Dear 3for5 Community,
Today we’re announcing that the 3for5 Foundation will be shutting down at the end of this calendar year, 2014.We started 3for5 nearly six years ago with a dream to help people in desperate need gain access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities, as well as to improve hygiene awareness in places like schools and care-points for children.
Today, we’re proud to say that all of us -- together -- have made significant strides in this pursuit.
First, we’ve channeled nearly $100,000 to water/sanitation projects throughout Africa, building wells, latrines, and funding various water initiatives that have helped thousands of people -- many of them children!
We’ve worked with amazing partners like the Millennium Water Alliance, Water for People and Children’s Hope Chest who have all helped ensure our projects are not only targeted and efficient, but sustainable so that each of our grants will continue to provide benefit well into the future.
And, we’ve done all of this while engaging foundation funding-partners to cover administrative and other costs so that 100% of any 3for5 water donations could fund on-the-ground project costs that directly help those in need.
But, despite all of these accomplishments, we -- the board of directors -- have decided to bring the 3for5 experiment to a close.
There are several key reasons for this decision, but two that we think are most important to relate.
First, running a non-profit takes a significant amount of time, energy, and resources. When we initially created 3for5, we envisioned an organization that could harness large groups of people donating small amounts of money, all of which we could connect with our partners. The reality is this vision never fully scaled, making it difficult to prove the value of 3for5 as an entity operating in-between our donors (that’s you) and the organizations actually doing the work “on the ground” (our water-partners).
Second, because of the above, we each began to realize that it would be more efficient to advocate for water directly on behalf of existing clean-water charities who also need their message and brand to connect with donors. To that end, we as a board have decided that our energies and attention would be better served if we simply continued our clean-water advocacy as individuals, supporting other established non-profits in this space.
We feel strongly about this, and would like to urge you to do the same. Just because 3for5 is coming to an end, the water crisis is not. There are still countless millions of people who need access to clean water, and we have great water partners that still need your support. So please sign-up and donate to them directly.
Finally, other non-profits in this space are doing amazing work as well. If you’re interested, check out Blood:Water, charity:water, and water.org, among others.
It has been a pleasure guiding and nurturing the organization we all know as “3for5,” especially knowing we’ve been able to make the impact we have made with you -- our donors...our friends.
Thank you for supporting us and our cause. The journey isn’t over yet, but is instead beginning anew.
Sincerely,
David, Lenee, Anthony, Dawn, Scott, and Vince
The Board of Directors of the 3for5 Foundation
The 3for5 Foundation will cease operations after December 31st, 2014.
Running a non-profit takes a significant amount of time, energy, and resources. When we initially created 3for5, we envisioned an organization that could harness large groups of people donating small amounts of money that we could connect with our partners. The reality is this vision never fully scaled, making it difficult to prove the value of 3for5 as an entity operating in-between our donors and our partners -- the organizations actually doing the work “on the ground.”
Because of this, we as a board have decided that our energies and attention would be better served if we simply continued our clean-water advocacy as individuals, supporting other established non-profits in this space directly instead of via 3for5.
Every dollar that has thus far been donated to 3for5 for clean water projects has been granted to one of our water partners. You can read more about those projects on our website. That said, we are still accepting donations through June 30th, 2014. After that, we plan to make a final grant to one of our water partners with any newly donated funds as well as the remaining monies that were designated for operating the foundation.
FAQ About the 3for5 Shutdown
What’s Happening?
The 3for5 Foundation will cease operations after December 31st, 2014.
Why have we made this decision?
Running a non-profit takes a significant amount of time, energy, and resources. When we initially created 3for5, we envisioned an organization that could harness large groups of people donating small amounts of money that we could connect with our partners. The reality is this vision never fully scaled, making it difficult to prove the value of 3for5 as an entity operating in-between our donors and our partners -- the organizations actually doing the work “on the ground.”
Because of this, we as a board have decided that our energies and attention would be better served if we simply continued our clean-water advocacy as individuals, supporting other established non-profits in this space directly instead of via 3for5.
What Will Happen to My Donations?
Every dollar that has thus far been donated to 3for5 for clean water projects has been granted to one of our water partners. You can read more about those projects on our website. That said, we are still accepting donations through June 30th, 2014. After that, we plan to make a final grant to one of our water partners with any newly donated funds as well as the remaining monies that were designated for operating the foundation.
When is the Last Day 3for5 Can Accept Donations?
June 30th, 2014.
I Still Want to Donate to Clean Water Projects after June 30th. What Should I Do?
We feel strongly about continuing to donate to clean-water charities, and would like to urge you to do the same. Just because 3for5 is coming to an end, the water crisis is not. There are still countless millions of people who need access to clean water, and there are many great water charities who still need resources to help people in need.
We feel strongly about continuing to donate to clean-water charities, and would like to urge you to do the same. Just because 3for5 is coming to an end, the water crisis is not. There are still countless millions of people who need access to clean water, and there are many great water charities who still need resources to help people in need.
Please consider donating directly to any of the following Water charities:
- Children’s Hope Chest: http://www.hopechest.org/
- Water for People: http://waterforpeople.org/
- Blood:Water: http://www.bloodwater.org/
- charity: water: http://www.charitywater.org/
- water.org: http://water.org
of the 5 shallow wells is complete and construction of the 7 new borehole wells is on track to be complete by the end of December 2010. Each of these wells is fitted with an Afridev hand pump. Village level water committees have been formed in all twenty of the borehole project sites and are receiving training on operation and maintenance of the Afridev hand pump. Additional training on committee procedures, roles and responsibilities of committee members and financial management of the system will take place during the implementation of the well. Committee members are working at mobilizing and educating the community on the importance of paying water tariffs to ensure the committee can pay for spare parts and maintenance of the system in the future. In addition to community need, Water For People is also facilitating the installation of wells in five primary schools.
Water For People-Malawi participated in the production of the Chikhwawa District WASH Strategic Investment Plan (DSIP). This plan will support the institutionalization of the National Water Point Mapping database as a planning tool for Chikhwawa District Assembly. The database will help the district assembly to more accurately track community needs and responses to these needs. Water For People-Malawi also worked to develop a Citizen’s Action Initiative to enhance transparency, accountability in resource allocation, and delivery of water supply and sanitation service in the district. In 2010, the Chikhwawa WASH District Strategic Investment Plans were disseminated; the plans are being shared with different stakeholders and potential donors that want to work in the Chikhwawa District.