Off Topic/Miscellaneous Subjects - Discussion

Chacharo wrote:

Kashathediva wrote:Overall in my OPINION it's pathetic.
A charity was started as a memorial for my nephew who passed away on August 5, 2012 (yes, 8 days ago) and already my brother-in-law has been able to raise 10,000 dollars that will go toward an annual scholarship in my nephew's name for a needy high school senior with aspirations of college.
8 K is better than 0 obviously and it's going to a good cause, hopefully. Maybe PW needs to hire a new PR firm or make less of a profit? (no, that would probably be cross purposes)

Thoughts and prayers with your family, Kasha. The scholarship is a wonderful way to memorialize your nephew.

Thoughts and prayers go out to the parents of this child and your family Kashathediva. Was he a high school senior too?

Kasha, please accept my deepest sympathy. I cannot even imagine the sorrow.

Yes, he was a recent 2012 HS grad and would have been leaving for college tomorrow for Univ. Oklahoma.
And thank you all for your condolences.
My point was only to re-emphasize money for charities can and are raised daily to great amounts in other ways, that was all. And we all know this anyway.

Kash, to the moon and back and all the way around the sun. I'm here for you.

Kasha: my prayers to your family and you in this time of such sorrow. It is wonderful to do something such as the charity to honor your nephew.

Kashathediva wrote:Yes, he was a recent 2012 HS grad and would have been leaving for college tomorrow for Univ. Oklahoma.
And thank you all for your condolences.
My point was only to re-emphasize money for charities can and are raised daily to great amounts in other ways, that was all. And we all know this anyway.

Kasha, to your point, my daughter gave an impassioned 3-minute speech at her school auction about the benefits of an arts education in high school, and immediately thereafter the auctioneer was able to raise $70K in the next five minutes for her school's arts department. So I agree wholeheartedly with your point, though OTOH there are different models for fundraising, and they do have different efficacies over time.

But I must add my sincerest condolences for such a tragic loss. As well as hats off to your family for so quickly set up a charity in his honor - what a great way to commemorate his wonderful life.

Kasha, dear one, I am so so sorry. My thoughts and prayers to you and yours. Heartbreaking.

From the Em/Jef tweet thread today. My understanding is that this discussion belongs here.

jlccaz wrote:

KayDee wrote:

shannonmac wrote:

nutty1 wrote:PW's latest blog:

Sometimes I am asked about the difference between People Water and other charitable organizations. People Water is not a charity nor is it a non-profit organization. We are a for-profit, cause-based business that is committed to alleviating the global water crisis. We subscribe to the concept of a double bottom line, which is the notion that beyond a company’s financial performance we should support businesses that create positive social outcomes.
At People Water, we measure success in two ways. First, as with any good business, we look to increase sales, improve margins, and generate a return for our shareholders. Second, we also measure our success based on the amount of clean water we make available. These two goals are inextricably connected. If we are successful with our first goal, we will be successful with the second. At People Water, we call this phenomenon “sustainability.” We are sincere in our desire to make a difference, and for this reason the first thing you see when you visit our office is the phrase - We are not asking you to change anything except the world. Also, while we could support a number of worthy causes, we have chosen clean water because it is a basic human need.
Rather than focusing on the amount of money we contribute to our cause, we measure our success based on how much clean water we actually make available. After all, to a person in need, it’s all about the water. An average well delivers approximately 1,000 liters of clean water a day. Based on this estimate, we meet our Drop 4 Drop commitment for that particular well after 6 months. We then look to either drill a new well, repair a well, or establish a purification system at another location. Thus, our Drop 4 Drop initiative is concerned with developing (or restoring) new sources of clean water. After a source has produced water that meets our Drop 4 Drop commitment, we proactively look for a new project. We do not count a well’s residual water output in determining whether we meet our Drop 4 Drop commitment.
I would also like to point out that we are proactive. We try to build a well prior to selling the water that will be associated with that well. I hope this shows that our social cause is just as important as our bottom line.
We are in awe of the progress made by nonprofit organization such as Generosity Water. We wholeheartedly encourage you to support their efforts. Please visit our charity partners and donate directly to them. As for our efforts at People Water, we look forward to creating the best company possible. For, as I explained above, if we build a great company, we will make a difference in the lives of thousands.

Matthew Wride
Chief Operating Officer
People Water, Inc.

Totally afraid to comment on this. But whatever- I love it. Thanks for posting Nutty.
Everyone will have different opinions on how they should be disclosing their donation- financial vs drop for drop. To each their own, I love seeing that they are doing something and we see the tangible results with the media coverage. I also love, love, love that as we have been saying all along they are not saying don't donate directly to non-profits- in fact they encourage it. Keep up the good work PW! :Smiley:

I was too! I love what he wrote.

