Giving Compass' Take:

• TriplePundit discusses how business can be a useful tool for compassionate works around the world, citing the example of LifeStraw, which helped deliver clean water to one million kids in Kenya.

• Which efforts at corporate social responsibility have true impact? This article emphasizes the importance of transparency and long-term commitments. Many companies would do well to follow such a model.

• For more on how to be a CSR leader, check this out.

Earlier this year, a small army of volunteers and a local, on-the-ground workforce spread out through rural Kenya in one final push to meet its objective: ensuring that one million school children have access to safe drinking water, a goal set only four years prior.

In schools spread across the Kenyan countryside, workers installed LifeStraw Community water filters at nearly 1700 schools through LifeStraw’s Follow the Liters retail program. That’s more than 10,600 installations, so far.

But you’ve heard this before, right? Or something like it. Buy one and we’ll donate one to someone in need (likely just a random shipment of stuff) or we donate 5 percent of every purchase to charity (who knows? follow the money. good luck).

You are right to be skeptical. You should be. But this isn’t that, and here’s a quick rundown why:

  • It’s not a one-for-one program: Retail products support humanitarian outreach and impact, not just products. This isn’t a “shop and drop” one-off program.
  • Longterm community involvement: LifeStraw maintains a local presence of 35 people on the ground, assessing needs, monitoring usage, and population health, educating teachers and children about why hygiene and clean water are so important. Staff members visit each school about six times a year for at least five years.
  • Transparency: Ongoing and open data. Daily data on each installation is collected by 60 cell phones. Using mobile survey platforms collect data on product performance, usage and education rates as well as monitor repairs, maintain inventory data, and capture personal stories. Like the name says, follow the liters.

Read the full article about LifeStraw and business as a tool for compassion by Thomas Schueneman at TriplePundit.