Consultancy: WSS Business Impact Methodology Development

Objectives of the consultancy

Water.org requests proposals from individuals or firms to develop a methodology for estimating the number of people with improved access to water and/or sanitation as a result of loans provided to water supply and/or sanitation businesses (WSS businesses). The methodology must be applicable to a wide variety of WSS business types that operate along the WSS value chain and that engage end consumers either directly or indirectly. In addition to a methodology, final deliverables include a list of relevant and collectible data points and recommendations on how to verify the reported impact.

Through this project, Water.org will have a:

• Streamlined and defensible methodology for estimating the number of people reached directly and indirectly as a result of WSS business loans. The methodology should be applicable to:
  • Multiple WSS business types
    • WSS businesses that operate along various segments of the WSS value chain
    • Multiple loan use of proceeds
    • Multiple countries
    • Updated list of attainable data points to inform the methodology taking into consideration the challenges identified above
• Recommendations for improving existing WSS business verification practices

The selected firm will need familiarity with Water.org’s strategy and activities to increase the availability of affordable financing to WSS businesses in order to improve WSS services for low-income and vulnerable populations. Water.org’s existing impact guidelines, reporting templates, previous studies on WSS business loan usage, and program staff will be made available to the selected firm or individual so that they can develop a robust and defensible methodology for estimating the number of people with improved access to water and/or sanitation, identify reportable data points, and provide recommendations for verifying reported impact.

This consultancy is entirely remote and no travel is required.

Context

Under its Financial Institutions (FI) business line, Water.org works with financial institutions around the globe to develop affordable loan products for small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) that provide water and/or sanitation services directly or indirectly to low-income and vulnerable households. Together, Water.org and the FI partners identify the demand for WSS business loans and pilot targeted loan products aimed at helping these businesses strengthen and scale their enterprises. In some cases, Water.org may work with an association of financial institutions with the goal of simultaneously helping multiple financial institutions simultaneously develop and roll out loan products targeting WSS businesses.

A key metric for Water.org is the number of people reached with improved water and/or sanitation services as a result of our work. To count as a person reached, the individuals must experience improved, rehabilitated, or maintained water and/or sanitation access as a result of Water.org’s efforts. Additionally, this impact must be verifiable.

Water.org also quantifies those who benefit from our work indirectly. People benefiting indirectly is a way to understand and communicate the number of people who experience benefits other than verifiable improved, rehabilitated, or maintained water and/or sanitation access/services. People benefiting indirectly fall under two main categories:

• Potential people reached with water and/or sanitation access/service but unverifiable
• People experiencing benefits OTHER than water and/or sanitation access / service (such as WASH education, gender equity and social inclusion, environmental benefits, etc.)

Deliverables

Key deliverables of the project are:

• An inception report outlining the proposed approach to quantifying people reached directly and indirectly and data points required.
• A documented methodology and tool for estimating the number of people reached directly and indirectly.
• Update WSS business impact guidelines incorporating the methodology.
• Updated reporting requirements (data points) from FI partners and WSS businesses to inform the methodology. The reporting requirements must be reportable by the majority of Water.org financial institution partners and/or be based on reputable secondary sources.
• Recommendations for WSS business verification strategy.

Proposed Timeline

• April 28, 2025: Proposals submitted to Water.org by 8:00am US Pacific Time.
• May 16, 2025: Firm selected
• June 9, 2025: Contract fully signed and consultancy begins
• September 30, 2025: All deliverables submitted to Water.org and consultancy complete

Qualifications

Applicants may be individuals, groups of individuals with a designated team leader, or firms. Applicants must have, at a minimum, the following qualifications:

• Demonstrated experience with WSS businesses and market-based approaches to water and sanitation access
• Demonstrated expertise in social impact measurement and verification practices
• Previous experience building measurement frameworks using data from primary and secondary data sources
• Proposed staffing plan must include at least one team member with professional-level proficiency in English