The Impact of Ripple Effect
Elson S. Floyd
President, Washington State University
July 16, 2009

Americans are a charitable people, giving upwards of $300 billion to good causes annually. They also are practical and results-oriented; they want to put their money where it can have a direct, positive impact.

In March 2009, the Washington State University (WSU) Foundation rolled out a new web site that will allow contributors to target their money to university initiatives in the developing world, called Ripple Effect.

The site allows contributors to make gifts of tangible, useful products—trees, cows, sheep, honey bees, and treadle pumps—to people who need that help to improve their lives.

WSU’s efforts to help people help themselves in developing nations rank among our most important, and least recognized, initiatives. For example, WSU has been working in Malawi, whose per-capita income since 1986 is among the lowest in the world. Our university now partners with Total Land Care, a Malawian nongovernmental organization that grew out of WSU’s efforts in the region.

The goal is to bring sustainable economic development to these communities. To get a better idea of what we are accomplishing there, I encourage you to read a Washington State Magazine article written by my predecessor, Lane Rawlins, after his 2006 visit to Malawi. We are doing similar work in rural areas of Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Rwanda, and Burkina Faso, as well.

It is impossible to read such accounts or to talk with the remarkable faculty, staff, and students who are leading our international efforts, and not come away with a great deal of pride in our university. Their efforts have built WSU’s reputation within the region as an effective force for alleviating poverty, hunger, and disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Similarly, it is difficult not to be struck by the resolve and determination shown by the people there when they are provided with the most basic tools to improve their lives.

Of course, this initiative is strengthened immeasurably by the research we are doing, both here and abroad, through our School for Global Animal Health. In societies where livestock disease can lead quickly to economic calamity, or epidemics can swiftly spread through entire families and communities, that research is vital.

By connecting donors in a very direct and affordable way to our international initiatives, Ripple Effect will help WSU improve people’s lives.

The response to the Ripple Effect site has been enthusiastic. Alumni from around the country have purchased items that will help people raise themselves out of poverty. WSU faculty and staff purchased items as gifts for friends and loved ones. Even donors with no visible connection to WSU have engaged with us in our work by purchasing these important items for Malawians in need.

Perhaps most encouraging to me is that students have taken on this cause by promoting it to their friends on and off campus through social networking sites or have purchased items at Ripple Effect as their first gift to their university. I’ve seen student-created Ripple Effect t-shirts worn on campus, and this sign of student engagement and philanthropy is heartening.

WSU is, and will continue to be, an internationally engaged university. Our students expect it; our mission demands it. Clearly, we are not unique in this regard. Universities nationwide are more active than ever before in international outreach and education.

I invite you to visit the Ripple Effect web site, either just to get a better idea of what WSU is doing in the developing world, or to make a contribution. Also, please help spread the word about the site to friends and family. In places where people face a daily struggle with poverty and disease, even a small gift to Ripple Effect can make a big difference.