By Nicole Wickenhauser, Pacific Institute, and Alyna Wyatt, BHP Foundation
Through a long-standing partnership working to advance water equity and resilience, the Pacific Institute and BHP Foundation have learned that some of the most transformative work happens behind the scenes. In this article, Nicole Wickenhauser and Alyna Wyatt share why funding that work matters.
A rising need and a widening gap
Water is increasingly moving from the edges of climate conversation to its center. Droughts are deepening, floods are growing more intense, and the systems communities depend on for clean, reliable water are under more strain every year. These challenges fall unevenly across communities. The people who feel them first and most acutely are those whose water security has too often been treated as a problem to address later, if at all.
In the United States, more than 2 million people still lack running water or basic plumbing at home. The burden falls unevenly: a 2024 study found that in twelve of the country’s fifteen largest cities, people of color made up the majority of those going without.
As the need for reliable water continues to rise, the resources to meet it are not keeping pace. Globally, the World Bank estimates it would take about $114 billion a year simply to bring everyone safe water and sanitation, and that figure covers only new infrastructure, not the cost of keeping systems running. Amount needed, by comparison, hovers near three times more than what is currently being applied each year to solve the water crisis. Funding has also grown more competitive, and the dollars that do move tend to follow the projects that are easiest to see, count, and photograph.
The result is a widening gap between the scale of the challenge and the funding available to meet it. Closing this gap means drawing in many kinds of funding, from public investment to private capital. It also means using philanthropic dollars where they count most, as a catalyst that proves what works and unlocks far larger pools of capital behind it.
Hidden beneath the surface: why some of the most vital water work is the hardest to fund
Some of the most important work in water leaves little to photograph. There are no ribbon cuttings for stronger partnerships, no dramatic before-and-after images for better data, and no viral social media posts about years spent building trust. Yet without these foundations, many of the visible successes we celebrate would never happen.
At the Pacific Institute, our work is evidence-based and built to last. This includes our research, analysis, and the steady work of building trust with communities and decision-makers. This kind of work competes for a remarkably small pool of funding. Environmental causes draw only around 3 percent of all charitable giving in the United States, and water is a fraction of that. Yet the Pacific Institute’s work is precisely where flexible philanthropy is most needed and catalytic because it strengthens the foundation upon which other (more visible) impact is built. For example, it’s the difference between helping to establish the Human Right to Water (not visible, long-term work) adopted by the UN, versus installing a water pump in a village to provide the water (tangible and visible).
BHP Foundation invests in this kind of long-term, outcome-based work. It supports the evidence, relationships, and capacity that make better outcomes possible across many years and many partners.
When a funder invests in that groundwork, they are enabling impact that endures rather than a single result.
Scaling with integrity through long-term partnership
As the need grows, the temptation is to grow as quickly as possible to meet it. We have upheld a different standard; one we would call scaling with integrity. It means building support in ways that protect the mission rather than bending it, which in practice means only taking on work that aligns with our core focus, where we can do the most good.
Long-term, flexible support makes responsible growth possible. It allows the work to evolve and stay nimble as conditions change, rather than locking it into the assumptions made at the beginning of a grant. A strong research and evidence base, built through the BHP Foundation’s sustained support, has become a springboard that inspires new funders to join. A nationwide assessment supported by the BHP Foundation, for example, opened doors for others looking to invest in state-level assessments, extending the reach of the original investment well beyond its own scope. One steady commitment opens multiple new doors. This is where philanthropic dollars can be strategic levers, not by trying to cover the whole need, but by proving what works and drawing far larger pools of capital along with it.
That same steady partnership with BHP Foundation also led us to convene a growing community of practice, where partners learn from one another, share what is working, and surface new funding opportunities together. The value here is not only in any single project but in the network of trust that collects around the work.
This is the heart of what we have learned together. The most meaningful philanthropy, in the end, is not only about funding outputs. It is about enabling change through building and sustaining the evidence, trust, and capacity that make real impact. This is built slowly and through mutual commitment, over years, and they hold their value only when the partnership behind them is steady. A funder that stays for the long term not only supports the work that gets done this year but also creates the conditions that allow good work to continue growing over time.
If philanthropy only funds what is easiest to see, it risks overlooking the very work that makes long-term change possible. We invite you to join us in sustaining the evidence, trust, and capacity required for lasting impact.