Earlier this year at Fireworks Factory, I saw Paull Young from charity:water speak about his organization and how they activate their base and get people excited and participating in their organization. One of their ongoing themed campaigns is to donate your birthday. And I thought that was an awesome idea.
November is my birthday month. So this month, I'm running a campaign called "Like Water for Kate". If you would normally treat me to a coffee or a martini (or TWO martinis) or to dinner or get me a present, I'd like to ask that you donate that amount to charity:water instead.
I'm turning 45 this year .. so I set getting 45 people clean water as my campaign goal. It only takes $20 to get one person clean water. That's a total of $950 for my campaign. A modest goal, perhaps .. but I've never done anything like this before.
And why water? Well, first, I was really impressed with Paull Young and his presentation. I've been thinking about it every week since May - so I figure that's pretty good.
But more important, clean water enables so many things. I have to walk for 15 seconds to get clean water. So many women spend their entire DAY getting clean water. Clean water frees up their time. More girls stay in school. Households become less affected by inadequate government services and external conflict. People thrive.
And what I really love about charity:water, is that 100% of the money goes to the projects. When my campaign (#LikeWaterForKate) is complete, they will tell us how the money is being used. Whether we are part of a hand-dug or drilled well or we contribute to a rainwater catchment or pump rehabilitation, they'll let us know. We'll get a project report (like this one) that includes how the $$ were spent and the location of the project. Pretty amazing - I like that accountability and being able to see the impact. I know we all give to projects and it can be a mystery where the money goes.