Build 1 Well

One of the great things about Kiva, Prosper, and Donors Choose is that donors get to select the projects they fund. Giving is much more personal when you know the recipient of your gift and how it will be used. 1 Well has taken this concept and combined it with giving teams in a whole new way.

1 Well is a nonprofit that connects "socially conscious individuals, groups, and businesses" with residents of "communities in high need areas of the world" to "partner to build critical life-sustaining projects - wells, toilets, childcare centers, etc - that meet the basic needs of poor communities and give them the opportunity to work for a living wage."

For example, according to 1well.org, "A 1Well project in Vachharajpur, India, provided clean drinking water for more than 550 villagers. Women have started small businesses because they no longer walk five hours a day to collect potable water. Another 1Well project in Sedla, India, provided irrigation water for more than 100 farming families, improving the quality and quantity of their crops, reducing their costs by 75 percent and providing jobs for those who would otherwise migrate in search of work."

Isn't that a great way to make a difference? If you think so, then you can take financial responsibility for a 1 Well project 1 Well project. Sign up to be the social venture capitalist for a project that will raise $2,900 for a solar lantern manufacturing and repair facility in Haji Bhachudiwandh, Gujarat, India. Or manage the effort to raise $1,000 to build a classroom in Ica City, Ica, Peru.

You can sell baked goods, organize a road race, host a silent auction, or use other activities to raise money for the project you are sponsoring. When the project is complete, you'll know you played a key role in making it happen.

So visit 1well.org, select the project you want to fund, then choose the methods you will use to raise money for it. Your efforts will make a difference for years to come.

"The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit." - Benjamin Jowett, 1817-1893