# Charity: water launches in the UK

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/06/21/charity-water-launches-uk/
- Published: 2016-06-21T10:58:35+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**US nonprofit charity: water is expanding its fundraising by launching in the UK,
its first move outside the USA. The charity’s founder Scott Harrison announced the
move in London last week, and introduced its first UK employee, fundraiser Angharad
McKenzie.**

In the 10 years since it was founded, charity: water now has one million supporters,
who have funded over 19,000 water projects providing 6.1 million people with clean
water. Most of the people the have helped live in rural villages and have had to
walk miles to reach water supplies. Often these are shared with animals.

[Charity: water](http://www.charitywater.org) has developed an international reputation
for its extensive use of digital fundraising and simple but effective fundraising
campaigns that can be adopted easily. For example, Harrison ‘gave away’ his birthday
ten years ago, asking people to make a donation to help provide clean water instead.
Thousands of other people have ‘donated their birthday’ since then in the same way.

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It is also committed to demonstrating its impact to donors and uses technology to
bring video, maps, reports and statistics to its supporters to show them precisely
how and where their money is being used.

Harrison secured the support of UK technology businessman Michael Birch who, with
his wife Xochi, created social networking site Bebo, and sold it to AOL in 2008 
for $850m. Birch helped develop mycharitywater.org, the online fundraising engine
of the nonprofit’s digital presence. The couple have also donated over $20m to the
organisation.

> New charity: water donation page is so optimized it's insane! [https://t.co/HdIh61RsvM](https://t.co/HdIh61RsvM)
> — Michael Birch (@mickbirch) [April 1, 2016](https://twitter.com/mickbirch/status/715940570154319872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

 

## Charity: water in the UK

Angharad McKenzie is the sole employee of charity: water in the UK at the moment.
Indeed, the organisation is not yet formally established as a charity here. McKenzie
previously worked at WaterAid for eight years where she was Head of Supporter Development.

At charity: water she is Head of Key Relationships. This indicates charity: water’s
prime focus in setting up in the UK: it aims to replicate its approach in the US
in which it works with high net worth individuals who contribute to cover all of
the nonprofit’s costs of ‘overheads’. Consequently, the organisation can then promise
that 100% of all other donations are used for charitable purposes.

The two bank-account approach was developed from the outset, following Harrison’s
experience of talking to friends and contacts, many of whom argued that they did
not support charity because they did not know how their money would be spent.

Harrison is so committed to this approach that the nonprofit will even ensure that
its major donors cover the card transaction costs of online donations by others.

In the UK this approach has been referred to as the ‘Golden Pound’, whereby charities
secure the administration costs of a campaign from an individual or corporate donor.
The approach can certainly be popular with donors but some fundraisers argue that
it puts charities without access to major donors at a disadvantage as they do have
to tell donors that their gifts cover all a charity’s activities, including the 
necessary office and infrastructure costs.

McKenzie has been working with charity: water in the UK since last year, supporting
the existing members of ‘The Well’, the overheads funders, several of whom live 
or work in the UK, and expanding the network. In addition, the UK is also charity:
water’s European base so McKenzie is in contact with European major donors.

Video: Howard Lake

 

## Virtual reality film

Harrison also used the launch event to let attendees experience charity: water’s
virtual reality film ‘The Source’, which it launched in the US last year. It has
already been used successfully there at a major donor gala dinner at which it managed
to enable over 400 supporters to don VR headsets and headphones at the same time
and then watch it simultaneously.

Harrison describes VR as “an empathy machine”.

‘The Source’ is the story of 13-year-old Selam in Northern Ethiopia, who used to
walk miles each day to bring water to her family, which meant it was hard or her
to make time for her schoolwork too. The film shows the the transformation of her
community as a well bearing fresh water is dug for the first time.

## The story of charity: water

At the UK launch Scott Harrison told how charity: water came about and why he is
driven to ensure it has even greater impact.
 

  

Video: Howard Lake