Safe, clean drinking water should be a given. It is not.
On this episode of The Charity Charge Show, host Stephen Garten sits down with Doc Hendley, founder and CEO of Wine to Water, to talk about the real story behind the organization, how it grew from a tip jar at a bar to serving millions of people, and what it takes to lead and scale a mission-driven nonprofit for more than two decades.
Doc does not dress it up. He talks about mistakes, hard lessons, and why most nonprofits stay stuck under $2M in annual revenue. He also lays out what changed when Wine to Water stopped acting like a typical nonprofit and started building diversified revenue streams like a business.
Overview
The Mission: Clean Water for the Hardest-to-Reach
Doc describes Wine to Water’s mission in plain terms: everyone has a right to safe, clean drinking water. The challenge is not saying it. The challenge is doing it, especially in places hit by war, disasters, and breakdowns in infrastructure.
Over time, Wine to Water’s focus sharpened toward what Doc calls “the unreachable”: communities that other systems and organizations cannot easily reach, including war-torn regions and disaster zones.
Origin Story: “Wine to Water” Was Not a Business Plan
Doc’s story is not the classic nonprofit founder narrative.
He was bartending in the early 2000s, enjoying the work because it let him serve people from every walk of life. But he also admits he was reckless at the time and headed in a bad direction. Then came a personal breaking point.
During a period of stepping away to get his head clear, Doc had a recurring phrase stuck in his mind: “Wine to Water.” He wrote it down, felt a gut-level certainty it meant something, and started researching water issues late at night. He saw the reality: people walking hours to collect water that still was not safe, and children getting sick and dying from dirty water.
The first plan was simple and small: raise some money, help one family, help one community.
That was the start.
Timeline from the episode:
- December 2003: “Wine to Water” moment
- February 2004: First Wine to Water event
- August 2004: Doc quit bartending and moved to Darfur (Sudan) to help with water access during the crisis there
What the Water Crisis Looks Like on the Ground
Doc explains that water problems usually fall into two buckets:
- Access: People cannot reach a reliable water source. Wells may be destroyed in conflict. Refugee camps may have none.
- Cleanliness: People have water nearby, but it is unsafe. It can look like muddy “chocolate milk,” and that contamination causes disease.
Wine to Water uses many approaches based on the context, including:
- Well repair and restoration in conflict areas where wells were damaged or destroyed
- Rainwater harvesting systems where roofs and seasonal rain can be captured and stored in cisterns
- Filtration solutions that remove harmful contaminants so the water becomes safe to drink
The “Drop Filter”: Why They Built Their Own Hardware
As Wine to Water expanded into fast-moving emergencies (Syria, Ukraine, and other crises), they needed filtration that could go anywhere.
Early on, they used filtration methods built from local materials (sand, gravel, concrete, ceramics). But those solutions are not easy to transport into active disaster and conflict zones.
So they turned to portable membrane filtration used by hikers and aid workers, using hollow fiber membrane technology (similar conceptually to dialysis filtration).
Then the pandemic exposed the weak link: supply chain and cost control. Orders grew from thousands to tens of thousands, and prices surged.
Doc’s conclusion was blunt: they needed to control the supply chain.
So Wine to Water created and now produces their own portable filter, the Drop Filter, named after their disaster response operation. They manufacture most components in North Carolina and Tennessee, assemble them, and deploy them in the field.
They also sell filters online. Doc makes the point clearly: they are a charity, so profits get reinvested into the mission to provide filters for people who cannot afford them.
Leadership Lesson: Stop Trying to Be Every Kind of Leader
Doc says the first 10 to 15 years were tough because he knew what he was not good at.
He did not pretend to be a polished executive. Instead, he brought in leaders who were stronger in the areas he lacked. Some worked well. Some did not. He learned both ways.
He stepped back into the CEO role in 2018, and still says he never fully feels “ready.” His key insight is simple:
- Leadership is not one thing.
- The best teams combine different leadership strengths: operations, coaching, finance, vision, execution.
He also shares something most founders do not say out loud: leadership books sometimes made him feel worse because he did not match the mold. His solution was practical: build a leadership bench that complements your gaps instead of shaming yourself for having them.
The Scaling Breakthrough: “Why Do Nonprofits Have to Do It This Way?”
Doc calls out the standard nonprofit cycle:
- set a budget
- spend the year fundraising to hit it
- spend it
- repeat next year
He says straight up: that approach burns people out and caps growth.
So he began thinking like a business:
If you are flatlining, diversify revenue streams. Period.
He admits most experiments do not work. The fear of failure keeps nonprofits stuck. But he argues that if you test carefully, you can learn fast, limit downside, and find the one or two streams that become meaningful.
