Watsi is a non-profit that lets anyone donate as little as $5 to directly fund surgical care for patients around the world. We believe everyone deserves access to healthcare, and are committed to using technology to make healthcare a reality for those who might not otherwise be able to afford it. Watsi is a registered U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN: 45-3236734).
On December 3, 2010, our cofounder was traveling on a bus in Central America when a woman boarded the bus and asked the passengers for donations to pay for her son’s healthcare. This experience led to the birth of Watsi, named after the town he was traveling through at the time.
100% of every donation made on Watsi directly funds healthcare for the patient you choose. We even pay the credit card processing fees. Our operating expenses are covered separately by foundations, philanthropists (of all sizes!), and supporters who choose to contribute extra to Watsi when making a donation.
Operating expenses help ensure Watsi can exist and grow. These costs include donation processing fees, new medical partner expansion, software and hosting costs, and staff salaries (including health insurance). For a breakdown of exactly how we spend funds, see our financials on our Transparency Document.
Yes. Our goal is to be 100% financially sustainable through donor support and revenue from strategic partnerships.
100% of donations to the General Fund support patients. If you would prefer Watsi selects a high-need patient for support on your behalf, you can make your donation to the General Fund.
Of course! We are 100% transparent. Period. All of our financials are publicly available on our Transparency Document.
We occasionally have opportunities for volunteers or interns to contribute to our mission. You can find all volunteer and internship opportunities on our blog. It is a great place to read about what’s going on, and find out about opportunities as soon as they arise. You can also send a note to [email protected] to let us know of your interest in getting involved.
Our efforts are oriented around funding low-cost, high-impact healthcare. We currently focus our efforts in low-income countries because it’s more frequently the case that a relatively small amount of money stands in the way of someone receiving life-changing care.
No, Watsi is a completely agnostic organization. However, some of our medical partners are faith-based organizations. To learn more about how we evaluate our medical partners, see What is a Medical Partner.
YES! Watsi maintains the highest ratings by Charity Navigator and GuideStar year after year. Charity Navigator has awarded Watsi a Give with Confidence Badge and a 4-star Encompass Rating. GuideStar has awarded Watsi a Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar.
We take patient privacy very seriously. It’s important to us that every patient posted on Watsi understands what Watsi is and how it works. Our medical partners are responsible for ensuring that every patient understands Watsi and explicitly wishes to participate in the program. If a Watsi patient doesn’t wish to be featured on the website, we give them the option to have their healthcare funded via our General Fund without ever appearing on the website.
You can delete your account at any time from the settings page. Keep in mind that we really do delete your account so you will not be able to reactivate your account or retrieve any of your donor information including donation history once deleted.
Watsi stores any information entered into the donor settings as well as a donor’s donation history. To download a record of all information stored for your account, use the link at the bottom of the donation history page.
Watsi, Inc
548 Market St, #75903
San Francisco, CA 94104
+1 (256) 792-8747
[email protected]
Medical partners are on-the-ground organizations who provide reliable healthcare to underserved populations in low-income countries. For Watsi to form a relationship with a medical partner, they must maintain the highest ethical standards and fit the following criteria:
Must be a registered legal and licensed entity in its country of operation.
Must have a history (at least 3 years) of providing reliable healthcare.
Must have a strong positive reputation within the local and national medical community.
Must provide safe and ethical healthcare and be well-respected by the people they serve.
Must agree to allow Watsi to perform due diligence, initial and ongoing, to ensure compliance with specified financial, legal, and ethical regulations.
Must be willing and able to designate a staff member to upload patient profiles and provide updates to donors.
Must have a successful working relationship with at least one US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Feel free to take a look through our Medical Partner Manual. Our partners use this document as a comprehensive resource for their work with us, so it should contain answers to any questions you may have, too.
Watsi funds medical care for patients who are unable to pay for care (or some portion of care) themselves. Our medical partners use their local knowledge and experience to vet each Watsi patient, which may include a review of socio-economic status, education and housing status, employment and income level, eligibility for other social services, and other required costs of basic day-to-day living for a patient’s family.
Surgical treatments eligible for Watsi cost less than $1,500 USD, have a high probability of success, and are financially out-of-reach for the patient in need. In short, treatments are low-cost and high-impact.
No. Watsi funds medical care for patients who are unable to pay for care (or some portion of care) themselves.
