Motivating Others to Contribute: Promoting the Cause of Water Charities

Water is a fundamental element of life, yet about 2 billion people (26% of the world's population) don’t have access to safe drinking water. Studies show that every year, approximately 443,000 children under five suffer from diarrheal diseases due to dirty or unhygienic water consumption.

Fairaction - an Australian water charity organization is working tirelessly to establish smart water projects in Nigeria and other developing regions to make a difference for the less fortunate. But we can’t do it alone. Join us on this journey and see how we encourage kind souls for clean water donations. Together, we can ensure that clean water flows freely to every corner of the world—because no one should suffer the consequences of water poverty.

Charity is about helping and supporting others by willingly offering money, skills, or time. These three forms of giving play an important role in building stronger communities and improving lives, whether in a donor’s own neighborhood, state, country, or even globally. Through charity, people show care and concern for those who are less fortunate or affected by challenges like sickness or deaths caused by waterborne diseases.

Charitable giving is often considered one of the most rewarding activities because everyone involved gains something from it. Donors experience both personal satisfaction and sometimes physical benefits through their generosity. Most charity work is based on the concept of altruism. Altruism means caring for the well-being of others more than yourself and helping without expecting any reward. It involves showing kindness, compassion, and empathy to people or groups, no matter their race, gender, or background.

Encouraging people to support water charities is not just about collecting donations – it’s about inspiring action, raising awareness, and helping others see the urgent need for clean water. In this blog, we’ll discuss ways to motivate people to join water charity efforts, including sharing impactful stories.

The global water crisis has been a long-standing problem, but many don’t grasp just how critical it is right now. To support water charities, it’s important to present the issue by emphasizing its serious short-term and long-term impacts. Each day without action endangers more lives through waterborne diseases, droughts, conflicts over limited resources, and unsustainable project implementation.

Countries around the world are worried about the impact of unsafe drinking water because waterborne diseases cause many illnesses and deaths. These diseases happen when people come in contact with harmful germs in dirty or polluted water. People can get sick from bathing, washing, drinking, or cooking with this water, or eating food made with it. Diarrheal diseases are the most common, especially among children in poorer countries.

In 2022, globally, at least 1.7 billion people used a drinking water source contaminated with feces. Microbial contamination of drinking water as a result of contamination with feces poses the greatest risk to drinking water safety. Microbiologically contaminated drinking water can transmit diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and polio and is estimated to cause approximately 505,000 diarrhoeal deaths each year. The World Health Organization says each year diarrhoea kills around 443,832 children under 5 and an additional 50,851 children aged 5 to 9 years. Globally, there are nearly 1.7 billion cases of childhood diarrhoeal disease every year.

To reduce these numbers, efforts have been made to provide clean water, and now over 90% of the world’s population has access to better water sources. But around 785 million people still do not have basic water services. There are still big gaps between urban and rural areas and between richer and poorer groups. Another problem is that many water projects in developing countries don’t last because they lack proper planning, funding, and maintenance.

Every day that passes without action, more lives are put at risk due to waterborne diseases, and conflicts over scarce resources, and climate change is making the problem worse, as extreme weather events like floods and droughts disrupt water supplies and put more strain on vulnerable communities. It’s important to emphasize that the time to act is running out, and without quick action, future generations will face even bigger problems.

Water is not only a humanitarian concern – it’s also an environmental and economic one. We encourage donors to view their support as an investment in the future, not only for those struggling with water shortages but for the overall stability of the world.

At the heart of every successful water charity campaign is a powerful narrative. People are motivated by stories that make them feel connected to a cause, especially when those stories highlight real human experiences. To inspire others to contribute, it’s essential to share the stories of the people whose lives are impacted by water scarcity.

For us at Fairaction, through our smart water infrastructure, we have been able to restore good health in Abeku. The people were finally able to focus on their daily lives. Farmers had the energy to care for their livestock, and traders no longer had to close their stalls due to illness. Some women were freed from the daily struggle of fetching water. Overall, productivity in the village soared.

Earlier in 2020, when our researchers visited the Abeku community, families faced a daily battle to access safe water. They relied on seasonal shallow wells, which were only temporary solutions. During the rainy season, these wells often became flooded and contaminated, mixing dirt and waste into the water. As a result, outbreaks of waterborne diseases were common, and many villagers reported painful body rashes from using the polluted water. When the dry season came, the wells dried up completely, forcing residents to walk long distances to access safe water or collect water from unsafe sources.

Our sustainable smart water infrastructure didn’t just bring clean water – it brought stability, health, and new opportunities for the people of Abeku. It broke the cycle of hardship and gave the community a chance to build a brighter, healthier future. This is exactly what intervention is capable of when donors support water charity efforts.

While emotional stories are powerful, sharing individual personal experiences about water scarcity helps potential donors connect on a deeper level and see the real-life impact of their contributions. People want to know that their support will change someone’s life, so highlighting personal stories about how water scarcity affects families and communities is essential.

Our founder at Fairaction, experienced first-hand the struggles that come with water poverty. These personal experiences drove his passion to start Fairaction. He realized that clean water is not just a basic need; it is essential for health, education, and opportunity. His journey fuels his commitment to providing access to safe water for communities experiencing similar challenges, ensuring that no one else has to endure the same struggles he faced.

Additionally, fostering a sense of community can be a strong motivator for getting others involved. People are more likely to engage in a cause when they feel connected to a larger group working toward the same goal. We can encourage collaborative efforts by creating opportunities for friends, families, schools, or workplaces to unite and support water charities together. This shared involvement makes each person feel part of a bigger movement, increasing the impact of their contributions.