1Well – Outlook ROSI (Return on Social Investment)

To get to Vachharajpur Villiage, you fly to Ahmedabad, the capital of Gujarat, India, take the beaten path, then turn right to the middle of nowhere. This is the path Dan Morrison, 1Well founder & executive director, took in March to visit 1Well’s first completed project—a well that now provides clean drinking water to the more than 550 villagers of Vachharajpur.

A few years ago, Dan was starting a consulting firm in Washington, D.C. after completing a master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies at the University of Chicago. India was the last place on his mind, but in September 2006, Dan met Reema Nanavaty, the rural development director for the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA). SEWA, more than three decades old, is an organization that represents one million members, some of the poorest of India’s women workers. SEWA helps these women create their own alternative employment options in order to increase their family income.



Reema invited Dan to India in December of 2006 to tour some of the villages and hear from the residents about some of their challenges. While each had his or her own innovative ideas to increase personal productivity, the villagers had common insurmountable challenges—a lack of clean drinking water, a lack of toilet and sanitation facilities, little or no childcare facilities and limited access to quality land and irrigation facilities.

Many of the stories Dan heard on his trip were startling in their simplicity and cost—to him they did not seem insurmountable. Women from Vachharajpur, for instance, told him of their five hour daily walk for clean water. This trek not only reduced their productive time, but resulted in health issues from fatigue to miscarriages. Total bill for a village well: $5,000.

Dan went home, sat at his computer, created a holiday card recounting the story, and emailed it to his friends and family. Within a week he had raised the money for one well. Within weeks, the funds were wired to SEWA and by June 2007, the Vachharajpur well was providing the villagers with daily access to clean water coming from a sustainable source that does not reduce the water table. The women Dan met are starting small enterprises that are significantly increasing their families’ incomes.

The genius behind 1Well is connecting a growing network of “SVCs” or Social Venture Capitalists—individuals investing in projects, and encouraging others to invest, who are not seeking a financial return on their investments, but rather the social rewards and opportunities made possible with access to clean water, education, nutritious food and clean energy. Dan has learned that allowing each SVC to take their own approach to fundraising, leveraging their own specific talents, has been the optimal way to ensure success in the programs. SVCs have raised money through wedding registries, races, grass root email campaigns, yoga classes, bake sales and concerts. Of the approach, Dan says, “We look forward to the next wave of innovative ideas. It is our plan to harvest the best fundraising ideas and automate them so they are available to all SVCs.”



The concept and first success of 1Well was born, but the enterprise needed legal help. So that 1Well can devote its fundraising directly to the projects, Dan turned to Akin Gump’s pro bono practice, which assists small non-profits like 1Well with a wide variety of legal needs drawing resources from an array of practices. Akin Gump lawyers, from partners to junior associates to summer associates, have assisted 1Well in addressing issues ranging from tax, corporate and international trade to labor, real estate and intellectual property. In addition, Akin Gump’s partner, Thomas McCarthy, serves as a board member for 1Well.

This wide sampling of people and practices has linked Akin Gump as a whole to 1Well’s mission and success in a unique way. The firm has been a trusted advisor at every stage of 1Well’s development. Akin Gump’s legal work has helped to bring the organization to life, and attorneys across practice groups will continue to meet its needs in the future.

Since the Vaccharajpur project, 1Well has completed four projects and has finished fundraising for five more. Eight more projects are in the fundraising phase and over two dozen more are in the initial planning phase. In Sedla, thanks to a new dam, twenty-two farmers have doubled their yields, leading to increased income and increased job opportunities for agricultural laborers. In Vera village, a childcare center has provided two teachers with income and 35 children with nutritious meals and eight hours of daily care. In addition, mothers now have the time to work and earn an income, which they are using to feed their families and send older children to school.



Dan matches the projects he identifies, through the help of SEWA, with the SVCs who are looking to control their giving experience and have a direct connection with the communities they help. In December, he set up a website—www.1well.org—that listed the projects SEWA had suggested and began looking for SVCs. Luckily, Dan explains, the SVCs have started finding 1Well.