Innovation

How Do Amore Works:

Step 1: You Pick a Ring – The ring you purchase from Do Amore is made from responsibly sourced diamonds and gems, recycled precious metals, and the skill that is utilized in your design is done so with ethics in mind. Even the box to hold your ring is made from the incredibly sustainable Jarrah wood.

Step 2: A Community is Identified – Do Amore's non-profit partner, charity: water, selects a specific community in need and a portion of your purchase then goes towards building a well there. When the company first started, Do Amore was unable to fund whole projects as their revenues were small, but within about a year, Do Amore is now able to bring in enough revenue to bundle multiple ring purchases to go towards entire projects. This allows the company to be the sole sponsor of a complete well system. Customers of Do Amore later are even able to get exact GPS coordinates of the well their purchase went towards, allowing customers to see exactly where they helped someone.

Step 3: A Well is Drilled – Once the well is drilled, the community is provided with educational training in the proper way to maintain and repair the well, should it become necessary. This ensures the community is equipped for having a long-lasting system and empowers them to learn how the well works and is taken care of. Do Amore also helps fund training in health and sanitation, which allows members of the community to practice healthy habits.

Step 4: Impact is Created – The result is a community in a developing area now having access to clean water. Families are able to re-prioritize their daily lives, not worry about becoming sick, and overall use their time that would otherwise be spent collecting water on finding a job or going to school. Do Amore recognizes the importance of bringing something so basic like clean water, to those in need and in the process empowers and strengthens a community for hopefully many lifetimes.

Inspiration

Do Amore was founded by Krish Himmatramka in 2012. While he was working on an oil drilling rig, Krish was able to see how easy it was to drill for water, which led him to ask himself: “How come we aren’t helping those who are dying from a lack of clean water?”. He spent a couple years working on the rig and in that time started thinking about what more he could be doing with his life. A little while later he began looking for a ring to propose to his girlfriend with, who had made it clear she wanted something ethically sourced, which then led him to ask: “How can I make sure this ring is both ethical and serves a purpose other than for myself?”.

Krish knew he wanted to find something very special and meaningful for his girlfriend, to signify their future life together, and he knew he could find ethically sourced rings, but he wanted to make the purchase even more memorable for them. He struggled to figure out exactly what he could do, but then one day "everything clicked" and he had an incredible “ah-ha moment". He knew exactly how he could answer those questions and he knew that he was going to personally ensure they were done right. Those questions and personal stepping stone in his life, gave life to Do Amore.

Do Amore makes sure those who visit their website know exactly how the company was born, and the values the company embraces by posting: “Even the name has special meaning: Do Amore in Latin means 'I give with love', so when customers purchase a ring from them they are giving a ring to their loved ones and are also giving clean water to those in need with love.”

Overall impact

So far Do Amore and their customers have helped bring 4,080 people clean water by creating 15 wells in 5 nations: Haiti, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, and Nepal.

Haiti - 19° 20' 10.68"N 72° 6' 59.0394"W – 1 well built

Do Amore’s water project sponsorships in Haiti were among their first ever sponsorships. In the beginning the company was only selling "a handful of rings a week", so they were only able to sponsor on an ongoing basis and not as a one-time commitment. Thankfully over time, as the company grew and more revenue was brought in, Do Amore became viable enough to sponsor entire wells.

Bangladesh – Coordinates Pending – 4 wells built

Four wells have been built in the Haor region of Bangladesh (within the Kishoganj and Sunamganj districts). In these regions there were private vendors that would charge families a lot of money to purchase water, which could cost a family much of their income.

Ethiopia – multiple coordinates – 6 wells built

Three water projects, located in the Northern Region of Tigray Ethiopia, have been drilled. The village of May Ayni had areas that were dangerous due to contamination and oftentimes children would even drown collecting water. In the villages of May Gorif and Man Gundi where previously women and children would spend a lot of their time walking just to collect water, now can spend their time going to school or working.

India – multiple coordinates pending – 3 wells built

The state of Bihar does have a sufficient water supply, however it is “highly contaminated.” This has led to common occurrences of illness and death to their children. The well drilled in Bihar will help decrease the number of children negatively affected by dirty water.

