Six Things Organizations Need to Know about WASH Funders

Emily Endres

WASH funders and on-the-ground program implementers—like many of you at not-for-profit, for-profit, and hybrid organizations—depend on one another. On-the-ground implementers depend on funding from foundations, bilaterals, or investors to finance the work that they do. While donors depend on on-the-ground implementers of programs to make sure their money is used to create social impact.

However, while donors seek the most effective organizations to implement programs in their focus areas, and organizations seek funding to make their programs effective and impactful, they often have difficulty connecting. Before an organization successfully wins funding or makes it to a certain stage of the application process, their interaction with funders may be limited, creating uncertainty around what a potential donor is looking for in a grantee.

Results for Development (R4D) and its regional partners Dasra in India and the Millennium Water Alliance in East Africa, saw an opportunity to open a dialogue between donors and program implementers in the WASH sector by holding funder panels during capacity building workshops for qualifying organizations in the WASH Impact Network. These panels brought together funders of WASH programs in each of the geographic regions, and asked them to answer some questions that could provide insight into the strategic priorities of donors, and what they look for in programs or organizations that they fund.

Through conversations held in India and East Africa, the following six attributes were identified as valuable by donors and investors when considering potential programs for funding:

1. Strong partnerships, networks, and connections with other organizations

In East Africa, funders such as Avina Foundation, Segal Family Foundation and the Water Project recognize the importance of working together and seeing the bigger picture when it comes to helping each other achieve the most impact by sharing knowledge and working together. Avina Foundation is especially interested in seeing this trait in organizations as part of their interest in promoting the spread of South-South collaboration and working with programs that are interested in sharing lessons across geographies. Segal Family Foundation even prioritizes giving funding to programs that are working with or have been recommended by one of their current grantees. In India, funders participating in the roundtable discussion highlighted the importance of both programs and donors to be active participants on existing platforms and networks such as the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA), the India Water Portal, and the India Sanitation Coalition.

2. Holistic solutions

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation participated in the funder roundtable discussion in India, and used their illustration of the sanitation value chain to highlight the importance of funding programs that understand how their program fits into the bigger picture, and ensures that their intervention is designed to strengthen or work in harmony with the rest of the stakeholders in the value chain. In addition, funders in India expressed particular interest in funding programs that take gender inclusivity into account, in both their program design and in their monitoring and evaluation (M&E) processes. Tata Trusts uses incentives to encourage organizations to be more gender inclusive. For example, for every woman that the partner employs, Tata Trusts sponsors one additional staff member. Segal Family Foundation and the Water Project also expressed that their foundations have a preference for funding programs that are holistic. Segal Family Foundation primarily focuses on reproductive health and youth empowerment, and therefore values WASH programs that recognize the role they play in supporting health systems and youth development. For example, a menstrual hygiene management program that contributes to the sexual and reproductive health of adolescent girls and women, or a WASH in schools program that recognizes how their program helps children stay in school and advance in their lives and careers.

3. Participatory programs designed by listening to the voices of the communities in which they work

Many funders also value programs that incorporate the communities in which they implement programs into the program design and activities. They want to see that programs are listening to the voices of the communities. Social businesses may be positioned to naturally respond to the demands of the community, because if their product or service does not meet the needs or aspirations of consumers, their business will not be successful. For this reason, donors like Aqua for All require “proof of concept”—research or projections based on prior sales—that show that the product or service is valued and needed by the community.

4. Collaborating with the government

In East Africa, several of the funders we heard from required that organizations or social businesses be legally registered with the government, or demonstrate strong government ties - including the Water Project and GrowthAfrica. (Although it’s important to note that other funders at this panel recognize that taking risks on grassroots organizations or small social businesses is part of their mission, and they actively fund and build capacity of non-registered programs. Some of these funders include NetFund, Water Project, GrowthAfrica and Avina Foundation.) Funders participating in the roundtable in India expressed the need for programs to work with the government at both the local level—such as with urban bodies to scale decentralized, non-networked sanitation systems—and the national level to integrate their programs into existing government schemes, and to advocate effectively for important policy changes using existing tools like the shit flow diagram.

5. Open communication and collaboration between funders and grantees

Funders on the panels in both India and East Africa expressed a desire to co-create programs with implementers, and value grantees that will engage in a conversation with grantors about their vision and strategy for the program. In India, funders said that this was especially important when it comes to designing M&E indicators that help program implementers to course correct and adapt when needed, while also helping donors measure the impact of their investment. Donors expressed a desire to work together with implementers to simplify M&E requirements and design common frameworks to use across programs in order to lighten the burden of resource-intensive M&E requirements. A willingness to engage in a conversation in which both donors and program implementers can be honest and contribute their experience and knowledge was expressed by funders across both regions.

