How Water.org strengthens organizational health to expand access to safe water and sanitation
Empowering people with access to safe water and sanitation opens the door to improved health, education, and economic opportunities. Yet, this need for access persists worldwide. As Manoj Gulati, Vice President, Global Impact, Asia at Water.org, emphasizes: One in four people globally still live without access to safe drinking water and two in five without safely managed sanitation.
For more than 30 years, it has been Water.org’s vision to break down the financial barriers between people in need and access to safe water and sanitation. The nonprofit partners with local banks and microfinance institutions to help families access small loans to install a household water or sanitation solution, like a tap, a toilet, or a water tank.
Zipporah, a mother in Kenya, made multiple trips daily to collect water from distant and unreliable sources used for drinking, bathing, and farming. Through access to affordable financing, she was able to install a rainwater harvesting system. With it, her family’s health improved, her farm began to thrive, and she started training to become a nurse. Zipporah went on to open the only clinic in her community, which in turn would benefit from clean water and sanitation accessed via the loan from Water.org’s local partner.
To date, Water.org's approach has helped more than 88 million people worldwide with access to safe water or sanitation. Behind this number lies a powerful example of what changes when families gain access to these essential resources. Vedika Bhandarkar, President and Chief Operating Officer at Water.org, explains: “When people gain access to safe water and sanitation, girls return to school, women reclaim their time and power, families grow healthier, and the cycle of poverty is broken.”
Scaling impact: Helping more people every year
Water.org has set its sights on reaching 200 million people by the end of 2030, which raises a crucial question: how can the organization grow fast, across cultures and continents, while maintaining what makes it effective in the first place?
Gulati outlines the challenge: “As we grow, each of our new regions tends to develop its own subculture, which is shaped by local context. At the same time, we have a broader global culture that we all share. The key is making sure the two align.”
Concurrently, Water.org is looking to manage the challenges of an expanding headcount and of advancing new solutions, including work that spans a broader portfolio of support for household access as well as infrastructure and investment gaps.
Honing in on organizational health
Water.org has continued strengthening its organizational health as part of its broader strategy to help communities across the globe access water. Rachel Briggeman, Associate Director of Global HR Operations at Water.org, explains: “Organizational health is foundational to how we scale impact. The healthier we are, the greater our ability to change people's lives.”
Over the past several years, Water.org has worked to prepare itself for the future through participating in McKinsey.org’s Organizational Health Index (OHI) for Nonprofits program. OHI for Nonprofits looks into an organization’s ways of working – measuring nine outcomes and 55 practices of health – and benchmarking organizations against hundreds of nonprofits globally. The program provides a fact-backed view of what teams see happening on the ground and teaches leaders at nonprofits how to shift behaviors to drive long-term success.
Bhandarkar comments: “The data we get from OHI is powerful. We can break it down by region, department, or even tenure, and benchmark ourselves against other nonprofits. It shows us where we’re strong and where we need to improve, so we know exactly where to focus.”
Building on a unified culture
OHI results have complimented ongoing internal efforts to heighten collaboration and efficiency between its global teams. In response, the nonprofit has created a Project Management Office (PMO) and introduced structured methodologies, stronger communication strategies, and thoughtful change management practices.
Water.org has also sharpened its operations, and in turn made it possible to reach more people with safe water and sanitation. “OHI for Nonprofits helps ensure our various regions and teams are equipped with the services and processes best suited to their context and role,” says Margo Salasyuk, Associate Director of Operations at Water.org. That shift has empowered regional teams to work more closely with local partners and improve program efficiency.
The OHI for Nonprofits results have also informed how Water.org’s HR team operates. “Tools like the OHI for Nonprofits help us stay centered on our people,” Briggeman adds. “When we strengthen how we support our teams, they’re better able to prioritize and serve the communities and partners we work with.”
“The OHI showed us where we needed to improve internally,” explains Salasyuk. “That’s translated directly into how our staff work with partners in the field, how quickly they respond to requests, and how effectively they co-develop programs that lead to real financing options for households.”
Strengthening teams, empowering millions
For Water.org, focusing on organizational health is as much about delivering impact for the people and families it serves as it is about internal improvement. Leveraging intelligence from OHI for Nonprofits, the organization has strengthened alignment and collaboration across teams. These improvements enable Water.org to stay aligned across regions and build strong partnerships, supporting its continued work to expand access to safe water and sanitation for millions of families around the world.