When medical partners send us patient profiles, we confirm they meet our criteria. We cannot see and evaluate patients ourselves, so we trust that our medical partners are choosing the best treatments available to the patients with the highest needs, in their particular setting. Once a patient is approved and posted on our website, we leave their case posted until they are fully funded.
When we begin funding a new treatment with a medical partner, part of the approval process involves them completing a line-item invoice that details the average sustainable price for providing that specific treatment. These averages are rooted in documentation, justification, and auditing to ensure they represent the average cost of care as accurately as possible. The actual cost of care may differ slightly from case to case, but it is our aim that the average cost of providing a medical treatment is equal to the fixed cost agreed upon during the application process. However, partners may request a re-evaluation of pre-approvals as necessary if costs or circumstances change. Watsi may also initiate a cost re-evaluation.
The cost depends on the type of treatment the patient needs and the context in which the medical partner is operating. The cost often includes doctor and nursing time, medical supplies, diagnostics, transportation, food, lodging, and follow-up. You’ll find treatment-specific cost breakdowns at the bottom of every patient profile.
Patient profiles are posted until they are fully funded, but a patient can receive treatment before the profile is fully funded. We know that when a patient has a serious injury or illness, it sometimes requires immediate attention, and we are committed to doing whatever it takes to allow our medical partners to do their jobs as best they can.
We work closely with our medical partners to determine how many patients we are able to fund based on current and projected donor activity. We also keep an emergency reserve in our operations account equal to the total number of unfunded profiles we’ve accepted to ensure we never promise healthcare to a patient that we can’t fund.
Every treatment shared on Watsi is considered to have a high probability of success by the medical partner who is treating the patient. We trust their local knowledge and medical expertise to make that decision. That said, medical and surgical care carries a risk and we can’t guarantee that every treatment funded by Watsi will be successful. It is our commitment to transparently report the outcome of every patient treatment to each person who supports their care in an email update once a patient’s care has been fully funded and the treatment completed. We also post this update to each patient’s profile.
We only partner with well-respected, accredited, trusted organizations that are committed to providing the highest level of care possible. In extreme, heartbreaking circumstances, it’s possible that a patient may pass away after receiving a treatment funded by Watsi donors. In these circumstances, we will transparently report the outcome to all donors in an email update. We still send donations to our medical partners to pay for the treatment that was received.
In rare cases, a patient may not receive the treatment that was funded for them on Watsi. This may happen if a patient needs to move, decides against moving forward with treatment, no longer needs the planned care, or passes away before treatment is provided. If this happens, Watsi will send each donor a gift card in the amount of their original donation, which they can use to support another patient in need. If gift cards are not used within 90 days, we will allocate the donation to our General Fund for patients.
Healthcare in low-income countries can be significantly less expensive than in the U.S. and other high-income countries. We also work closely with our medical partners to find creative ways to reduce the cost of healthcare for patients. In many cases, a percentage of the treatment cost is subsidized by the local government, the hospital, and/or doctors agree to donate their time.
We require that patient cases be submitted to Watsi before they receive the treatment for which they are requesting financial assistance. However, we make an exception for accredited medical partners for emergency surgical cases where treatment is urgent and needs to take place immediately. It’s also important to note that while we require patient cases to be submitted to Watsi before care begins, medical partners may provide care to a patient before their profile is posted online by our team or fully funded. We allow medical partners to provide care to patients immediately after submitting them to Watsi because we know that when a patient has a serious injury or illness, it often requires rapid attention, and we are committed to doing whatever it takes to allow our medical partners to do their jobs as best they can.
Yes! We have a special community for generous supporters who want to make recurring donations to patients on Watsi. Our Universal Fund enables you automatically support a new patient each month. Learn more and we hope you’ll join in today.
As part of our Universal Fund, you can change or cancel your recurring donation anytime. Log in to your account and select Settings from the drop down menu below your profile photo (if you do not have a profile photo, the image will be a circle with your initial). Once in Settings, select “Universal Fund,” then you can easily update your donation amount and pause or cancel your Universal Fund membership.
Yes! Watsi was one of the first non-profits to accept cryptocurrency donations to grow our work around the world. Check our crypto page for wallet addresses for the cryptocurrencies we support. If you want to donate a token that isn’t already supported, please contact us. All cryptocurrency donations are unrestricted, which means we use the funds how we think they will have the most impact. Please reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions or would like a receipt for your donation.
