Philanthropy

Water Equation

Invest in the next generation of water professionals. Donations to Water Equation (WE) advance the water workforce through education, training, and other opportunities.

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Great Lakes Water Authority Members

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About

Investing in the Water Workforce

Water Equation (WE) provides funding for workforce advancements, scholarships, students, young professionals, and Community Engineering Corps. WE is committed to fulfilling the critical need to ensure that the water community has the necessary workforce to provide clean and safe water to communities in North America. 100% of your donation funds programs to promote employment for the next generation of water professionals.

AWWA Water Equation is a 501c3 philanthropy.

Our Impact

WE is Advancing Every Stage of the Water Workforce Pipeline

Funding from WE supports K-12 STEM education programs, academic scholarships, operator continuing education, conference attendance, leadership development, volunteer opportunities, and more. Here is where our giving made a difference in the past year:

STEM

$ 14 K

STEM

YP Summit

$ 32 K

Students / Young Professionals

Scholarship Recipient at ACE

$ 176 K

Academic Scholarships

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$ 50 K

Operator Scholarships

CECorps-working

$ 25 K

Community Engineering Corps Projects

Water Equation Grants

$ 43 K

Grants

Students At ACE
Ways to Give

Recruiting the Best & the Brightest to the Water Community

Support WE with a one-time or recurring gift, memorial or honor gifts, bequests and planned giving, giving circles, and more. The 1881 Society recognizes cumulative WE gifts of $1,000 and above.

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What WE Fund

Creating Water Career Opportunities

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Academic Scholarships

The AWWA Scholarship program offers graduate and undergraduate academic scholarships for students pursuing careers in the water community. The scholarship applications are available from September to December of each year and are awarded in late Spring of the following year. AWWA Sections also provide scholarships for students attending universities in their geographical region.

Scholarships

Operator Scholarship

The One AWWA Operator Scholarship program provides water/wastewater operators with funding for continuing education, certification, training, and conference attendance. Scholarships are available throughout the year, and are offered in partnership with local AWWA Sections.

Apply for Operator Scholarship

Leadership Development

Water Equation offers travel scholarships to utility employees and HBCU students to attend AWWA’s YP Leader Training Day and AWWA/WEF YP Summit, to young professionals to attend DC Fly-In, to emerging utility professionals accepted to the Transformative Water Leadership Academy, and to water operators to attend the AWWA Annual Conference and Expo.

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Community Engineering Corps

Engineering with empathy! Water professionals expand their horizons by volunteering for Community Engineering Corps projects. This nonprofit organization matches teams of skilled volunteers with underserved communities across the U.S. to provide technical support for better infrastructure. The program’s founding partners are AWWA, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Engineers Without Borders-USA.

Learn More

WE Educational Scholarships

Water Equation manages a portfolio of 28 academic scholarships funded by corporate sponsors and AWWA donors, and partners with AWWA Sections to provide 50 water operator scholarships.

$ 40 K

Undergraduate Scholarships

$ 130 K

Graduate Scholarships

$ 50 K

One AWWA Operator Scholarships

Learn More

FAQs

Your AWWA Philanthropy Answers

Thank you for your interest in WE. If you have additional questions please email we@awwa.org.

Are my donations 100% tax deductible?

Yes, AWWA’s Water Equation Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, which means that all gifts are tax-exempt to the fullest extent allowed by law.

Can I donate with a credit card?

Certainly, you can donate on our website or you can call 303.347.6187. Please have your credit card ready – we accept all major credit cards (VISA, AMEX, MasterCard, Discover).

Can I make an automatic, recurring gift?

Yes, an easy and convenient monthly, quarterly, or annual recurring gift is a wonderful way to support programming funded by AWWA’s WE. To get started please visit our website and select Monthly when you make a gift.

How do I make a year-end gift?

Year-end gifts can be made at the end of each calendar year. Credit card donations must be processed through our website by 11:59pm CST on December 31. Checks must be both dated and postmarked by December 31 in order to be processed as a year-end gift.

If I chose to send my gift by mail, how should I write my check?

