I came across this project through the stand of AntiApathy in London during the Institute of Fundraising National Convention. I think they were brilliant in promoting their creative ideas all around their current project using good connections between the on-line and off-line, as well as the serious and fun. One of the small things they offered was a bottle of water for each attendee - actually for anyone who would go over and ask for it. Now, you might think it is nothing, but if you are stuck in the hot and busy networking event you start to appreciate fresh water! And if you are stuck in a slow session or tend to play with the packaging while chatting to others you realize that there is something more into it than just promotion. It turn out that the water named LIFE is produced in conduction with Drop4Drop scheme, which means that for every liter of water purchased, the producers are donating one liter of clean water to the areas in need of it! Simple idea, brilliantly executed - what we are dealing with here is a new standard - one to follow for all!
The price of delivering clean drinking water varies depending on the type of projects being carried out. It depends on the lifespan of the equipment, the accessibility of the location and the amount of funds required for training and maintenance.
In order for the concept of "drop4drop" to work , we have established one standard price for water, which is an agreed absolute minimum that all of our partner aid agencies and humanitarian charities agree they can work to across all of their diverse projects.
The "drop4drop" standard is agreed that we will fund the delivery of at least 500 litres of potable water for every $1 donated.
Based on the facts that $11.3 billion a year is needed to meet the United Nations Millenium Development Goal on water and sanitation (Wateraid), there are 1.1 billion people without clean drinking water (WHO/UNICEF), and Sphere states that each person needs 15 litres per day.
We have calculated that it costs $11 to provide one person with their annual requirement - 5475 litres - of clean drinking water. In order to simplify it further, from that amount we have extrapolated the figure of $1 buying 500 litres of potable water, and set this as the "drop4drop standard"
I am looking forward to finding the Drop4Drop logo on more and more water bottles! In this case, we all win!;)
I’ve heard about similar initiatives before, and they sound fab.
oh, we do have that in Poland too. thanks to Poles buying Cisowianka water, the PAH organization is going to build 11 wells in Southern Sudan
http://www.wodapitna.pl/cisowianka/dzialania_fundraisingowe
Great stuff! Thank you for flagging up!:)
It is an innovative way to raise funds, but isn’t there a risk that you encourage people to buy bottled water? Something we should try stop doing.
Have you seen the story of stuff on bottled water?
I think two are separate issues. I am talking about choosing one bottled water out of many in the same packaging we see on the market and encouraging the change across the industry. Providing there is a producer who sells water in alternative packaging with the same scheme, I would naturally suggest that too.