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Delaware · Nonprofit

WATER IS LIFE KENYA

WATER IS LIFE KENYA (Delaware) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,082,637 to it, the largest being NETWORK FOR GOOD ($304,222). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2025
$1.1M
Funders on record
16
Grants received
$1.1M
Net assets
$681k
12/16 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 50%
01What it does

What Water Is Life Kenya does

Mission

Spark personal, economic, and community development in marginalzied communities in kenya through clean water access (wash program), livestock training and loans (livestock as a business), wowens entrepreneurship (hope for widows), and supporting family imcomes (beaded handicraft

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

On its FY2025 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.

During 2025, the organization began operating its Youth Entrepreneurship Program (YEP), which provides entrepreneurship training and support to youth in Kenya.

Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).

  1. WATER, SANITATION, AND HYGIENE (WASH) PROGRAM. Water is Life Kenya works to improve access to clean and reliable water for marginalized communities in Kenya. During 2025, WILK supported clean-water projects including WILK-TEC projects, the Lositeti Community Borehole, the Global Linkages Water Project, St. Philips Water Project, and Anderson Foundation/Kimana Girls projects. These activities support improved health, education, livelihoods, and long-term community development.

    $255,982 spent
    41% of program spending
  2. HOPE FOR WIDOWS (HFW) PROGRAM. Water is Life Kenyas Hope for Widows program supports Maasai widows through entrepreneurship, business training, livelihood-development activities, and ongoing guidance designed to increase financial independence, household income, and economic resilience.

    $87,953 spent
    14% of program spending
  3. LIVESTOCK AS A BUSINESS (LAB) PROGRAM. Water is Life Kenyas Livestock as a Business program supports Maasai livestock farmers through training, livestock-management education, and business-development activities designed to improve productivity, household income, food security, and long-term economic resilience.

    $81,285 spent
    13% of program spending
  4. OTHER (1) - COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT/SPECIAL PROJECTS. Including the Global Linkages Legacy Garden and Kimana Girls Fence.

    $58,408 spent
    9% of program spending
  5. OTHER (1) - COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT/SPECIAL PROJECTS. Including the Global Linkages Legacy Garden and Kimana Girls Fence.

    $58,408 spent
    9% of program spending
  6. BEADED HANDICRAFTS. The beaded handicraft program supports income-generating opportunities for Kenyan artisans.

    $46,056 spent
    7% of program spending
  7. YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAM. YEP provides entrepreneurship training and support to youth.

    $17,787 spent
    3% of program spending
  8. EDUCATION AND ADDITIONAL SUPPORT. Education activities provide sponsorships and related assistance.

    $16,135 spent
    3% of program spending

The 8 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $622,014.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($279k) Expenses 100 ($264k) Net assets 100 ($90k)2018 Revenue 111 ($310k) Expenses 108 ($286k) Net assets 85 ($77k)2019 Revenue 115 ($321k) Expenses 135 ($357k) Net assets 47 ($42k)2020 Revenue 147 ($411k) Expenses 120 ($318k) Net assets 149 ($135k)2021 Revenue 149 ($416k) Expenses 146 ($386k) Net assets 183 ($165k)2022 Revenue 100 ($278k) Expenses 129 ($340k) Net assets 114 ($103k)2023 Revenue 215 ($599k) Expenses 149 ($393k) Net assets 342 ($309k)2024 Revenue 249 ($694k) Expenses 235 ($621k) Net assets 423 ($382k)2025 Revenue 399 ($1.1M) Expenses 307 ($813k) Net assets 754 ($681k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (399)Expenses (307)Net assets (754)

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $389k to $683k (+76%).

$102k
$85k
$47k
$152k
$178k
$108k
$316k
$389k
$683k
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$14k
’17
$24k
’18
−$35k
’19
$92k
’20
$31k
’21
−$62k
’22
$206k
’23
$73k
’24
$298k
’25
9.8
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Chief executive

Margaret J Tannian

Executive director

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed109109999105
Joined·+2+2+3+0+0+0+1+0
No longer listed·31400005
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $44k → $142k.

8 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 54% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of WATER IS LIFE KENYA’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

WATER IS LIFE KENYA has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 28% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left

54% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund WATER IS LIFE KENYA.

28%
largest funder
67%
top three
~6
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 57% · 2018 60% · 2019 45% · 2020 50% · 2021 43% · 2022 44% · 2023 44% — diversifying over time.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

67% of WATER IS LIFE KENYA's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 75% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

54% of WATER IS LIFE KENYA's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $500k that is directly attributable, 76% of it comes from funders outside Delaware, across 7 states.

MN
NY
MA
PA
CA
DE
TX

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Delaware out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $583k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Organizations like WATER IS LIFE KENYA

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Delaware

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

77% of spending goes to programs.

Program 77%Management 19%Fundraising 5%

Governance

6
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

73%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

DE

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WATER IS LIFE KENYA: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

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Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds WATER IS LIFE KENYA?
WATER IS LIFE KENYA (Delaware) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,082,637 to it, the largest being NETWORK FOR GOOD ($304,222). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does WATER IS LIFE KENYA have?
IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $1,082,637 in grants to WATER IS LIFE KENYA, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of WATER IS LIFE KENYA?
NETWORK FOR GOOD is the largest funder on record, with $304,222 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like WATER IS LIFE KENYA find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Delaware. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

Play a game about who funds Water Is Life Kenya →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 16 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing