested in supporting a group such as us that strives to educate youth in the developed world about the water issues- I think we are all missing the boat by not capturing the youth voice more widely. | ||
Lower Administrative Costs |
|||
|
R
|
They can decrease admin costs and improve links with corporate sponsorship. | ||
More Long-Term Sustainable Solutions |
|||
|
N
|
Retail water is not, in my opinion, an acceptable alternative to building long-term, sustainable solutions. We have concerns about the way that groups like SWN and Water.org are leveraging funds from global bottled water giants like PepsiCo who are financing microcredit loans to communities to purchase retail kiosks to sell water at market prices. This seems more like a mechanism for introducing market pricing than extending equitable access. | ||
Improve on Implementation |
|||
|
N
|
They are much weaker on actual implementation and a bit of a one-trick pony. | ||
Leadership
Gary White
CEO and Co-Founder
CEO and Co-Founder
From the Nonprofit
The nonprofit has not added any comments yet. If you are a representative of this nonprofit and would like to leave a comment, please email us at
feedback@myphilanthropedia.org
with your request.