6. Ability to tell a compelling story

Funders at the panel discussion in East Africa expressed the importance of programs being able to effectively tell their stories. This not only helps funders understand the vision and strategy of potential grantees, but it also helps donors demonstrate their own value to their stakeholders. It can help show donors that an organization is forward-thinking, and that the program has incorporated planning and thoughtful design. Donors want to see that programs understand their own theory of change and how their program delivers real impact in the lives of the communities in which they work. Being able to tell a story that is both compelling and strategic can help demonstrate to donors that your program or organization shares common values, including those in this list.

While the lessons above resulted from a discussion among a small selection of WASH funders, demonstrating these six qualities in a concept note, proposal, or conversation with potential funders can help highlight your ability as an organization to collaborate, communicate, and be strategic in your approach to addressing WASH challenges.

As a WASH program implementer, what do you think might be important to funders when considering a new program for funding or investment? Tell us what you think by emailing us at WASH@R4D.org. 

What’s Missing from the Conversation on the Private Sector in WASH

Emily Endres

This year at Stockholm World Water Week (SWWW), the conversation on private sector engagement in WASH included a greater focus on impact, but lacked input from grassroots entrepreneurs.

Positive contributions from private sector actors like Unilever, Nestlé and Kohler were heard at many of the panels and presentations. These participants presented examples of public-private partnerships and corporate social responsibility strategies that are making real impact in the effort to make universal access to clean water and sanitation a reality. The active participation and leadership from larger players in the private sector, who are using their distribution networks, economies of scale, and brand name power to extend the reach of life-enhancing products and services is an exciting development as talk of “leveraging the power of the market” becomes a more common phrase in the WASH sector.

While the introduction of these large new WASH players no doubt makes for an interesting discussion around possibilities of scale and efficiency, there seemed to be a hole in the private sector discussion at SWWW—where were the representatives of grassroots-level social enterprises? The advantages these local social enterprises bring to the table are worth noting. They are uniquely positioned to understand the communities or regions in which they work, while also operating sustainably in an environment in which funding is scarce. The fact that they have identified a product or service that those in their communities desire, at an acceptable price, is innovative and likely holds lessons for other international social marketing organizations, donors of social business and social marketing initiatives, and private sector corporations participating in the sector.

For example, Svadha is a for-profit social business co-founded in 2014 in Odisha, India, by Mr. K.C. Mishra and Garima Sahai. Svadha acts as an ‘ecosystem integrator’ for the rural WASH market in India, supporting a network of sanitation entrepreneurs or “Sanipreneurs.” In addition to training the Sanipreneurs and equipping them with ICT tools, Svadha promotes community awareness of the importance of sanitation and ensures a reliable and efficient value chain through coordination with corporations, NGOs, and government actors.

Results for Development Institute (R4D), through its WASH Impact Network, aims to identify, learn from, and build the capacity of social businesses like Svadha, as well as not-for-profit civil society organizations and hybrid organizations, in India and East Africa. One of the things we have learned from them so far is that there is a myriad of hurdles these innovators face in order to scale up and adapt—and many are not able to succeed in isolation. R4D seeks to learn about how the learning and innovating process occurs for local civil society organizations across two diverse regions of the world, while transforming that information into skill-building opportunities for the organizations in the cohort. For example, R4D, with its partner Dasra, conducted its first in a series of capacity building workshops for WASH innovators in India on September 21-24, 2015. To learn more about the activities we’re implementing—including the workshop we will be conducting with partner Millennium Water Alliance in Nairobi for East African organizations in the cohort—visit our website at washinnovations.r4d.org.

Who are the MHM Innovators?

Morgan Benson

On May 28, 2014, the world celebrated its first Menstrual Hygiene Day. Organized by WASH United, the now-annual event is part of a burgeoning focus in international development on menstrual hygiene management (MHM) and its impact on the lives of women and girls. Like Family Planning 2020 (for which the first convening was also held recently, in 2012), this focus on MHM is rooted in the growing movement towards gender equality worldwide.

Within the WASH Impact Network, there are at least 29 innovators (almost one fourth of our total first cohort) working in MHM, each testing different methods of enabling women to manage their periods and have equal access to education, health, and other opportunities in life that might otherwise be at risk. Of these programs, 16 are operating in India, 12 in East Africa, and 1 program (WASH United) works in both. So what can we learn from a look at this cohort?

