Charity: water reminded us all that it's truly the season of abundance by raising major funds for those who go without the world's most basic need -- water.
The nonprofit, which supports clean water projects in some of the world's poorest areas, raised more than $4 million in a single night of fundraising Monday at the eighth annual charity:ball at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York.
The funds will be allocated to Malawi, where 16 percent of people lack access to water and 47 percent lack access to sanitation, according to the nonprofit. The organization will be able to provide clean water to 250 villages in Malawi, charity:water digital director Paull Young told the Huffington Post. These clean water projects will serve more than 60,000 people in a nation where half the population lives below the poverty line.
The breakdown in donations from Monday's event amounts to $1 million from corporate sponsorships and ticket sales and another $3 million in fundraising, according to Young.
Charity: water, which raised $33 million altogether in 2012, is known for its innovative approach in terms of tech, design and transparency. It shares the impact it creates with donors' dollars through photos, GPS coordinates, videos and social media.
"We've always been more like a startup than a charity," Scott Harrison, charity:water founder and a former nightclub promoter, told HuffPost last year. "Designs allows us to make a complicated issue, such as the water crisis, simple and accessible."
And the organization applies the same outside-the-box philosophy to raising money. This year's ball included offering guests the opportunity to take part in a Water Walk installation, carrying cans full of water to experience what it's like for people who lack access in the developing world. For each guest who walked, the Caterpillar Foundation donated $1,000.
Guests also raised $2 million in less than 30 minutes during a live auction.
Good going, guys!
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