WaterAid—How technology is advancing their 2032 goal to reach 400 million more people with clean water and toilets

WaterAid is an international non-governmental organization that works in 27 countries to empower the poorest and most marginalized communities to change their lives. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 28 million people with clean water and 29 million people with decent toilets. Their vision is a world where everyone, everywhere, has sustainable and safe water, sanitation, and hygiene.

WaterAid's journey with the Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit platform has been transformative, playing a part in helping them to create a collaborative and unified approach across their UK fundraising operations, as well as forming the basis of a global federation template that can be developed on by other member organizations. It has enabled WaterAid to leverage its resources and capabilities better, continuously improving its fundraising initiatives. The organization's integrated, scalable, and adaptable solution architecture, and focus on data analytics, help drive its ambitious growth goals in line with their new strategy, while creating economies of scale.

The challenges of providing people with life-saving clean water worldwide are enormous. Today, 771 million people in the world—one in ten—do not have clean water close to home. Additionally, 1.7 billion people in the world—more than one in five—do not have access to a decent toilet of their own.¹ And every minute, a newborn dies from an infection caused by a lack of safe water and an unclean environment.²

WaterAid's approach to addressing these challenges was to create an international not-for-profit federation of seven member organizations: Australia, Canada, India, Japan, Sweden, the UK, and the US. Each member organization covers a different territory worldwide and mobilizes support in its home country, allowing WaterAid to work effectively on the ground and orchestrate collective global action. “One of the brilliant benefits of using Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit is how the system fosters more aligned and uniformed work practices. Working in a similar way makes it far easier to streamline and automate common processes,” says Gous Uddin, Head of Global CRM Transformation at WaterAid.

The journey to the cloud catalyzing collaboration across WaterAid

When Uddin first joined WaterAid, the organization was yet to identify the benefits of a long-term transformation to a scalable cloud-based solution. “My role at WaterAid is to deliver a program of work that aims to harness the power of Dynamics 365, through Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, as an enabler for process optimization, leading to greater efficiency and growth.”

Uddin recognized that his role in driving this transformation agenda also had a profound impact on WaterAid’s ways of working. For example, the introduction of Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, specifically using Dynamics 365, has encouraged greater collaboration between teams, the adoption of best practices, and the automation of manual and time-consuming activities. 

With an on-premises Dynamics solution already in use, transitioning to Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit was a “natural evolutionary step to help WaterAid achieve its ambitious new strategy,” says Jon Cole, Product Manager, Fundraising Applications at WaterAid. Furthermore, the organization had built much of its technology ecosystem on Microsoft tools, like Microsoft 365, Teams, and SharePoint, making this a “frictionless path.”

To make use of the pre-built components and custom features of Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit, WaterAid is working with Microsoft partner Kerv Digital. “Our team is able to achieve more with less investment,” says Robert Meehan, Chief Marketing Officer of Kerv Digital.  

WaterAid needed a system to support fundraising that met the specific demands of the nonprofit sector while also enabling the organization to build on innovation from other sectors. Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit proved to be a viable solution, as Uddin explains: “It gives us the best of both worlds. Microsoft is committed to supporting the non-profit sector with its rich library of templates and accelerators, while also being a leader among other industries and sectors. The result being that the product is constantly evolving and improving through ongoing development and investment.”

Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit helps WaterAid create operational efficiencies. “The economies of scale we are achieving is definitely one of the main benefits of our cloud platform,” says Uddin. “We aim to reuse, not reinvent the wheel. It’s about uniformity of processes. And the extensibility of Dynamics 365 gives us flexibility to work with third party connectors where required.”

Unlocking the power of centralized data

Access to rich data has allowed WaterAid to strengthen its fundraising approach from localized and transactional to an integrated, global effort aligned with growth strategies. Using the Microsoft Power BI tool in conjunction with WaterAid’s internally developed data warehouse has made it possible to visualize data that has been collected from over 50 sources. 

The data warehouse connects to other Microsoft platforms within WaterAid's technology ecosystem, automatically syncing information from third-party partners and fulfillment companies. This eliminates the time-consuming steps of collecting, combining, and double-checking information. “For example, when a supporter has made a donation on the WaterAid website, fundraising teams can now use the Teams connector to contact the supporter, while having visibility of their interactions and motivations for giving. This all helps to build further affinity with the cause,” explains Cole. 

Automated workflows remove much of the effort formerly required to track tasks, such as manually entering reminders and following up on ongoing projects. They also eliminate the need for a separate income management solution. “When a fundraiser takes a Gift Aid declaration from a supporter over the phone, we have workflows that will automatically generate a thank you and confirmation email to that supporter,” says Cole. “This helps to limit time spent on routine tasks, freeing up time to focus on strategically nurturing important donor relationships.”

Vision of the future

WaterAid’s vision is a world where everyone, everywhere, has access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. For Gous Uddin this means continuing the path they are on—working collaboratively across member organizations, sharing data and ideas, and making sure operations are optimized and efficient. “We have the foundation in place with Microsoft Cloud for Nonprofit and its common data model. It's a mature platform that is proven to work. One of our guiding principles is to align with Microsoft to stay on top of new ideas and capabilities.”

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2. WHO 2021.