1. They are young.  Over half (59%) of the innovative MHM programs in the Network have been founded in the last 5 years. This trend would suggest that innovators either are enabled or triggered to focus on a particular issue, given sufficient prioritization of attention and resources.
2. They are producing environmentally sustainable pads. Of the 29 programs that focus on MHM, 18 are involved in the manufacturing of sanitary pads, many of which incorporate various methods of ensuring environmental sustainability. It is vitally important to consider the environmental impact of MHM interventions, especially in high population density settings, such as in many regions of India. Without reusable MHM products, roughly 305 million women and girls in India would be throwing away disposable pads into already overburdened solid waste dumps. As disposable sanitary products become increasingly popular over cloth rags or other informal methods, the amount of waste produced will also increasingly become a sustainability issue in itself, and innovators within the Network are experimenting with alternative methods.
   • Many are developing reusable, washable pads, such as Uger Menstrual Pads in India. Jatan Sanasthan partnered with Vikalp Design to offer a new (“uger” in Mewadi language) way to think about and manage menstruation, which takes into account the environmental impact of the harmful plastic options that had been and continue to be on the market. Similarly, some programs, such as Aakar Innovations also in India, produce a compostable option.
   • Some programs also use recycled materials to produce their pads, whether that is through leveraging leftover factory textiles, such as what Eva Wear is doing in Ethiopia, or local agricultural products such as banana tree fiber in the case of Saathi Pads in India.
   • Finally, programs are promoting sustainability by using local production methods. By producing pads in-country, programs not only create livelihood opportunities but also cut down on the environmental impact of transporting the pads internationally. Dignity Period partners with Mariam Seba Sanitary Products Factory, which employs 42 local women to produce 600,000 low-cost, environmentally friendly, washable, and reusable pads per year for girls across Ethiopia.
3. They are integrating with other sectors. In addition to prioritizing environmental sustainability, MHM innovators are integrating their programs with other sectors for increased impact.
   • The Kasiisi Project Girls’ Program not only addresses the WASH needs of girls in schools as an integral part of their ability to manage their periods, by supporting safe water sources and girl-friendly toilets, but also integrates sexual and reproductive health issues more broadly. Kasiisi employs a local female Community Health Worker to educate girls at participating schools on relevant topics, and to set up peer education workshops, giving peer educators in schools the tools and knowledge to be effective role models.
   •  Like Kasiisi, at least 18 of the 29 MHM programs in the Network integrate their activities into schools. Many stress the importance of girls learning early how to manage their periods, particularly so that they are able to continue to attend classes instead of dropping out due to a lack of the necessary education or products to manage it. Jerusalem Children and Community Development Organization (JeCCDO) in Ethiopia supports school clubs to foster awareness and action on not only WASH and MHM issues, but also health, leadership, agriculture, and other issues relevant to their lives
4. They are creating livelihood opportunities, especially for women. In addition to many programs creating jobs in the production of sanitary pads, many are supporting livelihood opportunities for community members in the sales of their products as well.
   • Vatsalya in India mobilizes existing female shopkeepers and other potential female entrepreneurs to sell sanitary pads in their communities. ZanaPads in Kenya partners with other NGOs to distribute their pads such as Marie Stopes and Living Goods, who operate networks of door-to-door saleswomen.
5. They need government and financial support, as well as improved evidence generation. Compared to the Network as a whole, these innovators report the following trends in what their programs need to reach more people with greater impact.
   • Twenty-three of these 29 innovators spoke with the Network about the need for Operational Financing. Despite a trend toward this category amongst all 120+ programs, MHM innovators’ higher percentage suggests what Dignity Period reports from Ethiopia, that “donor funds are critical to reach hundreds of thousands more Ethiopian girls who are eager to stay in school free of fear and embarrassment.”
   • There was also a trend towards improved Monitoring and Evaluation. Nine programs (31%) reported M&E as a top need, including knowing what indicators to track, making sense of data already collected, and strategic planning for how to act based on that information.
   • Finally, 6 programs (21%) reported a need for increased Government Support for MHM, ranging from general advocacy among government officials to improved policy regarding how sanitary products are currently taxed.

The responsiveness of these innovators to the world’s burgeoning focus on MHM is encouraging; however, there is still much work to be done. The WASH Impact Network will be working to connect these innovators with each other and with other resources they have identified as key needs for their programs.