Nepal – Coordinates pending – 1 well built

The community identified in Nepal actually required a gravity-fed piped water system, which utilizes the spring water and carries it to a school many miles away across very rough terrain. Nepal’s water sources are also “highly contaminated” and a source of many illnesses among the nation’s children. The most important aspect of this system is that it is brought directly to a school, affecting children from across the region both in terms of health and education.

Once the wells are drilled and Do Amore and charity: water’s roles are completed, the communities are educated on the proper ways to maintain the wells and how to practice safe water habits. The most important factor of the process is making sure the longevity of the well is maintained and will be a long-time staple in the community for years to come.

In the years to come Do Amore doesn't plan on changing their platform or their partnership with charity: water. When asked about if they thought about reaching out to other types of non-profits or expanding their footprint, Krish was adamant about sticking to helping the water crisis. "Why change it if we are doing well and I mean, there is always going to be someone who needs water." Krish's commitment to focusing on this one area is commendable and resonating. In the future while they might extend their offerings when it comes to their rings (adding new options or services) their partnership with charity: water will not be changing anytime soon.

Business benefit

Thankfully, many customers of Do Amore don’t just share the story with themselves. Many people love taking to social media to tell everyone about their huge step in their lives and how it also brought something meaningful to people in need. Since Do Amore relies on referrals and personal testimonies, they do not need to spend as much effort and money on marketing. Instead, they can spend more towards well projects.

Do Amore truly is taking advantage of the huge impact of social media, and they are doing so in a substantial way. Do Amore's social media use is compelling in that they are using their for-profit business to highlight a partnership with a non-profit, benefiting both parties greatly. Many companies market themselves as sourcing materials locally, manufacturing within the United States, or reducing carbon emissions. But fewer companies showcase their sustainability efforts as just as valuable as the products they sell themselves. This is what puts companies like Do Amore, Toms, and Warby Parker on the map. People come to them because they are doing more to help others. Do Amore is founded on the idea that helping people should be just as important as running a business. With this model, they can make a huge impact in the world while running a sustainable and competitive business. Do Amore doesn’t plan on changing their efforts any time soon. Krish wants to continue to focus solely on well drilling and bringing water to those in need because, unfortunately, there will be those in need for many more years to come.

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Social and environmental benefit

Do Amore is about a lot more than just providing clean water to communities in need, “it’s about bringing sustained change to areas and creating massive impact.” The ones who are impacted the most are actually the women and children of the areas. Many women and children spend a lot of time walking to get safe water, and this takes away from time the children could spend going to school, or the women could spend working. These little things are important to helping create longevity and long-lasting impact to the community. Women who are empowered to work, learn new trades, see that they can create more to offer and children who are able to go to school can envision much more for their future. Clean water changes a community through their water well, the training the members receive on good sanitation and hygiene practices, and brings about healthy changes to the community. They are also trained on how to properly maintain and fix the well, should anything arise and problems occur, thus ensuring their well will be taken care of.

While some communities require slightly different support systems, as in Nepal, most water projects are simply a drilled or hand dug well with a hand pump. It is important that all of Do Amore’s rings are not associated with the international mining community. “Mining of precious metals can be environmentally destructive, and many mines operate with a disregard for the indigenous peoples and humane practices.”

Other areas to highlight about Do Amore is their dedication to sustainability throughout the company, not just with their contributions to bringing clean water. The company only sells ethically sourced diamonds, moissanite, and lab-made stones. Their partner, Diamond Sightholders, faces “strict requirements to ensure they do not buy diamonds from areas that support conflict, do not endanger the welfare of individuals, and follow the international best practice environmental framework.” Moissanite is one of the most eco-friendly gemstone options in the world because they are exclusively lab-made. Do Amore goes even further because all of their products are made in the United States. Even their ring boxes are made from Jarrah wood, sourced from New Zealand and Australia and one of the world’s most sustainable trees. Every inch of the company focuses on sustainability; whether it’s the preservation of biodiversity and air quality from the trees used to make their boxes, or the small carbon footprint from their lab-made, traceable gemstones. Do Amore is not just about diamonds and well water, they are a company totally encompassed by the idea that a business can flourish from the ground up.

Interview

Krish Himmatramka, Founder