charity: water teaches NGOs how to be successful
I’ve volunteered for non-profits since… well since I remember myself. Red Cross, UNICEF, MU Center for Peacemaking, and a lot of local organizations. But I had never donated money to an NGO online, offline is a different story, until last September when I gave up my birthday to raise money for clean water for the Bayaka tribe in Central African Republic. What started as an attempt to cover up my quarterlife crisis issues turned into a passion for an incredible organization – charity: water.
charity:water picture from Ethiopia
What makes charity: water so special?
It’s not the issue they work to solve. Yes, the water crisis is a crucial problem, but there are other organizations that work to solve it.
It’s not the passion of the team. I do believe that everyone who works for a non-profit organization is passionate about the organization and the specific issue the organization works to solve. There isn’t another explanation why all these people would work long hours every day to barely get paid (in most cases). And they definitely don’t do it for the fame and glory.
It’s not the fact that charity:water makes donations extremely easy. They even give you more than enough reasons and opportunities to donate, instead of trying to guilt you into donating.
It’s not the creativity of their advertising, although their ads are stunning.
It’s their devotion to communicating back.
During BlogWorld, Doug Ulman, President and CEO of LIVESTRONG, said:
Non-profit organizations have historically done a poor job at communicating back with people who support them.
Couldn’t have said it better. Besides an annual report buried somewhere deep on their websites, organizations haven’t done much to tell their supporters what has been achieved, how their money has been spent, what is the plan for the next year, etc. Let alone connecting and engaging on social platforms or even offline.
That is what charity: water has mastered: communication with its supporters online and offline. Videos, (daily) pictures, newsletters, events, stories, monthly volunteering nights, live webcasts, blogs, etc. It sounds overwhelming, but in reality it is an easy concept (and a lot of work): tell your supporters about everything you do. The plans, the attempts, the successes and the failures.
Not only does the charity:water team tell their story, but they empower others to tell the story. It’s no surprise that a seven-year-old kid gave up his Christmas gifts.
If you have 25.05 minutes to spare and want to learn about the amazing things people have done to help, watch this video from NextGen Charity.
[...] have been talking about in the past few years. Credit for transparency and authenticity goes to charity: water. Credit for think small/multiple coherent ideas goes to the brilliant Gareth Kay. There are [...]