The Forum Administrator has designated a thread to discuss People Water. http://bachandbachettefans.forumotion.com/t1443p42-off-topic-miscellaneous-subjects-discussion#373445

The foregoing statement from the COO concedes the following:

--Regardless of fluctuating gross or net sales, People Water donates $8000 per year to Generosity Water.
--The "Drop for Drop" pledge is virtually meaningless as a philanthropic pledge, given expected well outputs as compared to liter sales.
--Thankfully, it is very plainly worded: it is a for profit company looking to deliver profis to its shareholders, as it must.
-- $8000 per year will go to well charities. Big whoop. I know "anything" is "something" but this is so far from "changing the world" it is a joke.

Jlccaz, I interpreted that differently. They count each well as producing 181,000 liters of water (1,000 liters per day for six months, not counting the water produced after that). Therefore, for every 181,000 liters of water they sell, they are pledged to fund one well. So if they sell more water than that in a year, they will build more wells.

I do remember reading recently on the PW blog that they want to fund 500 wells by 2015, which is far more than $8,000 per year (and I don't know why they would publicly make a plan like that unless they were planning on following through).

Where is anybody getting $8000 a year based on a donation of $8000 by PW in April 2012?

That's one charity and one donation...I don't see anything about $8000 a year.

Daliana wrote:Where is anybody getting $8000 a year based on a donation of $8000 by PW in April 2012?

That's one charity and one donation...I don't see anything about $8000 a year.

I'm confused about that too. If this is the link people are referencing, that looks like info on a single fundraiser, not a list of everything PW has donated. It appears that at one point, PW was conducting a fundraiser where it was asking people to donate directly to Generosity, and this was the page where one would go to do that, and that amount was the amount raised through that fundraiser. It says nothing about what PW donates annually from their sales.

Aw Kash wishing you and your family comfort and togetherness during this time!

This thread is awesome btw - props for those that got it started...learning a lot here.

I just checked the generosity water site and they list people water as a "corporate" partner. I think the donation page that's "branded" people water is just a page that people water can direct their audience to generosity water to donate money directly. I think it's likely that this campaign is separate from the "drop for drop" one where that's more of a "Corporate social responsibility" (charity arm of a corporation if you're not familiar with the term) program component. Both campaigns are ways People water raise money for generosity water: 1. an ongoing fundraising campaign where ppl water audience donates through the generosity water page and 2. the "drop for drop" campaign where ppl water donates part of their profits directly to generosity water

They say: "To join us in donating click the blue button below." (translation: people water will donate (i.e. drop for drop) and if you wanna donate too you can do it on this page on generosity water)

There's nothing really unique about this "drop for drop" campaign compared to yoplait and other product's fundraising push aside from a fact that it's not a time-sensitive "campaign". On the contrary, it's a permanent commitment integrated into the business model of people water. A lot of times business' "Corporate Social Responsibility" arms are done for PR or to fit into their strategic business goals. This is nothing unique - it helps business & public perception of the business. Ideally a corporation's comprehensive business design (how they produce, how they involve customers, employers, how they transport their product, their general ethos etc etc) will also be socially responsible. (for many companies this is NOT the case). From appearances, this seems to be the case for people water in them being environmentally conscious about their product, using local manufacturing plant and staff etc.

These days, businesses are moving toward integrating social responsibility into the core of their business pushed by the craziness with the economic downturn and the increased public skepticism/trust of corporations and their singular interest in $$ & the bottom line. After the economic crisis business schools came under fire (read: blame) for fostering greedy $$ hungry approaches to business while not focusing enough on how businesses encounter the societal and environmental dimensions of their business... So these days many people talk about triple bottom line businesses (profit, social impact, environmental impact) (sorry for getting lecturer-y here didn't mean to hehe)

I think Jef's business is one iteration that's moving towards this new "socially conscious" approach to business. I'm not saying could be viable and I'm not saying it actually delivers what it promises. A good example that's very similar in the 1:1 deal is the TOM shoes model where the company gives 1 shoe per shoe they sell. The TOM shoes model has been criticized a lot cos they flood the markets of developing countries with "shoes" and so offset shoe production and pricing in the countries they're trying to help...this can be extremely counter-productive.

I don't know how People Water is spending their money re: trip, videographer, well production, water bottle production, water transportation, water sourcing, how they treat their employees, how much the higher-ups make, how much the price point for their product is actually reflective of market demands for production etc. etc. etc.... But one thing I can commend them on is by helping build infrastructure like water wells - they are doing something muchhh better than TOM's shoes. The actual social impact of those wells will however depend on how well integrated the production and maintenance of the wells is with the communities they're building them for (i guess that's generosity water's purview).

IF People water isn't really doing their due diligence but just going and donating these hip-new-age seeming water wells and calling it a day I do think their PR is misleading their customers into thinking they're "changing the world" by being a customer of people water. If they're thinking deeply about how their strategy is aligned with social and environmental factors and integrating that thinking every step of the way -- they're actually doing a lot more than what just "seems" like "doing good". Corporate Social Responsibility "PR hacks" are nothing unique...many businesses use them to get tax breaks and "seem" great to their customers....