charity: water

charity: water is a global nonprofit founded in 2006 with a mission to end the water crisis by bringing clean and safe drinking water to people around the world. The organisation funds and implements sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) solutions in communities worldwide, working through partnerships with local organisations on the ground. It has funded more than 197,000 water projects across 29 countries, reaching over 20 million people, and has raised more than $1 billion to date. Its teams are based in New York and Tennessee, with operations spanning 29 countries.

The organisation's funding structure, known as the 100% Model, is distinctive: private donors cover operating costs so that every penny of public donations goes directly to funding water projects. Alongside fundraising and implementation, charity: water runs a project verification and transparency programme that proves every water project with GPS coordinates and photographs, giving donors evidence of where their money went and what it built.

Technical work underpinning that mission spans GPS project verification and geolocation tracking, project documentation through photography, digital storytelling and donor engagement technology, and WASH solution design. The organisation describes an emphasis on creativity and pioneering approaches to storytelling, fundraising and donor engagement, alongside a focus on sustainability and equity, particularly impact for women and children. Its work touches the nonprofit, global development, humanitarian aid, public health, education and economic development sectors.