IRS 990 Nonprofit Profile

Impact Water Foundation

Our mission is to make safe drinking water available to as many students as possible through scalable and lasting solutions. we are working towards a future where every student can learn and thrive with clean water in their school. impact waters safe drinking water systems are designed to treat drinking water for schools in any settingurban or rural, with or without electricity or piped water. using adaptable, point-of-use water treatment systems tailored to each schools needs, we provide effective, low-cost treatment options that can scale to serve millions of students, creating healthier learning environments. brief description of impact water's history, accomplishments and activities impact water was founded in 2014 by social entrepreneurs responding to a critical gap in uganda's education sector: unsafe drinking water. while most schools had access to water and proven treatment technologies existed, market failures prevented these solutions from reaching schools with limited resources. the result: millions of students drinking contaminated water daily, causing repeated illnesses that undermine their health and education. model development and early validation (2014 to 2017): our initial approach involved selling multi-stage uv treatment systems to schools on 2-year credit terms, subsidized through carbon credits . to derisk the credit model, we partnered with kiva's crowdfunding platform, which enabled schools to access interest-free loans. individual lenders on kiva funded school water systems within 1 to 3 days, demonstrating strong global support for the mission. this partnership proved transformative: kiva progressively increased our credit line based on our strong repayment performance (95%+ rates) and audit results. our innovative approach attracted support from yunus social business, which provided critical debt investment and later helped design a novel social impact bond with rockefeller foundation and ubs optimus foundation. by 2017, we had successfully installed and maintained systems in over 1,000 ugandan schools, validating both the operational model and the viability of innovative financing for school safe water solutions. geographic expansion and innovation (2017 to 2019): based on proven success, we expanded to nigeria and kenya in 2017 while simultaneously innovating the model. we introduced low-cost chlorine systems fully subsidized through carbon finance. this breakthrough enabled rapid scaling. by 2019, we had installed systems in nearly 30,000 schools across nigeria and kenya. consolidation and accelerated growth (2020 to 2024): the covid-19 pandemic and carbon market volatility forced a strategic pause (2020 to 2022), during which we strengthened operations and refined our strategy. we emerged stronger, having raised new debt. in 2023, we resumed expansion with 10,000+ new installations and in 2024, we accelerated growth with 20,000+ new installations. model today impact water operates through a six-step approach that ensures sustainable delivery and adoption of safe drinking water solutions at schools. 1. we begin by securing mous and letters of support from national and local education offices 2. this is followed by in-person visits to local education offices to obtain complete lists of public schools requiring water treatment solutions. our goal is always comprehensive coverage of all public schools within each administrative area. 3. we then qualify schools through direct communication to confirm their need and evaluate water infrastructure 4. after qualification, we deliver appropriate point-of-use water treatment systems. 5. for schools qualified for chlorine tablets and 100 litre tanks, distribution occurs at local education offices with schools collecting systems at their own cost, while inline and uv systems require trained technician installation at school sites. 6. integral to our model's success are bi-annual school visits by trained impact water field agents who train teachers and educate students on the importance of drinking only treated water while conducting necessary system maintenance and resupply. impact water organizational structure today as we reached higher levels of safe water coverage in public schools across our operating countries, coupled with the natural expansion and contraction dynamics of the global carbon market, it became increasingly evident that a combination of partnerships, grant funding, and government support would be needed to ensure sustained and fully-scaled operations. in 2023, we created a public charity, impact water foundation, in order to optimize financial sustainability and support scale-up to universal coverage in our three countries of operation. impact water foundation now serves as the primary operating entity, maintaining the same leadership team that built our proven track record. the foundation operates through nonprofit entities in uganda, nigeria, and kenya, ensuring coordinated program delivery and unified strategic direction across all operating countries while preserving local nonprofit credentials for optimal in- country effectiveness and attracting philanthropic capital with tax-exempt status for donors. impact water llc continues as the foundation's dedicated carbon project developer through a formal service agreement, handling end-to-end carbon asset development including project design documents (pdds), validation and verification processes, gold standard and article 6 compliance, credit issuance, and buyer relations. carbon revenue flows back to the foundation to invest in expanded program delivery, ensuring our proven carbon finance expertise continues supporting operations while diversifying our funding base for sustained global scaling.

Filing year

2024

Total revenue

$8.2M

Total expenses

$7.5M

Program expenses

$6.6M

Administration

$727K

Fundraising

$241K

Program share of expenses

87%

EIN

933787225

Location

San Francisco, CA