Yes, 100% of your donation covers the cost of healthcare for the patient of your choice. Your donation is not pooled into a general programming fund, your donation does not go to help run Watsi’s operations, and your donation does not go to fundraising activities. Watsi even covers the credit card processing fees (2.4% + $0.30 per transaction) so that every cent of your donation directly funds healthcare.
Being completely transparent about where your donation goes is one of our most important values. We ensure 100% transparency in a number of different ways:
Publication of all financial transactions: We post all of our financials on our Transparency Document, including screenshots of funds transfers for every patient.
Real updates: You will receive an update with a post-treatment photo and information about the outcome of the treatment you funded.
Partnering with the best: We work with some of the most well-respected medical organizations in the world. You can learn more about each of our medical partners on our Transparency Document.
Due diligence: We have open communication and strong personal relationships with each of our medical partners, but we always perform initial and ongoing due diligence to ensure they meet our medical partner Criteria (see “What is a medical partner”). Because all of our Medical Partners are affiliated with a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the US, they are also subject to the tax-exempt rules and regulations of the Internal Revenue Service and are required to release all of their financial information for inspection on an annual basis. To see our due-diligence policies click here.
Direct transfers: Watsi funds are transferred directly to our medical partner to cover the cost of the patient’s healthcare. They are never handled by the patient or their family, and are never released to anyone for discretionary spending.
Our medical partner identifies a patient who needs low-cost, high-impact healthcare and submits the patient’s profile to Watsi. If the profile meets our criteria, we accept it and guarantee the medical partner that we will cover the cost of providing care to that patient and they can provide care to the patient whenever is medically appropriate. Watsi posts the profile online, Watsi donors fund it. After the treatment is provided, the medical partner sends Watsi an update about the outcome of the treatment. Once Watsi receives and approves the update, we transfer the funds to the medical partner’s bank account to cover the cost of the treatment and send the update to each of the donors who supported that patient. For more information about donation logistics, see our Medical Partner Manual.
We transfer funds to medical partners’ US bank accounts so they can bundle international transfers periodically in order to reduce the cost of transfer fees. It’s typically not cost-effective to frequently transfer small sums of money across borders and currencies.
We did this in the beginning, but after conversations with our medical partners and counseling from trusted advisers, we decided that it actually makes more sense to transfer funds on a results-basis immediately after care is provided. Patient profiles are reviewed and accepted by Watsi before the patient receives care, with the exception of limited urgent emergency surgical cases. This enables medical partners to treat patients when it makes the most medical sense, operating under the guarantee that Watsi will cover the cost of care. For a detailed description about how we arrived at this conclusion, see this blog post.
Yes. Your donation directly covers the cost of care for the patient you choose. Medical partners provide care to patients accepted by Watsi operating under the guarantee that the cost of care will be paid for by donors. In this sense, Watsi operates much like a traditional health insurance company. When you go to the doctor, your doctor calls your health insurance provider to ensure they’ll cover the cost of care. Your doctor then provides care operating under the guarantee that it will be paid for by the insurance company.
It depends on the medical partner and the case. In some cases, there is no way the patient would receive healthcare without the guarantee of funding from Watsi donors. In other cases, it’s possible the medical partner would work to find another way to provide healthcare, perhaps by getting another donor to cover the cost or by waiting until the patient raises the money themselves (often by selling land or taking out a loan).
Credit card companies and banks decline cards for many reasons. To ensure your financial information remains secure, Watsi does not receive details about why your card was declined. Unfortunately, this means we can’t resolve the problem for you, but it will mean the world to us if you try to resolve the issue and attempt the donation again. Every donation on Watsi goes incredibly far to help a patient. If your card is declined, please contact your credit card company or bank for help completing your donation.
We take your security seriously, and we go above and beyond to ensure that your payment information is safe on Watsi. We start by serving our website over HTTPS, so that your browser only communicates with our server over a secure channel. If donating with a credit card, we back that up by validating your credit card’s CVC number to complete a donation, and by only storing the last four digits of your credit card number and the expiration date in our system. The rest of your financial information is managed securely on our behalf by PayPal or Stripe, a globally trusted payments company that has been certified a PCI Service Provider Level 1 by Visa.
Yes. All donations are tax deductible in the U.S. After making a donation on Watsi, you will receive an official tax-deductible receipt at the email you provided. You can also see your yearly donation history in your donor profile settings. Our EIN is 45-3236734.
