Register for the Big Give Christmas Challenge and double your donations this winter!
Want to add some much-needed coffers to the fundraising pot this Christmas? Sign your charity up for ‘The Big Give Christmas Challenge’.
What is the Christmas Challenge?
For the unfamiliar, The Christmas Challenge is the UK’s biggest, annual match-funded campaign. Run by The Big Give (a match-funding platform), it offers supporters of participating charities the opportunity to double their donations over a seven-day period.
How does it work?
During challenge week (this year it’s taking place from November 28 – December 5), every donation made by a member of the public to a Big Give charity partner is matched by a Big Give ‘Champion’ (high-net-worth individuals, foundations, corporates, philanthropists, statutory bodies, corporates, etc.) This year’s Champions include The Reed Foundation, The Childhood Trust, Candis, Coles Medlock Foundation, and the Julia & Hans Rausing Trust.
Essentially, a £50 donation from a supporter becomes £100 for you (minus a small processing fee).
Sounds good, right? All you have to do is sign up to take part and promote the Challenge to your supporters. (Big Give has a suite of resources to help with this).
Campaign Impact
Last year, 79,000 members of the public donated to the campaign, raising £28.6m for 1,021 charities. £82.3m of this went to small charities (with an income of £1m or less).
The Big Give released some figures on the campaign’s impact in their recent ‘Celebrating 15 years of impact’ report:
76% of participating charities say the Christmas Challenge’s match-funding results in more donations being made compared to a non-match-funded campaign
65% of charities say the Christmas Challenge’s match-funding results in bigger donations being made compared to a non-match-funded campaign.
56% of charities say their existing supporters give more through the Big Give Christmas Challenge than they would normally donate.
94% of the charities received online donations from new donors who had not previously given to their charity.
74% of the charities believe that the Christmas Challenge has helped to raise their profile.
Key things to note
If you want to sign up and double your Christmas donations, be sure to do so before July 7.
Eligibility criteria
Charities of all sizes are invited to apply. To be eligible, you:
must be a UK-registered charity with a Charity Commission number or tax-exempt status and an annual income of at least £25,000.
need to register your charity on BigGive.org
The Application process
When applying, you’ll need to outline a specific project you’re looking to raise funds for and set a monetary target. Funds received during the campaign will be restricted to that project until you hit your target. If you receive donations after hitting it, they’ll be unrestricted Champion pledges make up part of the match funding pot. You’ll need to secure a minimum of £1k to be eligible for Champion funding.
Further information on eligibility and the application process can be found here.
Need a fundraiser to manage your funding applications? We can help. Give us a call on 020 3750 3111 to get started!