THE UK’s biggest online match funding campaign, the Christmas Challenge, has opened applications for this year’s campaign.

The campaign seeks to raise millions of pounds for hundreds of charities that take part in the campaign. Up to £25,000 worth of match funds is available from the Big Give’s Champions, who are looking to support a multitude of different causes.

Match funding has been shown to encourage donors to give and to give more. In a report commissioned by the Big Give:

• More people give when their donations are match-funded. 84% of respondents felt they were more likely to give if matching was offered.
• Some donors give more when their donations are match-funded. The average matched gift made through the Big Give is £333, while the average unmatched gift is £132. One in three donors said they gave a larger gift because matching was applied to their donation.

The 2021 Christmas Challenge campaign reached a record-breaking result. More charities than ever took part (928), more donations than ever were received across the whole campaign (over 79,000), and crucially more money than ever was raised for hundreds of great causes – over £24.1m, 20% up on Christmas Challenge 2020, a fantastic result after a challenging year for fundraising across the sector. 94% of charities that participated in Christmas Challenge 2021 received donations from new supporters, and 75% reported they received significantly more donations than any comparable fundraising campaigns.

By bringing together hundreds of charities under one campaign, and connecting charities to Champions (philanthropists, foundations or corporates) and the public, the Christmas Challenge hopes to amplify voices across the charity sector, showcase the fantastic work charities are doing and multiply generosity to create lasting impact in the world. A broad mix of charities takes part each year, from the household names to smaller charities with less than £100k income – the median income of last year’s applicants was £500k.

Alex Day, Director of the Big Give, said:

“With the challenging economic circumstances forecast for the year ahead, we know how important it is for charities to make compelling asks to their supporters. We know that more people give and people give more when their donations are matched. That’s why we are delighted to announce we’re expecting our biggest ever match funding commitment from our Champion funders. We are looking forward to continuing to support a wide range of charities and raising tens of millions of pounds for great causes again this year.”

The Big Give is the UK’s biggest online match funding platform and is the brainchild of recruitment entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Alec Reed. Over £190m has been raised for good causes through the Big Give’s match funding campaigns.

Confirmed Champions this year include:

• DCMS – supporting charities working to improve the lives of vulnerable, disadvantaged and underrepresented women and girls in England and Scotland
• The Reed Foundation – supporting a wide range of UK-registered charities
• The Childhood Trust – supporting charities alleviating the impact of child poverty in London
• Candis – supporting health and wellbeing charities in UK
• Ethiopiaid – supporting charities to make progressive change in Ethiopia
• The EQ Foundation – supporting charities achieving positive outcomes and delivering long lasting benefits to people in the UK and overseas
• The Coles-Medlock Foundation – supporting international development charities, especially those working in the area of sustainable agriculture, education, infrastructure development, financial independence and healthcare.

Many more Champions will be announced in due course via the Big Give’s website and social media channels.

Eligibility Criteria

Charities need to be registered with one of the UK charity commissions or have a charitable exempt status granted by HMRC. Charities also need to have a minimum income of £25,000 and have at least one year’s accounts filed with the respective charity commission (or Companies House, if they have exempt status).

To apply for Christmas Challenge 2022:

1. Visit thebiggive.org.uk
2. Create your Big Give account
3. Click on Big Give Campaigns
4. Click on Apply Now for Christmas Challenge 2022.

For more information, please visit: https://www.thebiggive.org.uk/s/christmas-challenge