The Collective is a group of individuals, families, and foundations, who support Watsi’s critical investments in our team, our strategy, and all of the behind-the-scenes efforts to directly fund thousands of patients’ care all around the world. Through a minimum commitment of 3-years of unrestricted giving, The Collective’s radical generosity allows us to plan for our future, hire and keep the best people, and explore new partnerships and innovative ways to help more patients. Their support means we can keep our commitment of 100% donations on watsi.org going directly to patient care. Want to join in? Send a note to [email protected] to learn more.
Yes! We partner with companies of all sizes to engage employees, recognize customers, and organize corporate giving campaigns. Companies that partner with Watsi have a huge and direct impact on patients’ lives and are able to see their impact on a personalized giving page. We’d love to explore if this may be a good fit for your company. If you are interested in partnering with Watsi, please email [email protected].
Yes! You can double your impact helping Watsi grow and reach more patients with employer matching. You may need to check with your own company to initiate the match process. You can learn more here.
Absolutely! Please email [email protected] and we will send you our account information.
This is a great way to support Watsi! You can even set up a recurring DAF contribution. Reach out to [email protected] and we will send you our account information.
In rare cases, a patient may not receive the treatment that was funded for them on Watsi. This may happen if a patient needs to move, decides against having their planned treatment, no longer needs care, or passes away before treatment is provided. If this happens, Watsi will give each donor a gift card in the amount of their donation, which they can use to support another patient on Watsi. If they do not use their gift card within 90 days, we will allocate their donation to our General Fund for patients.
Yes, gift cards can be purchased here. Thanks for spreading good health! If you have a gift card, you can redeem it here.
Yes! You can host a campaign on Watsi to have your friends and family join in to celebrate your birthday, wedding, travel adventures, and any life event. Thank you for helping celebrate your good news with good health for Watsi patients around the world! You can learn more and join in here.
Watsi built a technology platform for health insurance administration called Meso that aims to reduce costs and streamline processes. This is now an independent open source project. Please visit meso.health to learn more.
If you have a question that wasn’t answered here, please email your question to [email protected] and we will respond to you as soon as we are able. If we receive multiple questions about a similar topic, we will add that topic to this FAQ so that it is easily accessed by other people.
Watsi is a non-profit that lets anyone donate as little as $5 to directly fund surgical care for patients around the world. We believe everyone deserves access to healthcare, and are committed to using technology to make healthcare a reality for those who might not otherwise be able to afford it. Watsi is a registered U.S. 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN: 45-3236734).
On December 3, 2010, our cofounder was traveling on a bus in Central America when a woman boarded the bus and asked the passengers for donations to pay for her son’s healthcare. This experience led to the birth of Watsi, named after the town he was traveling through at the time.
100% of every donation made on Watsi directly funds healthcare for the patient you choose. We even pay the credit card processing fees. Our operating expenses are covered separately by foundations, philanthropists (of all sizes!), and supporters who choose to contribute extra to Watsi when making a donation.
Operating expenses help ensure Watsi can exist and grow. These costs include donation processing fees, new medical partner expansion, software and hosting costs, and staff salaries (including health insurance). For a breakdown of exactly how we spend funds, see our financials on our Transparency Document.
Yes. Our goal is to be 100% financially sustainable through donor support and revenue from strategic partnerships.
100% of donations to the General Fund support patients. If you would prefer Watsi selects a high-need patient for support on your behalf, you can make your donation to the General Fund.
Of course! We are 100% transparent. Period. All of our financials are publicly available on our Transparency Document.
We occasionally have opportunities for volunteers or interns to contribute to our mission. You can find all volunteer and internship opportunities on our blog. It is a great place to read about what’s going on, and find out about opportunities as soon as they arise. You can also send a note to [email protected] to let us know of your interest in getting involved.
Our efforts are oriented around funding low-cost, high-impact healthcare. We currently focus our efforts in low-income countries because it’s more frequently the case that a relatively small amount of money stands in the way of someone receiving life-changing care.
No, Watsi is a completely agnostic organization. However, some of our medical partners are faith-based organizations. To learn more about how we evaluate our medical partners, see What is a Medical Partner.
YES! Watsi maintains the highest ratings by Charity Navigator and GuideStar year after year. Charity Navigator has awarded Watsi a Give with Confidence Badge and a 4-star Encompass Rating. GuideStar has awarded Watsi a Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level of recognition offered by GuideStar.