For more information, read the Network’s interview with Kathy Walkling, founder of EcoFemme in India; check out Spot On!, our Regional Partner Dasra’s in-depth look at MHM in India; or contact us at WASH@r4d.org.

Designing better workshops: WASH innovators on how they learn and adapt

Erin Swearing

WASH Impact Network members brainstorm components of the business model canvas with assistance from the Dasra team in Mumbai, India on June 27, 2016. ©Results for Development

In 2014, Results for Development (R4D) started the WASH Impact Network to help local innovators in East Africa and India address some of the challenges they face in doing the important work of improving access to clean water and sanitation, and promoting good hygiene practices. We decided that to really understand how to support these organizations, we needed to ask them what they needed and what’s most helpful. We needed to listen.
 

So we conducted a needs assessment with over 120 local WASH organizations in the WASH Impact Network, and we learned (unsurprisingly) that operational financing—funds to support core activities and/or scaling up—was the greatest need. In 2015 and 2016, R4D and our regional partners, Dasra and the Millennium Water Alliance (MWA), organized a series of workshops and focus group discussions for WASH Impact Network members in in Addis Ababa, Kampala, Nairobi, and Mumbai to start addressing this need and to hear more from WASH innovators about their challenges and what helps to overcome them.
 

Talking about what’s helpful and what isn’t with local WASH innovators 

Since implementing the WASH Impact Network, R4D has conducted interviews and focus group discussions with network members to learn more about what’s helpful and what isn’t when trying to learn and implement new ideas. Some key takeaways from these conversations are summarized below.

What's helpful:

• Learning events that allow participants to learn by doing.
• Surveying participants before the workshop to understand problems they are currently facing, and design content to address challenges and current interests.
• Distributing “soft” versions of tools that can be used immediately or customized.
• Setting up reach-back mechanisms for participants to consult with experts and stay in touch with peers at the end of learning events. 

What isn’t:

• Learning events that are mostly lecture-based and offer no time for collaboration and participant input.
• Webinars without built-in discussion time. Without a space to chat about research results, webinars do not offer the space to get to dig deep and brainstorm solutions to complex problems.
• PowerPoints and long written reports. These tools are rarely revisited and require big time commitments to digest and adapt to the specific needs of programs.

After listening to workshop participants, we designed workshops that were participatory, action-oriented, and relevant to the contexts in which they work to address innovators’ need for operational financing. Through the development of an elevator pitch, population of a business model canvas, and the creation of action plans, innovators had the space to create useful tools that they could easily share with their organizations.

Crafting a solid elevator pitch in East Africa

Workshops in East Africa were hosted by MWA. The workshop focused on the development and refinement of an elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is an important networking tool intended to grasp the attention of a potential collaborator or funder within a matter of seconds. Because resources are often limited for local program implementers, an elevator pitch can be a game changer in developing a relationship that may generate funding in the future.   

Tailored elevator pitch sessions in Kampala and Nairobi were facilitated by Nyambura Waruingi, a Kenyan creative innovator who possesses over 13 years of experience writing, curating, and producing in the creative industry sector. Participants created their own pitches and received targeted feedback from Waruingi and other workshop participants. They challenged one another to find compelling ways to communicate their organization’s work.  

Participants were advised to:

• Be personal when telling their stories. There is value in inserting yourself into the narrative. Before you sell, you must connect.
• Customize your pitch for your audience when selling your impact and vision. Research and understand the audience’s interests and objectives, be specific about your accomplishments, and show where and how the audience can play a role in your organization’s story.
• Investors value personality. That’s most important. Because it’s about relationships. The business model can change, but the entrepreneurs you interact with cannot.

The workshops also included a funder/investor panel including with foundations and knowledge centers designed to support business sustainability and inclusiveness.  Members of the WASH Impact Network had the opportunity to hear from panelists about the partnerships they seek to build with organizations and ask candid questions about their funding and support needs.

Examining the business model, action planning and using social media in India

The workshop in Mumbai was co-facilitated by Dasra, and focused on identifying their own strengths and areas for improvement, and creating action plans for goals that were developed during the workshop. The main activities included:

1. Developing the business model canvas: The business model canvas is a one-page visual tool that summarizes the organization’s sources of revenue, how they intend to interact with partners and consumers to achieve their goals,  and what resources are available or needed to achieve their goals. Innovators were able to populate the canvas after hearing examples relevant to each section of the business model. Innovators were encouraged to share the canvas they created with their teams, ask for input and revisit it every quarter.
2. Developing action plans: Organizations were encouraged to create simple action plans that would lay out a path to better leverage their strengths or address any opportunities for growth. This exercise allowed participants leave with a targeted action plan they could present to their organizations on “Monday morning.”
3. Optimizing one’s social media presence: Social media is an important communications channel for sharing an organization’s work and forming connections with consumers, donors and organizations engaging in similar work. Organizations were introduced to social media analytics, innovative website designs and visual messaging examples to increase their presence on various platforms.

