MNN - Mother Nature Network

Charity:water donates 100 percent of public donations directly to water projects around the world. This commitment to maximizing donation dollars makes charity:water one of my favorite nonprofit organizations. The organization doesn’t just say that all of the publicly donated money is used to fund projects in the field, it uses Google Maps to confirm this commitment.

 

The organization tracks donations through the new Dollars to Projects feature. The donation-tracking feature fosters a sense of ownership among donors. Individuals or organizations that donate to charity:water can point directly to a specific project that was completed with the help of their donation.

 

Charity:water describes the process in six steps:

 

 

A sample report is available on the charity:water website. The report includes the project name and type, the location of the project, an estimate of how many people are served by the water project, the total cost, the GPS coordinates, field notes and a list of people or campaigns that donated the specific water project.

 

This report can serve as both a point of pride for the donor, “Look how my $100 donation was used to create a well in Ethiopia,” but it is also a great tool to motivate others to donate. Instead of writing a check and wondering how your funds are going to be used, donate to charity:water and the organization will follow-up with you and tell you exactly where your funds went.