We take patient privacy very seriously. It’s important to us that every patient posted on Watsi understands what Watsi is and how it works. Our medical partners are responsible for ensuring that every patient understands Watsi and explicitly wishes to participate in the program. If a Watsi patient doesn’t wish to be featured on the website, we give them the option to have their healthcare funded via our General Fund without ever appearing on the website.
You can delete your account at any time from the settings page. Keep in mind that we really do delete your account so you will not be able to reactivate your account or retrieve any of your donor information including donation history once deleted.
Watsi stores any information entered into the donor settings as well as a donor’s donation history. To download a record of all information stored for your account, use the link at the bottom of the donation history page.
Watsi, Inc
548 Market St, #75903
San Francisco, CA 94104
+1 (256) 792-8747
[email protected]
Medical partners are on-the-ground organizations who provide reliable healthcare to underserved populations in low-income countries. For Watsi to form a relationship with a medical partner, they must maintain the highest ethical standards and fit the following criteria:
Must be a registered legal and licensed entity in its country of operation.
Must have a history (at least 3 years) of providing reliable healthcare.
Must have a strong positive reputation within the local and national medical community.
Must provide safe and ethical healthcare and be well-respected by the people they serve.
Must agree to allow Watsi to perform due diligence, initial and ongoing, to ensure compliance with specified financial, legal, and ethical regulations.
Must be willing and able to designate a staff member to upload patient profiles and provide updates to donors.
Must have a successful working relationship with at least one US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Feel free to take a look through our Medical Partner Manual. Our partners use this document as a comprehensive resource for their work with us, so it should contain answers to any questions you may have, too.
Watsi funds medical care for patients who are unable to pay for care (or some portion of care) themselves. Our medical partners use their local knowledge and experience to vet each Watsi patient, which may include a review of socio-economic status, education and housing status, employment and income level, eligibility for other social services, and other required costs of basic day-to-day living for a patient’s family.
Surgical treatments eligible for Watsi cost less than $1,500 USD, have a high probability of success, and are financially out-of-reach for the patient in need. In short, treatments are low-cost and high-impact.
No. Watsi funds medical care for patients who are unable to pay for care (or some portion of care) themselves.
When medical partners send us patient profiles, we confirm they meet our criteria. We cannot see and evaluate patients ourselves, so we trust that our medical partners are choosing the best treatments available to the patients with the highest needs, in their particular setting. Once a patient is approved and posted on our website, we leave their case posted until they are fully funded.
When we begin funding a new treatment with a medical partner, part of the approval process involves them completing a line-item invoice that details the average sustainable price for providing that specific treatment. These averages are rooted in documentation, justification, and auditing to ensure they represent the average cost of care as accurately as possible. The actual cost of care may differ slightly from case to case, but it is our aim that the average cost of providing a medical treatment is equal to the fixed cost agreed upon during the application process. However, partners may request a re-evaluation of pre-approvals as necessary if costs or circumstances change. Watsi may also initiate a cost re-evaluation.
The cost depends on the type of treatment the patient needs and the context in which the medical partner is operating. The cost often includes doctor and nursing time, medical supplies, diagnostics, transportation, food, lodging, and follow-up. You’ll find treatment-specific cost breakdowns at the bottom of every patient profile.
Patient profiles are posted until they are fully funded, but a patient can receive treatment before the profile is fully funded. We know that when a patient has a serious injury or illness, it sometimes requires immediate attention, and we are committed to doing whatever it takes to allow our medical partners to do their jobs as best they can.
We work closely with our medical partners to determine how many patients we are able to fund based on current and projected donor activity. We also keep an emergency reserve in our operations account equal to the total number of unfunded profiles we’ve accepted to ensure we never promise healthcare to a patient that we can’t fund.
Every treatment shared on Watsi is considered to have a high probability of success by the medical partner who is treating the patient. We trust their local knowledge and medical expertise to make that decision. That said, medical and surgical care carries a risk and we can’t guarantee that every treatment funded by Watsi will be successful. It is our commitment to transparently report the outcome of every patient treatment to each person who supports their care in an email update once a patient’s care has been fully funded and the treatment completed. We also post this update to each patient’s profile.
We only partner with well-respected, accredited, trusted organizations that are committed to providing the highest level of care possible. In extreme, heartbreaking circumstances, it’s possible that a patient may pass away after receiving a treatment funded by Watsi donors. In these circumstances, we will transparently report the outcome to all donors in an email update. We still send donations to our medical partners to pay for the treatment that was received.
