Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in May 2012.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
72 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
7 people listed on the 990; $165K paid to officers and key staff.
Carrie Ward’s $94K as Executive Director is at the 29th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3868 $1–10M human services nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 2 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carrie Ward | $94,384 | $91,801 | $89,276 | $84,000 | $84,000 | $84,000 |
| Stephen Roese | $88,314 | $82,381 | $81,751 | $81,600 | $81,100 | $75,600 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See Water Is Basic executive salaries →Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aNo
Programs and updates
Brings clean drinking water to impoverished families globally, focusing on Africa.
Questions for Water Is Basic
Your first name shows with your question. Water Is Basic answers here, for everyone.
Construction of water wells in south sudan
Consulting services that teach how to setup and organize operations for constructing and maintaining water wells in under-developed areas
Ancillary support services provided to local communities in connection with receiving new water wells
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $177K | $152K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $0 | $0 |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $269K | $293K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $7K | $23K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $262K | $271K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $443K | $443K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $225K | $110K | $28K | $88K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $15K | $4K | $7K | $3K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $13K | $0 | $13K | $0 |
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $15K | $0 | $7K | $7K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $25K | $5K | $0 | $20K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $46K | $8K | $7K | $30K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $5K | $0 | $4K | $442 |
| TravelLn 17 | $59K | $33K | −$3K | $28K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $54K | $40K | $0 | $15K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $899K | $644K | $63K | $192K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 LatestFiled with the IRS Apr 20, 2026 | $1.5M | $1.3M | $183K | $440K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024Filed with the IRS Oct 12, 2025 | $1.3M | $1.2M | $71K | $257K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS May 15, 2024 | $938K | $1.2M | −$252K | $149K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022Filed with the IRS Apr 7, 2023 | $1.1M | $979K | $130K | $401K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 ViewingFiled with the IRS May 6, 2022 | $908K | $899K | $9K | $271K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020Filed with the IRS May 17, 2021 | $655K | $627K | $28K | $262K | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $908,322 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 5 of 5 board members independent, 4 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $908,322 across 4 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $899,425 across 10 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $293,437 assets, 10 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $270,886 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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