After workshops in Mumbai and Nairobi, participants designed their own “reach-back mechanisms” to stay connected with one another after the workshop, recognizing their peers in the room as key resources for the future. Moving forward, participants will keep in touch using social media tools, such as WhatsApp groups, to chat informally and share information on upcoming events, success stories and funding opportunities.

Want to know more about what we’ve learned through our conversations with WASH innovators? Click here to see the preliminary results. Look out for the final report, which we will be publishing at the end of the year.

Telling Stories and Making Models: What the Network has been up to this Summer

Erin Swearing

This summer, the WASH Team at R4D conducted a series of workshops and focus group discussions with members of the WASH Impact Network in Addis Ababa, Kampala, Nairobi, and Mumbai. Workshop content was designed to address gaps in operational financing and that were identified in a needs assessment conducted previously by the WASH Team.

Workshops in East Africa, co-facilitated with partner, Millennium Water Alliance, focused on the development and refinement of the elevator pitch. Afternoon sessions included a funder/investor panel where members of the WASH Impact Network had the opportunity to hear from panelists about the partnerships they seek to build, and Network members had a chance to ask specific questions about topics they were particularly interested in.

In Uganda and Kenya, elevator pitch sessions were facilitated by Nyambura Waruingi, co-founder and chief creative innovator of the Hingston Group who possesses over 13 years of experience writing, curating, and producing in the creative industry sector. Waruingi gave workshop participants the space to think about their stories and provided thorough feedback, challenging them to find ways to communicate about their organizations in a compelling way. 

Real Questions and Their Paraphrased Answers

• How should I tell my story?
  • Be personal. There is value in inserting yourself into the narrative. Before you sell, you must connect.
• How do you sell impact and your vision?
  • Remember your audience. Be specific about what you have done and articulate what you need. Show where in your story there is a place for your audience to play a role.
• What characteristics or criteria do you look for in an organization you might invest in?
  • Impress the investor with your personality. That’s most important. Because it’s about relationships. The business model can change, but entrepreneurs cannot.

In India, workshop participants had the opportunity to craft a business model canvas, a one-page visual tool that demonstrates how resources flow through an organization by examining nine key elements, and develop an action plan to leverage their strengths or identify opportunities for growth. These sessions were co-facilitated by Dasra, an advisory research organization that works with philanthropists, multilateral agencies, corporate foundations, social enterprises, and non-profits in India. Participants also had the opportunity to learn strategies and tools for optimizing their social media presence to share their work and form connections with consumers, donors and organizations engaging in similar work.

Real Questions and Their Paraphrased Answers

• What do you do with a business model canvas?
  • Constructing a business model canvas provides an honest look at the organization and makes it easier to identify gaps.
• How do I actually use the business model canvas back at my organization?
  • Share it with your whole team, ask for input, and then revisit it every quarter.

Next Steps with India Workshop Participants

We plan to follow up with workshop participants in the next few months. We would like to know more about their progress on their action plans and any challenges they have had along the way.

During our time in each city, we held focus group discussions with Network members to learn more about their successes and challenges with learning and adaptation.

Quick Takeaways

• Organizational structures that have the ability to hear and implement ideas from employees working directly with communities or individuals are particularly valued, and many organizations have mechanisms in place to share new findings and ideas internally.
• Workshops and conferences hold value, but often outside of the meeting rooms. Networking at these events is most valuable.
• Organizations value donor visits. Visits provide a space for collaborative program input and better conceptualization of program activities, both of which are useful in building strong donor relationships.
• There is a need for small-scale funding for training and development, but these opportunities are limited.
• Program timelines are often too short to demonstrate real change.
• Webinars are not particularly useful, as post-presentation discussions are rare and the times are often outside normal working hours.
• And SURPRISE! Lack of funds is a huge barrier when trying to implement new ideas.

Want to know more about the results from our focus group discussions? Click here to see the preliminary results. Look out for the final report, which we will be publishing at the end of the year.