At the turn of the year, we developed a new strategic plan designed to scale our work to new heights, and I want to share with you why I am so invested in it.
In the nonprofit sector, growth usually means doing more of the same: doubling your revenue to double your impact. But for us, the 2026–2028 Strategic Plan is about true scaling. While we are increasing our revenue by 45%, we are doubling our impact by doing the work more efficiently. This is made possible by a significant reduction in our cost per person, which allows us to serve more people for less and ensures every dollar goes further. Ultimately, this drives a fundamental shift in how we serve.
For the past few years, we’ve been doing the quiet, unglamorous work of preparation. We integrated teams across seven countries, moved a headquarters office to Addis Ababa to be closer to our work, and built a digital infrastructure that allows a global team to operate as one.
We went through the inevitable growing pains of a merger and restructuring because we knew that without a rock-solid foundation, scaling is just a fast way to fall off a cliff.
Now that the foundation is set, we’re ready to scale.
Addressing the Sustainability Gap
The reality of the global water crisis is sobering. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, up to 60% of water points are broken and eventually abandoned—up to 25% of them within just two years of being built.
We recently did a study in northern Ethiopia of 2,400 water points serving 2 million people, and we found that only 18% of the water points were fully functional, 32% of the water points were partially functional, and 50% were not functional. Beyond the broken infrastructure, the sector often focuses too much on water alone, neglecting the essential balance of water, sanitation, and hygiene.
We refuse to accept that as the status quo.
Our model currently maintains a 90% functionality rate, and in the areas we have worked, we have observed a median reduction in childhood diarrhea of 90%. But we realize that we can’t reach everyone by only doing the work ourselves. The advantage of our new plan is that we are breaking our Vision of a Healthy Village (VHV) model into its core components—new water access, community health, and operations and maintenance—to help other organizations fill their own gaps. By providing resources and training to others, we multiply our impact without needing to own every result.
2.6 Million Faces
When I look at our goal to serve 2.6 million people annually by 2028, I don’t see a spreadsheet. I see faces.
I think of the girl I met who wanted to be a doctor but couldn’t attend school because she was spending her days fetching water. Today, she is in the classroom. Every one of the 2.6 million people we aim to serve represents a life opened to new possibilities. By ensuring access to safe water, we are making way for children to stay in school, families to remain healthy, and communities to build a thriving future.
A New Era of Partnership
To our long-time supporters: thank you for sticking with us through our time of preparation. I know that talk of mergers, infrastructure, and technology solutions isn’t always the most compelling part of the story. But that work is what has allowed us to lower the cost per person served and increase our efficiency.
We aren’t here to be the hero of these stories. The people in the villages we walk alongside own their own transformations; they are the ones who sustain the change. We are simply equipping them, and our global partners, with the tools to make that transformation possible.
We’re playing the long game.
By
Dave LeVan
CEO, Water For Good
