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1.  What makes SPOUT unique?
 
There are many organizations and institutions working to provide safe water.  SPOUT is executing critical programming that will significantly improve these efforts.  SPOUT is unique in that it collectively advocates the following principles:
 
    i.  No handouts.  We empower people to get their own safe water and embrace proven development concepts such as microenterprise and microfinance. Handouts can foster dependence and often work against sustainable development.
    ii. Local solutions to a global problem.  Water is inherently a local commodity that is best managed using local resources, if sustainability is to be achieved.  SPOUT develops water treatment systems that rely on materials and skills found within the communities being empowered.  The solutions can be manufactured and sold locally by community members.
   iii. Completely effective solutions.  Many technologies that are currently marketed for providing "safe water" in economically developing regions do not actually perform to the standards set forth by WHO and other leading health organizations.  SPOUT will clearly communicate these shortcomings in its work within the communities being empowered and within the broader global development community.  SPOUT is designing technologies that will perform better while still satisfying sustainability constraints.
   iv. Big picture development.  While SPOUT's programs are executed by a water treatment gearhead, SPOUT works with and listens to experienced partners that understand the cultural and economic factors that need to be addressed in delivering sustainable solutions. 
   v.  Cutting-edge.  SPOUT is working to make existing technologies more effective and more sustainable.  SPOUT is also developing new technologies for household water treatment that are highly effective and culturally appealing.  Some of SPOUT's technologies may even be patented for licensing within industrialized regions, to create sustained revenue streams for SPOUT's charitable mission.
 
2.  Why is SPOUT a non-profit organization?
 
SPOUT is a non-profit because its founders believe that water poverty is an emergency that needs to be addressed as efficiently and sustainably as possible.  Some philosophies advocate that for-profit corporations based in industrialized regions will solve the water poverty issues in our world.  SPOUT believes that while such enterprises may play an important role, the most sustainable and immediate solutions will come from microenterprises formed within the communities being served.  SPOUT will develop and promote water treatment systems that can be built and sold by local entrepreneurs.  This approach can improve market acceptance of the products, and the local economic incentives should drive product distribution.  This approach keeps more money in the communities being served.  Using this model, SPOUT will not be "selling" its technologies, and it certainly will not be profiting from its service to the poor. 
 
However, please note that non-profit organizations can and often do seek revenue streams, aside from donations, to recover costs.  Such revenue streams are important for the sustainability of the organization and the mission itself.  Examples of potential revenue streams for SPOUT include: licensing of its Water101 video programs to educational institutions that charge tuition; execution of research in response to a grant relating to SPOUT's mission; and licensing of its future technologies for sale in industrialized regions.  Any of these revenue streams will be channeled into SPOUT's mission to alleviate water poverty in our world.
 
 
3.  How is SPOUT funded?
 
SPOUT is preparing for a fundraising campaign and hopes to provide more details soon.  SPOUT's startup funds came from the Cozad Business Plan Competition, a program facilitated by the Technology Entrepreneur Center at the University of Illinois.  More info on TEC can be found at http://www.tec.illinois.edu
 
 
4.  In what countries does SPOUT work?
 
SPOUT is currently building partnerships with organizations working in Haiti, the Domican Republic, and Mozambique.
 
 
5.  How much money is required to keep SPOUT running each year?
 
SPOUT expects annual operations to cost $85,000. 
 
 
6.  How is that money spent?
 
SPOUT will allocate its general donations to its three programs- Research, Design, and Education- with guidance from its Board of Directors.  Research funds will be spent primarily on lab equipment and labor associated with performing experiments related to SPOUT's mission.  Design funds will be spent primarily on labor and materials associated with the developing, testing, and implementation of SPOUT designs.  Education funds will be spent primarily on labor costs associated with the Water101 project.
 
 
7.  How will SPOUT measure its success?
 
 
SPOUT will establish metrics for each of its programs, with guidance from the Board and technical advisors.
 
Research programs will be measured in terms of publication outputs.
 
Design programs will be measured by the number of users of SPOUT designs.
 
Education programs will be measured by the number of Water101 users.
 
These metrics, in comparison to SPOUT's goals, will be presented in public.