ROCKBlue Steps Up in the Face of U.S. Government Funding Cuts

By Peter Macy.

This year, thanks to U.S. government funding cuts, the world’s wealthiest country and once its most generous and reliable charitable donor, quickly shed its longstanding reputation as a compassionate benefactor of low- and middle-income nations.

The Trump administration has cut off foreign aid, halted almost all U.S.-funded humanitarian programs, and significantly reduced federal grants to nonprofit organizations. 

European countries, the UK, Canada, and Japan — all of whom have historically provided significant international aid — have been forced to make difficult choices and tighten their budgets in response to major changes in U.S. policy that have impacted their national spending. There’s no one else to fill the void left by the U.S. government.

Grappling with budget cuts, large NGOs have significantly scaled back operations, closed offices, and reluctantly let go of workers, while many smaller organizations have been forced to completely shut down, reducing or eliminating vital services, crucial resources, and important jobs.

As a result, countless NGO staffers and contractors around the world who were dependent on work with U.S. government agencies, have lost their livelihoods. That means that going forward, we’ll need to adapt to new realities, put forth additional effort and invest even more in people to achieve our goals. 

While many small organizations are struggling to survive in this challenging environment, ROCKBlue’s low-overhead operating model and overwhelmingly volunteer workforce has kept us secure. And we’re even expanding!

We’re doing our part by providing opportunities to about a dozen water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) experts as volunteers to keep them professionally active. This will remove gaps in their work histories, give them a sense of purpose by continuing the lifesaving work that most of them have dedicated their careers to, and allow them to keep their eyes open for paying opportunities through our global network. 

In addition, we’re planning to take on a new utility partner in 2025 to once again increase our impact, which currently exceeds 20 million people.

Through these efforts, we’ll be able to better pursue our mission and to help serve even more people and communities with clean water and basic sanitation. I encourage other nonprofit leaders across the spectrum to follow suit and to find creative ways to continue their good work in the midst of these unprecedented challenges. 

Those in need around the world are depending on us.

Peter Macy, co-founder and president of ROCKBlue, is a WASH engineer with more than four decades of global experience.