Please write your check to AWWA and note Water Equation on the memo line. You can also indicate how you would like to have your gift designated — Scholarship, Leadership or Community Engineering Corps —  so that we can distribute your donation accordingly. We are unable to process checks written to other organizations.

Is your online donation page safe and secure?

AWWA’s WE online donation form is operated by Classy.org, a respected industry leader in online donations. When you enter your credit or debit card information onto our secure (SSL) website, your information is encrypted and is unreadable to anyone outside the transaction process.

What are the foundation’s administrative costs?

100% of your gift is designated to our programming. AWWA pays all administrative costs for the philanthropy.

What does my donation support?

You can apply your donations to different programs by marking your gifts as unrestricted or restricted.

  • Unrestricted gifts are among the most valuable because they allow us to allocate the funds wherever the need is greatest.
  • Restricted gifts allow you to designate your gift to a specific program, grant, scholarship, or endowment. When you designate your gift, you enjoy the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting a program that is personally meaningful to you.

What is AWWA’s Water Equation Employer Identification Number (EIN)?

Please use 13-5660277 for your tax needs.

IRA Charitable Rollover

Making a gift through your IRA is a simple process that allows you to do more with your charitable dollars. If you have not considered it before, see below to learn more about this opportunity to support AWWA’s WE.

What is an IRA Charitable Rollover?

An IRA Charitable Rollover is a provision giving certain donors the opportunity to exclude transfers of Individual Retirement Account (IRA) assets from their taxable income when transferring gifts directly to public charities.

Who can participate and how much can they give?

In December 2015, Congress passed the IRA Charitable Rollover, allowing those over age 70½ to transfer up to $100,000 per year from their IRA accounts to charities like the AWWA WE without first having to recognize the distribution as income. More recently, two newer changes in legislation may affect your charitable giving: the SECURE Act and the CARES Act.

How do I make an IRA Charitable Rollover to AWWA WE?

Share the IRA custodial letter with your IRA custodian to share your intent to make a charitable rollover gift. Your custodian will work directly with the foundation to distribute your gift. Please also contact Water Equation at we@awwa.org to share your intent. We want to ensure your gift is designated correctly and confirm how you would like to be recognized.

What gifts qualify for an IRA Charitable Rollover?

A qualified charitable contribution would be:

  • Made from a donor age 70 ½ or older.
  • Transferred directly from an IRA to a public charity, such as the AWWA Water Equation.
  • Completed within the applicable tax year.

What are the benefits and limitations of this opportunity?

The only benefit a donor receives from making an IRA Charitable Rollover gift is not having to recognize the distribution as income. There is no tax deduction for this type of gift. A qualifying rollover gift can help satisfy your required minimum distribution for the year. However, a donor’s charitable gifts made by an IRA rollover cannot exceed $100,000 in one tax year.

Why might I choose to make a gift through an IRA rollover?

This might be a good option for you if:

  • You have significant assets in an IRA.
  • You are making large gifts in relation to your income.
  • You have so few deductions that you choose not to itemize.

Is the charitable IRA rollover right for me?

An IRA Charitable Rollover gift is a great option for donors who qualify; however, there are other tax-advantaged charitable planning vehicles that may provide additional benefits. While the AWWA staff cannot provide legal or tax advice, we can visit with you about options available to meet your charitable and financial goals.

When can I make a gift with an IRA rollover?

To complete a required minimum distribution for 2024, transfers must be complete by December 31. To count towards a required minimum distribution for 2025, transfers may be made January 1 to December 31. Contact your IRA administrator for more information.

What legislative changes could affect my charitable giving?

The SECURE (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) Act changed the age requirements for required minimum distributions (RMDs): if you reached the age of 70 ½ in 2019, you were required to take your first RMD by April 1, 2020. If you reach age 70 ½ in 2020 or later you must take your first RMD by April 1 of the year after you reach 72. The CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act suspends the requirements for RMDs for the 2020 tax year.

Can I still make the AWWA Water Equation a beneficiary of my IRA?

Yes, naming AWWA as a beneficiary of your IRA is a simple way to honor our sisterhood in your estate plans, regardless of your decision to make an IRA rollover gift. Doing so will also make you a member of the AWWA’s Planned Giving Society.

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