Tennessee · Nonprofit
World Water Project
World Water Project (Tennessee) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,194,856 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($2,936,841). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $897k
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $3.2M
- Net assets
- $102k
What World Water Project does
Mission
World Water Project is a team of social entrepreneurs who strive to deliver the world's best home water filter to those in the developing world. It is organized exclusively as a supporting organization for the benefit of, to perform functions of, or to carry out the purposes of, the Knoxville Christian Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
World Water Project engages in several projects, primarily focusing on helping the poor and marginalized in Uganda and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are no employees as the work is primarily accomplished through the work of volunteers. In 2024, approximately 30 individuals went on a mission trip to Uganda on five separate occasions throughout the year. Overall, the cumulative impact of our work touches over 10,000 individuals. In 2024, the organization funded and built a new clinic in East Africa that will serve the poor and underserved. Basic medical care and obstetrics (birthing) are the main services provided along with a pharmacy. World Water Project also continues to provide support to the Ida Harris Medical Clinic in Kidongola, Uganada built in 2023. It is the primary financial supporter of this clinic and the staff have been able to service over 5,000 medical visits and facilitate the birth of 300 children in 2024.
$308,953 spentof which $261,820 as grants38% of program spendingWorld Water Project solely supports the work of the Jesus Leaders Network (JLN), a Christian discipleship ministry that reaches several major cities around Uganda. Over 200 small groups that represent over 1,000 people meet on a weekly basis to study materials provided by the ministry. In addition, the JLN staff provide leadership, organization, and oversight for this growing ministry.
$182,328 spentof which $169,075 as grants22% of program spendingWorld Water Project through its TivaWater project, aims to provide clean drinking water to the poorest people in the developing world. In 2024, World Water Project delivered and distributed TivaWater filters to families in Uganda and Guatemala. This unique biosand water filter can be used for over ten years and improves the quality of life of the families that receive these filters. The WWP teams routinely make vistis to homes that use the filters to assess the success of the program.
$132,851 spentof which $127,032 as grants16% of program spendingWorld Water Project provides funding and consulting services for Embrace Children's Foundation, a child sponsorship ministry that serves 160 children. The program provides full payment of school fees, a weekly Saturday discipleship program, and medical and family support services to the families. All of the children/families live in the slums of Kampala and live on only a few dollars per day.The organization also provides support and mentoring for several indigenously owned businesses in Uganda.
$193,702 spentof which $161,311 as grants24% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $817,834.
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. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $273k to $80k (−71%).
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.
104% of World Water Project’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (100% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
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
Douglas Harris
President/CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $362k → $387k.
7 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 World Water Project’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
World Water Project leans on a few funders — its largest provides 92% of grant income and the top three 97%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 World Water Project.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 99% · 2018 93% · 2019 94% · 2020 93% · 2021 91% · 2022 97% · 2023 90% — 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
43% of World Water Project's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% give in more than one year at all.
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
100% of World Water Project'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 $5k that is directly attributable, 98% of it comes from Tennessee funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.2M 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.
Against its field
World Water Project runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 12,816 religion nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 12,816 religion nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like World Water Project
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 Tennessee
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
100% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for World Water Project: 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.
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 World Water Project?
- World Water Project (Tennessee) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,194,856 to it, the largest being NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC ($2,936,841). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does World Water Project have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $3,194,856 in grants to World Water Project, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of World Water Project?
- NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC is the largest funder on record, with $2,936,841 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like World Water Project find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Tennessee. 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 World Water Project →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 9 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing