WASHINGTON, DC, March 24, 2015 -- In honor of World Water Day 2015, held on Sunday, March 22, Philanthropedia -- a division of GuideStar, the world's largest source of information on nonprofit organizations -- recently announced new rankings of the top 16 international nonprofits supporting efforts towards improving water, sanitation and hygiene (WSH) quality for the 2.5 billion people who lack improved water sanitation facilities globally, according to UNICEF.
The rankings are based on in-depth surveys of and conversations with hundreds of experts, including nonprofit leaders, academics, funders, grantmakers, policy makers, and consultants. Philanthropedia, which originally ranked nonprofits in these cause areas in 2011, re-runs its research every few years to provide donors and funders an updated list of highest-performing nonprofits.
"The United Nations' World Water Day is a day to celebrate the life-saving value of clean water and prepare for how we sustainably manage water in the future," said Jasmine Marrow, GuideStar's director of nonprofit strategy. "Philanthropedia's newest rankings can help donors best identify the highest-performing nonprofits in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene, which are worthy of their charitable donation."
Philanthropedia surveyed 82 experts working in WSH with an average of 16 years of experience in the field to identify those organizations that were the highest performing on an international level. Experts were asked to recommend up to three nonprofits doing high-impact work across multiple countries/regions and up to three nonprofits doing high-impact work in a specific country/region. They could be working in direct service, advocacy, litigation, research, or education.
International WSH experts were then asked to recommend nonprofits that supported any of the following: Improved water quality and quantity, safe and sanitary waste disposal, health education, and more. Types of nonprofits might include research, advocacy, legislative, capacity building, education, or direct services.
The following 16 outstanding nonprofits were recommended by 82 top experts:
- WaterAid
- Water for People
- IRC
- UNICEF
- Water.org
- Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP)
- Rural Water Supply Network
- SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
- Millennium Water Alliance
- World Vision International (WVI)
- Plan
- CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere)
- Oxfam
- Rotary International
- PATH
- iDE (International Development Enterprises)
"Poor water, sanitation and hygiene have many serious repercussions. Children -- and particularly girls -- can't attend schools, because their schools lack private and decent sanitation facilities," added Marrow. "3.5 million people die each year (three million of whom are children) because of waterborne diseases. You need to know these important nonprofits because they help the world survive."
See also:
"Water.org, Bank of America partner to provide clean, safe water to Southern India"
"Major water networks partner to address water sanitation, manage water resources worldwide"
About Philanthropedia
Philanthropedia is an online resource for donors who want to make a bigger difference with their charitable giving. The organization was founded on the belief that experts working in the field, such as foundation professionals, researchers and practitioners, are best suited to evaluate nonprofits in a more holistic way. In April 2011, Philanthropedia was acquired by GuideStar. For more information, visit http://www.myphilanthropedia.org.
About GuideStar
GuideStar is the largest source of nonprofit information, connecting people and organizations with information on more than 2.4 million IRS-recognized nonprofits. More than 7 million people, including individual donors, nonprofit leaders, grantmakers, government officials, academic researchers, and the media, use GuideStar's data every year to make intelligent decisions about the social sector. For more information, visit www.guidestar.org.
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