Blood:Water Mission
Ending health disparities. One drop at a time.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
One of the enduring problems with international development is that only 14% of funding from international donors goes to local organizations in Africa, so an astounding 86% of funding never gets into the hands of those closest to the issues being addressed*. Many local leaders and community based organizations are implementing solutions that drive lasting change, but they are under-resourced and under-funded. Despite decades of work and trillions of dollars spent, the linked water and HIV/AIDS crises in Africa persist. Despite decades of work and trillions of dollars spent, the linked water and HIV/AIDS crises in Africa persist. Every 2 minutes, a child dies from lack of access to clean water. In Africa, 60% of all new HIV infections occur in women, infants, or young children. *https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/library/philanthropy/landscape-large-scale-giving-africa-2020 **https://www.csis.org/features/localizing-humanitarian-action-africa
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
WASH Partnerships
Through various technologies, the three areas of WASH – water, sanitation, and hygiene – work together to strengthen one another and maximize health impact at the community level. For instance, the impact of clean water is dependent upon access to and use of latrines and safe hand-washing behaviors, and vice versa. All three are necessary for one to be a success. And when local leaders rise up to form water committees to lead WASH solutions and promote health from within their own communities, there is no end to the change that can take place. We work with our local partners to provide access to clean water through a wide range of technologies. With knowledge of the local context, our partners select the technology that will be most effective in the community where they are working based on environmental, cultural, economic, and technological factors to optimize quantity, quality, access, and reliability. In many cases, a combination of technologies is required to achieve these goals.
HIV/AIDS Partnerships
Blood:Water’s HIV/AIDS programs center around community care and support. Blood:Water invests in partners that work at the community and household level to address individuals and families affected by HIV/AIDS, comprehensively addressing psychological, social, cultural, material and legal vulnerabilities that occur through the continuum of illness. This work encompasses clinical support services such as palliative care, nutritional assessment, case management, ART adherence and other support that improves outcomes both within and outside the clinic. Our partners also focus on psychosocial care, creating support groups for those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, as well as addressing and advocating against stigma and discrimination associated with HIV.
Organizational Strengthening Programs
Organizational Strengthening (OS) is the capacity building processes through which partner organizations invest in and improve their institutional and technical capacities for the delivery of high-quality programs and efficacy of mission. This includes an externally-facilitated participatory self-assessment using the Institutional Development Framework (“IDF”), incorporating representatives of an organization’s board, senior management, and staff to allow for a diverse, unbiased critique. Partners score themselves across 4 developmental stages and identify priorities for investment. This prioritized improvement plan is executed over 2-year cycles for up to 8 years in partnership with Blood:Water, with up to $10,000 of additional funding each grant cycle. In addition, Blood:Water implements OS activities across the portfolio of partners, currently including peer exchange visits, a partner summit every two years, support with monitoring and evaluation, and technical updates and learning.
Where we work
Accreditations
Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) 2011
Charity Navigator 2011
Give.org (BBB Wise Giving Alliance) 2022
Awards
Social Innovation Award 2021
Classy
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of members from priority population attending training
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Indigenous peoples, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
WASH Partnerships
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Individuals trained in WASH -- water, sanitation, hygiene (The significant increase in 2020 relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and community-based responses related to hygiene training in particular)
Number of people receiving safe drinking water from community systems
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Indigenous peoples, Economically disadvantaged people, People with HIV/AIDS
Related Program
WASH Partnerships
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of groups/individuals benefiting from tools/resources/education materials provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Indigenous peoples, People of African descent
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Total number of organizations benefiting from grants awarded
Number of HIV-positive people begin HIV treatment
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People of African descent, People with HIV/AIDS
Related Program
HIV/AIDS Partnerships
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Individuals provided with HIV care, treatment and support; program and project shifts in 2018 (2020 decrease due to COVID-19 constraints and shifts in program delivery temporarily)
Individuals reached with interventions addressing HIV stigma and discrimination
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Indigenous peoples, People of African descent
Related Program
HIV/AIDS Partnerships
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Community members who received awareness interventions addressing the fear and misinformation existing around HIV/AIDS will lessen environments of discrimination & stigma (2020 constraints from COVID)
Individuals with access to latrines
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People of African descent
Related Program
WASH Partnerships
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
International benchmark is 1:20 for women and 1:50 for men (2018 results average 1:5); outputs based on scale of WASH programs. (2020 limitations due to COVID-19 and effects on program delivery)
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Every eight years, Blood:Water strengthens 19 partner organizations, directly impacting 686,000 people.
Between 2023-2025 (years 1-3) we will add 5 new Blood:Water partners, 4 of which will join our WASH portfolio as three existing partners achieve graduation in 2025. Our partner selection and onboarding processes will be ongoing in 2023 (year 1) and the start dates of funding will begin in 2024 and 2025 (years 2-3). Our request for partnership applications, already in process, has a WASH thematic focus on climate resilience inbuilt to it to help us identify partners aligned with this critically integral theme to working in the WASH space.