In rare cases, a patient may not receive the treatment that was funded for them on Watsi. This may happen if a patient needs to move, decides against moving forward with treatment, no longer needs the planned care, or passes away before treatment is provided. If this happens, Watsi will send each donor a gift card in the amount of their original donation, which they can use to support another patient in need. If gift cards are not used within 90 days, we will allocate the donation to our General Fund for patients.
Healthcare in low-income countries can be significantly less expensive than in the U.S. and other high-income countries. We also work closely with our medical partners to find creative ways to reduce the cost of healthcare for patients. In many cases, a percentage of the treatment cost is subsidized by the local government, the hospital, and/or doctors agree to donate their time.
We require that patient cases be submitted to Watsi before they receive the treatment for which they are requesting financial assistance. However, we make an exception for accredited medical partners for emergency surgical cases where treatment is urgent and needs to take place immediately. It’s also important to note that while we require patient cases to be submitted to Watsi before care begins, medical partners may provide care to a patient before their profile is posted online by our team or fully funded. We allow medical partners to provide care to patients immediately after submitting them to Watsi because we know that when a patient has a serious injury or illness, it often requires rapid attention, and we are committed to doing whatever it takes to allow our medical partners to do their jobs as best they can.
Yes! We have a special community for generous supporters who want to make recurring donations to patients on Watsi. Our Universal Fund enables you automatically support a new patient each month. Learn more and we hope you’ll join in today.
As part of our Universal Fund, you can change or cancel your recurring donation anytime. Log in to your account and select Settings from the drop down menu below your profile photo (if you do not have a profile photo, the image will be a circle with your initial). Once in Settings, select “Universal Fund,” then you can easily update your donation amount and pause or cancel your Universal Fund membership.
Yes! Watsi was one of the first non-profits to accept cryptocurrency donations to grow our work around the world. Check our crypto page for wallet addresses for the cryptocurrencies we support. If you want to donate a token that isn’t already supported, please contact us. All cryptocurrency donations are unrestricted, which means we use the funds how we think they will have the most impact. Please reach out to [email protected] if you have any questions or would like a receipt for your donation.
Yes, 100% of your donation covers the cost of healthcare for the patient of your choice. Your donation is not pooled into a general programming fund, your donation does not go to help run Watsi’s operations, and your donation does not go to fundraising activities. Watsi even covers the credit card processing fees (2.4% + $0.30 per transaction) so that every cent of your donation directly funds healthcare.
Being completely transparent about where your donation goes is one of our most important values. We ensure 100% transparency in a number of different ways:
Publication of all financial transactions: We post all of our financials on our Transparency Document, including screenshots of funds transfers for every patient.
Real updates: You will receive an update with a post-treatment photo and information about the outcome of the treatment you funded.
Partnering with the best: We work with some of the most well-respected medical organizations in the world. You can learn more about each of our medical partners on our Transparency Document.
Due diligence: We have open communication and strong personal relationships with each of our medical partners, but we always perform initial and ongoing due diligence to ensure they meet our medical partner Criteria (see “What is a medical partner”). Because all of our Medical Partners are affiliated with a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the US, they are also subject to the tax-exempt rules and regulations of the Internal Revenue Service and are required to release all of their financial information for inspection on an annual basis. To see our due-diligence policies click here.
Direct transfers: Watsi funds are transferred directly to our medical partner to cover the cost of the patient’s healthcare. They are never handled by the patient or their family, and are never released to anyone for discretionary spending.
Our medical partner identifies a patient who needs low-cost, high-impact healthcare and submits the patient’s profile to Watsi. If the profile meets our criteria, we accept it and guarantee the medical partner that we will cover the cost of providing care to that patient and they can provide care to the patient whenever is medically appropriate. Watsi posts the profile online, Watsi donors fund it. After the treatment is provided, the medical partner sends Watsi an update about the outcome of the treatment. Once Watsi receives and approves the update, we transfer the funds to the medical partner’s bank account to cover the cost of the treatment and send the update to each of the donors who supported that patient. For more information about donation logistics, see our Medical Partner Manual.
We transfer funds to medical partners’ US bank accounts so they can bundle international transfers periodically in order to reduce the cost of transfer fees. It’s typically not cost-effective to frequently transfer small sums of money across borders and currencies.
