Dana and Dave Dornsife aren’t accustomed to failure in their philanthropic efforts or in their professional lives, Dave as chairman of a steel fabrication company

, and Dana as the founder, president, and CEO of the Lazarex Cancer Foundation. But after years of successfully providing clean water to communities around the world, they stood in Ghana, stunned that despite immense preparation, this time, the World Vision drilling crew had failed to hit water. “Our hearts just sank,”
Dana says as she recalls the situation. “That had never happened to us before, if you can believe that. We come to Africa every year, and we go out in the field, and we're with the drill crews all the time.”

The Dornsifes rode back to their hotel sitting in shocked silence. Back at the hotel, they prayed. The next day the crew tried a second location not far from the first, but still failed. They prayed more. On the last day of their trip, the crew said they would try one more time in a slightly different location.

Hope was low, but God was at work. This time, they hit water. The people were overjoyed, and Dana and Dave were relieved. “For me, that was my God moment in this work, one of many,” Dana recalls.

The Dornsifes have been partnering with World Vision since 1990. “We've been blessed beyond belief and having the money to give—we don't think it's an accident that we've been blessed to have this,” Dave says. “We need to take this blessing … and do the best we can to help people, … and we want to help them in the name of Christ and his teachings.” They chose to partner with World Vision for a variety of reasons, but primarily because of the people and the professionalism. When it came down to deciding what type of work to support, they were drawn to water because it has an instant impact, would help women and girls immensely, and it’s measurable. 

Over the last 35 years they have invested in World Vision’s work enabling them to become the leading nongovernmental provider of clean water in the world. Importantly, the Dornsifes have provided a foundational gift for each of World Vision’s five-year business plans. The first three business plans resulted in 34.5 million people being reached with clean
water access—more than the population of Texas.

“This is probably one of the best investments that you could ever make,” Dana says. “ … Your investment will have immediate and lasting impact on the lives of thousands, if not millions of individuals. You're joining an elite group of water warriors who come together to get the job done.”

Beyond physical transformation, during the past 35 years of work, they’ve also experienced how being the hands and feet of Jesus has impacted lives spiritually, especially among nonbelievers. “After seeing our actions over the years, [community members] ask if I would pray for them and for their families to our God,” Dave says. Knowing that they’re having a spiritual impact on people is also important, as the Dornsifes are motivated as philanthropists because of their faith. “Christ admonishes us to serve the poorest of the poor, and so you find the poorest of the poor in the most rural, low, difficult-to reach locations,” Dave says. “If we're going to truly serve them, we need to get there and do it.”

Even though they’ve already made an incredible impact, they’re not done yet. The Dornsifes want others to come
alongside them in these efforts, so they give their gifts as a match to encourage others to join their efforts. They have
provided a match for World Vision’s fourth five-year business plan which aims to reach 21 million people with clean water access between 2026 and 2030.

“Dave has said many times: it's like flipping a switch—bringing clean water to a village is literally transforming people's lives overnight,” Dana says. “If that's the kind of impact that you want to have on people—you know, life changing—then I
would say World Vision is the right place for you to invest your philanthropic dollars.”

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We invite you to explore the stories of 6 Philanthropists who are partnering with World Vision to empower families to overcome poverty.