We will also build out our Kenya office, network and team (years 1-3), including at least 2 additional staff members in year 1. The additional staff members will include a WASH and a HIV/AIDS Partner Portfolio Manager, an Organizational Strengthening Manager, a Leader Collective Coordinator, and a Programs Coordinator. These hires are prioritized in years 1-2 but actual timing will relate to the recruiting process and pools of candidates.
In addition, we'll provide more partners with vital organizational support offerings like partner exchange visits, leadership coaching, and our flagship Partner Summit (by year 2). Our first Partner Summit since pre-COVID is scheduled for September 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya. We will by then have also launched the Leader Collective online platform, extending membership and access beyond our community of partners to expand the diversity, expertise and influence.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Blood:Water works differently than most international NGOs: We believe that when organizations are led entirely by people from the same communities they serve, they are more impactful. Guided by our model, we find, vet, and partner with community-driven and -led organizations in East and Southern Africa. We support these organizations by pairing long-term and intentional organizational strengthening with flexible financial support. Grants focus on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and three overlapping elements of HIV/AIDS: community care support, combination prevention, and health system strengthening.
We commit to eight-years of funding (4 two-year funding cycles) and utilize an assessment tool used by civil society organizations globally for over 20 years to guide our organizational strengthening activities. Our model has proven successful with increasing the capacity of the local team and leadership, increasing the organization's financial health, and ensuring that these activities increase overall program quality through rigorous monitoring, evaluation, and learning. This is a recipe for a healthy and sustaining organization poised to serve their communities for years to come.
We specifically measure outcomes in 4 key areas across our eight-year partnership:
+ Partners strengthened to the sustaining stage of development
+ Increased program quality
+ Financial viability
+ Organizational autonomy
By measuring the % increase/improvement with each area as well as a combined growth score we can demonstrate the organization’s expanded capacity and reach based on our partnership with them. We’ll know we’ve succeeded when partners have the systems and structures in place to help them increase their reach and deepen their impact.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The following elements contribute to Blood:Water's capabilities to address and meet our goals:
+ Staff and external human resources with a blend of technical training and implementation experience
+ Network of partners (civil society organizations) in multiple countries and environments
+ Systems for grants, partnerships, implementation plans that reinforce accountability and best practice as well as nimbleness and constant learning
Our collaborators help us serve our people, who are the African-led, community driven organizations in East and Southern Africa tackling the water and HIV/AIDS crises. Each collaborator carries out interventions that are critical to our missional impact. These include:
- Startup and later stage funders
- Organizations directly implementing WASH and HIV/AIDS programs
- Technical experts
- Incubators and accelerators
- African, locally-led awareness organizations
Our partners directly implementing WASH and HIV/AIDS programs are included as collaborators because our model reinforces connections between them and opportunities to learn from each other. For example, partners apply for exchange visits, where staff from one partner visits one of our other partners to better understand certain facets of programming, models and training. Blood:Water facilitates the connection and provides funding for the activity.
We also maintain a network of technical experts across organizational capacity building areas to host webinars, provide leadership coaching, and provide guidance on specific issues and topics. As part of our organizational strengthening investment, most of these activities are funded by Blood:Water and curated to serve our partners’ needs.
We are part of the East Africa Philanthropy Network (EAPN), 2030 Collaborative, African Philanthropy Forum (APF) and other groups that are expanding our platform of influence as well as our connection to resources in our work.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Visit our website for up-to-date progress and examples of impact: www.bloodwater.org.
While we measure WASH and HIV outputs related to each grant, we gauge our impact by measuring outcomes in four key areas across an eight-year partnership with an organization. Our model has catalyzed the following with our partners:
+ 23% increase in program quality
+ 15% growth in financial diversity
+ 29% growth in organizational autonomy
+ 20% growth toward a sustaining stage of development
2022 Highlights from our Partnerships:
14,383: Number of Individuals reached access to safe water
1,243: Number of females reached with support for menstrual hygiene management
9,533: Number of individuals with access to improved sanitation facilities
2,496: Number of Individuals tested and counseled for HIV
11,457: Number of individuals provided with HIV prevention services
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Blood:Water Mission
Board of directorsas of 05/04/2023
Chris Hobday
Steven Garber
(Emeritus)
Rich Hoops
Impact Charitable
Collin Brown
Ardent Health
Katherine Carpenter
National Center for Leadership
Chris Hobday
Equifax
Eve Omala
N/A
Olivia Bahemuka
Belmont University
Liz Chamberlain
Humanitarian Openstreetmap Team
Julius Mbeya
Lwala
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data