We did this in the beginning, but after conversations with our medical partners and counseling from trusted advisers, we decided that it actually makes more sense to transfer funds on a results-basis immediately after care is provided. Patient profiles are reviewed and accepted by Watsi before the patient receives care, with the exception of limited urgent emergency surgical cases. This enables medical partners to treat patients when it makes the most medical sense, operating under the guarantee that Watsi will cover the cost of care. For a detailed description about how we arrived at this conclusion, see this blog post.
Yes. Your donation directly covers the cost of care for the patient you choose. Medical partners provide care to patients accepted by Watsi operating under the guarantee that the cost of care will be paid for by donors. In this sense, Watsi operates much like a traditional health insurance company. When you go to the doctor, your doctor calls your health insurance provider to ensure they’ll cover the cost of care. Your doctor then provides care operating under the guarantee that it will be paid for by the insurance company.
It depends on the medical partner and the case. In some cases, there is no way the patient would receive healthcare without the guarantee of funding from Watsi donors. In other cases, it’s possible the medical partner would work to find another way to provide healthcare, perhaps by getting another donor to cover the cost or by waiting until the patient raises the money themselves (often by selling land or taking out a loan).
Credit card companies and banks decline cards for many reasons. To ensure your financial information remains secure, Watsi does not receive details about why your card was declined. Unfortunately, this means we can’t resolve the problem for you, but it will mean the world to us if you try to resolve the issue and attempt the donation again. Every donation on Watsi goes incredibly far to help a patient. If your card is declined, please contact your credit card company or bank for help completing your donation.
We take your security seriously, and we go above and beyond to ensure that your payment information is safe on Watsi. We start by serving our website over HTTPS, so that your browser only communicates with our server over a secure channel. If donating with a credit card, we back that up by validating your credit card’s CVC number to complete a donation, and by only storing the last four digits of your credit card number and the expiration date in our system. The rest of your financial information is managed securely on our behalf by PayPal or Stripe, a globally trusted payments company that has been certified a PCI Service Provider Level 1 by Visa.
Yes. All donations are tax deductible in the U.S. After making a donation on Watsi, you will receive an official tax-deductible receipt at the email you provided. You can also see your yearly donation history in your donor profile settings. Our EIN is 45-3236734.
The Collective is a group of individuals, families, and foundations, who support Watsi’s critical investments in our team, our strategy, and all of the behind-the-scenes efforts to directly fund thousands of patients’ care all around the world. Through a minimum commitment of 3-years of unrestricted giving, The Collective’s radical generosity allows us to plan for our future, hire and keep the best people, and explore new partnerships and innovative ways to help more patients. Their support means we can keep our commitment of 100% donations on watsi.org going directly to patient care. Want to join in? Send a note to [email protected] to learn more.
Yes! We partner with companies of all sizes to engage employees, recognize customers, and organize corporate giving campaigns. Companies that partner with Watsi have a huge and direct impact on patients’ lives and are able to see their impact on a personalized giving page. We’d love to explore if this may be a good fit for your company. If you are interested in partnering with Watsi, please email [email protected].
Yes! You can double your impact helping Watsi grow and reach more patients with employer matching. You may need to check with your own company to initiate the match process. You can learn more here.
Absolutely! Please email [email protected] and we will send you our account information.
This is a great way to support Watsi! You can even set up a recurring DAF contribution. Reach out to [email protected] and we will send you our account information.
In rare cases, a patient may not receive the treatment that was funded for them on Watsi. This may happen if a patient needs to move, decides against having their planned treatment, no longer needs care, or passes away before treatment is provided. If this happens, Watsi will give each donor a gift card in the amount of their donation, which they can use to support another patient on Watsi. If they do not use their gift card within 90 days, we will allocate their donation to our General Fund for patients.
Yes, gift cards can be purchased here. Thanks for spreading good health! If you have a gift card, you can redeem it here.
Yes! You can host a campaign on Watsi to have your friends and family join in to celebrate your birthday, wedding, travel adventures, and any life event. Thank you for helping celebrate your good news with good health for Watsi patients around the world! You can learn more and join in here.
Watsi built a technology platform for health insurance administration called Meso that aims to reduce costs and streamline processes. This is now an independent open source project. Please visit meso.health to learn more.
If you have a question that wasn’t answered here, please email your question to [email protected] and we will respond to you as soon as we are able. If we receive multiple questions about a similar topic, we will add that topic to this FAQ so that it is easily accessed by other people.