It's day five, and even after a night low in sleep and waking up under the weather, I'm more excited for this challenge than day 1, and there was big progress during day five. In today's morning stream, where we dig a little deeper into the Global Water Crisis (and film in landscape mode), I talk about charity: water, the non-profit organization that I have chosen to raise funds for.
Charity: Water was founded in New York city in the year 2006 following a spiritual and emotional awakening by Scott Harrison (more on that a different morning). Charity: water initially intended on starting several charities (charity: education, charity: food, etc), but later, wisely decided to focus solely on the water crisis.
From the beginning, charity: water set out to make their charity different. The first, and arguably most important thing they set out to do was to shift the way people viewed charitable giving when donating to charity: water. From early on, they created two financial accounts, a clean water project account, and an operations account. Then they made a promise. They promised that 100% of the money donated by the general public would go directly to clean water projects. This meant that all operational costs, including staff salaries, office rent, insurance, and more, would be covered by money raised from independent sources; affluent individuals that were gracious enough to understand that charities cost money to run, and don't need their name in the limelight or to know that their money was funding a water project directly.
Charity: water is so dedicated to this promise, that they even refund credit card fees out of their operational account to insure that every single penny you donate makes a difference. If you aren't aware, everytime you process a credit transaction, VISA, Mastercard, AMEX, Discover, all take a percentage of the transaction. This amount is typically something like $0.25 + 2%. Doesn't seem like a lot, except that means that every $100 donation results in charity water giving $2.25 out of their operational account to clean water projects. Committing to this model has instilled trust and confidences in donors, and has provided charity: water with some amazing growth over the last ten years.
The next major difference charity: water aimed to tackle was to connect their donors to the results of their donations. Similar to how other charities let you sponsor a specific child, charity: water's feeling was that you should be able to see the well your money helped build. Where was it built, how does it impact the community, and more. Every donor has their own unique profile that allows them to see their individual impact over the years. This type of overview allows donors to be more connected to their giving, and see that they are making a difference.
Finally, charity: water operates under a complete transparency model. They allow their financials to be reviewed, encouraging the utmost integrity from their team when making purchasing decisions. These three pillars, 100% of donations to clean water, connecting donors to the effect of their dollars, and operating in transparency, has made charity: water an organization that is both extremely effective, and trustable. I hope you can see why I've chosen this particular organization to fundraise for.
The rest of Day Five streams so you can catch up on all the mind-blowing-water-drinking action,