Revenue Growth: From $2M Flatline to Breakout Years
Doc shares the revenue arc in the conversation:
- Around $1.8–$2M in 2018–2019
- Then growth into $3M, $4M, $5M, then around $6M
- A jump to $13M in a later fiscal year (Doc notes their fiscal year starts in July)
He’s clear that the $13M year was tied to a major disaster response effort in Western North Carolina (where they are based), and that the organization then course-corrected back down toward the prior trend line once that anomaly year passed.
The takeaway: you can benefit from spikes, but long-term stability comes from systems and diversified streams.
The Real Estate and “Earned Revenue” Mindset
Doc also describes a set of decisions that many nonprofits avoid:
- Buying real estate for the organization’s headquarters
- Renovating with donated contractor support
- Increasing property value substantially over time
- Using that equity later to expand into warehouses and manufacturing capacity
- Acquiring or building capabilities instead of learning everything from scratch (including injection molding)
He ties it back to one theme: build assets and infrastructure that make the mission sustainable.
How to Support Wine to Water
Doc shares multiple ways people can get involved:
- Visit winetowater.org (or wtw.org)
- Donate to support clean water access and filtration projects
- Volunteer internationally when possible (filters, wells, rainwater harvesting, distribution)
- Volunteer through company build events where teams assemble filters from supplied components
- Buy a filter online, knowing profits are reinvested into mission delivery
Doc’s stance is simple: many water charities list reasons you cannot help on the ground. Wine to Water prefers to show you how you can.
Detailed Q&A from the Episode
What is the mission of Wine to Water?
Doc says the mission is simple: everyone deserves safe, clean drinking water. The difficult part is delivering it, especially for people in disaster zones, conflict regions, or places that are hard to reach.
What inspired you to start Wine to Water?
Doc explains he did not plan to start an organization. He was bartending, living a reckless life, and reached a breaking point. During a period of stepping away, the phrase “Wine to Water” repeated in his head. He researched global water issues, saw the realities of unsafe water, and started with a small goal: raise money and help one community.
When did Wine to Water begin?
He traces the spark to December 2003, hosted the first Wine to Water event in February 2004, and quit bartending in August 2004 to move to Darfur, Sudan to help with water access during the crisis.
How many people has Wine to Water served?
Doc says they crossed 2 million and are now getting close to 3 million, with impact increasing each year. He also notes work in 50+ countries.
What does it look like in communities without safe water?
Doc says it varies. Sometimes people walk hours to fetch water. Other times water is nearby but contaminated. The core issue is both access and cleanliness. Dirty water causes disease, especially among children.
What solutions does Wine to Water use?
Doc describes multiple technologies depending on region and need:
- repairing and restoring wells (including wells damaged during conflict)
- rainwater harvesting systems using roofs and storage cisterns
- filtration solutions that turn heavily contaminated water into clear, drinkable water
What is the filtration device you showed, and why did you create it?
Doc explains they needed small, durable filters for disaster and conflict zones. They used commercially available membrane filters for years, but pandemic-era supply chain disruptions and cost spikes pushed them to build their own. They now produce the Drop Filter, used by their disaster response teams and deployed globally.
Why does Wine to Water sell filters online if it is a charity?
Doc says volunteers and supporters repeatedly asked to get filters for personal preparedness (storms, well outages, and emergency use). Wine to Water sells them, and profits are reinvested into mission work to provide filters to people who cannot afford them.
What are the biggest leadership lessons you learned over 23 years?
Doc says leadership was the main growth edge. He knew what he was not good at, so he brought in strong leaders and learned alongside them. He also learned leadership is not one style. Different leaders bring different strengths, and his job is to bring the right mix together rather than trying to be everything.
How did you grow past $2M in revenue?
Doc says the key was rejecting the typical nonprofit cycle and acting more like a business: diversify revenue streams. Build multiple streams, accept that many will fail, and focus on the few that work and can become meaningful parts of annual revenue.
What are examples of diversified revenue streams that worked?
From the conversation, Doc highlights:
- A restaurant model connected to their headquarters concept (structured as a separate company due to liability concerns)
- Real estate ownership and renovation that built equity
- Manufacturing their own filters and controlling supply chain
- Expanding into warehouses and production capacity, including injection molding capability (including acquisition rather than learning everything from scratch)
How can someone support Wine to Water?
Doc points people to winetowater.org and encourages direct involvement:
- donate
- volunteer internationally
- join corporate volunteer build events assembling filters
- purchase filters if you want an emergency-ready solution and want profits to support the mission
