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How Liquid I.V. Turns Clean Water Into Brand and Impact Growth Photo Provided by Liquid IV In a category awash with claims of “better-for-you, better-for-the-planet” few companies are proving what “better for the world” actually looks like. The functional hydration market has exploded, and with it, a wave of purpose-driven rhetoric. But amid all the noise, one company is quietly defining how growth and impact can fuel one another in real time. At Liquid I.V., purpose isn’t a department or a campaign—it’s a business system. As Director of Impact Jayce Newton explains, “If you're doing good work, it's very important that you share what you're doing. Not necessarily to get the credit for it, but to inspire others and hopefully even instruct others on what works and what doesn't.” That philosophy has culminated in a living framework the brand calls Impact360 Blueprint™, a scalable model any business can adopt to embed purpose at its core and power real-world movements. From Product Donations to Purpose Architecture Liquid I.V.’s story began with a simple, powerful act: giving hydration to those who needed it most. Its product—an oral rehydration solution long used in humanitarian relief—was donated to local missions in Los Angeles before scaling globally. “Our product is what's known as an ORS. Life-saving for decades all over the world,” Newton recalls. “And now we've donated something close to 80 million servings. We do about 15 million servings a year.” But like every purpose-driven company that outgrows charity, Liquid I.V. realized that giving product was only the first step. The deeper issue wasn’t dehydration; it was access. “Without clean water, we don't have a product,” says Newton. “Without clean water, there is no life on planet Earth.” The company decided to dedicate over 1% of annual to impact programs and to formalize a system that could scale impact with the same precision as sales. Impact360 Blueprint™ is a holistic roadmap built on the brand’s evolution from giveback to systems change. It’s a new model for corporate impact, one designed to grow purpose alongside profit and to invite other brands to do the same. MORE FOR YOU How Liquid I.V. Turns Clean Water Into Brand and Impact Growth Photo Provided By Liquid IV A Blueprint for Systemic Change Where most CSR strategies focus on isolated grants or annual reports, Impact360 takes a whole-system view of how progress actually happens. It channels investment into three interconnected areas: the sector, the organizations, and the people. For the sector, Liquid I.V. uses its global platform to elevate awareness of the clean water crisis, reframing hydration as a shared human right. For organizations, it directs unrestricted funding and collaboration grants to water experts across policy, infrastructure, and education—insisting that partners work together to unlock solutions no single group could achieve alone. And for the people doing the work, the company created vitality grants, funds for essentials like mental health care, physical wellness, and community support, ensuring that those driving systemic change have the strength to sustain it. As Newton puts it, “Our Impact360 model is a new blueprint for companies ready to build a legacy in impact. By holistically investing in the movement, the organizations, and the people behind causes, we’re setting a new standard for what business can achieve, and inviting others to support.” This approach has already reached more than 800,000 people with clean-water access through partnerships with 21 organizations across the U.S. and beyond. But just as importantly, it’s modeled a repeatable framework any brand can adopt—the open-source philosophy at the heart of Impact360. Confluence: The Proof Point in Action The best manifestation of this blueprint is Confluence, Liquid I.V.’s flagship U.S. program. Designed to invest in the organizations and people solving water insecurity domestically, it brings together 16 specialized nonprofits under one umbrella. “We give them unrestricted dollars,” says Newton. “We fund what we call collaboration grants, where we don’t just encourage, we insist that they partner up on a specific project that only those two organizations could achieve.” Confluence is as much about capacity as it is about capital. The annual Confluence Summit serves as a cross-pollination hub for the sector, where organizations share learning, tools, and solutions. “Working in a nonprofit, if you've ever done it, it's extremely stressful with very long hours for low pay,” Newton explains. “We want to keep these people thriving because they're the ones with the expertise.” By focusing on the system around the solution, not just the symptoms of the crisis, Confluence represents the practical expression of Impact360—a model of collaboration, not competition. And in doing so, it reinforces leading with WE—only through collective, multi-stakeholder movements can brands accelerate and scale the solutions our world needs. From Brand Growth to Movement Leadership Liquid I.V. understands that authenticity is the only lasting competitive edge in a crowded category. “Consumers are so savvy that they can smell greenwashing a mile away,” says Newton. “We’ve always tried to be authentic to the work. That’s why we took a very concrete goal that we risked becoming a burden on ourselves. We’ve always been very open about what our progress looks like.” That openness extends to competitors. Impact360 isn’t proprietary — it’s participatory. “We’re making it open-source and inviting any brand that wants to know how to do this work, that wants to engage in the clean water fight. Hey, we’ll show you how to do it,” Newton says. “We want to give it away because we’re not trying to claim we are the clean water saviors. We can’t do it alone.” This kind of radical transparency marks a shift from brand storytelling to movement infrastructure — the idea that business success can and should multiply social impact, not just message it. How Liquid I.V. Turns Clean Water Into Brand and Impact Growth Photo Provided By Liquid IV The Call to Action: Lead With We Water is the great unifier. It cuts across politics, sectors, and borders, reminding us of our shared dependency and our shared responsibility. As Newton notes, “There’s no divide in who needs water. Every single person does.” Liquid I.V.’s Impact360 Blueprint™ demonstrates that doing well and doing good aren’t competing mandates—they’re reciprocal ones. By aligning its revenue model, brand platform, and impact architecture, the company is proving what modern leadership looks like: transparent, collaborative, and regenerative. For other brands, the invitation is clear. Don’t wait to have all the answers. Start with your values, invest in the ecosystem that sustains them, and share what you learn. As Newton puts it, “Pick up your telephone and call.” In a world thirsty for authenticity and impact, Liquid I.V. isn’t just hydrating people—it’s teaching business how to create an impact workflow together. Editorial StandardsReprints & Permissions
