# Big Give Christmas challenge raises £7.2 million with record donations - Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/12/09/big-give-christmas-challenge-raises-7-2m-record-donations/ - Published: 2016-12-09T07:46:50+00:00 - Author: Melanie May **This year’s [Big Give Christmas Challenge](http://www.thebiggive.org.uk/christmas‎) has raised £7.2 million for its 332 participating charities, with over 17,000 donations received: its highest-ever amount.** Amongst the charities helped, the campaign raised over £1.4 million towards child poverty projects in London (with support from [The Childhood Trust](http://www.childhoodtrust.org.uk/)), nearly £500,000 towards projects supporting the elderly (with support from the players of the [People’s Postcode Lottery](https://www.postcodelottery.co.uk/)), and over £1.3 million for international projects (with support from the Reed Foundation, Waterloo Foundation & Ethiopiaid). Of the 332 participating charities, 74% hit or exceeded their targets. A key change for this year was the ring fencing of match funds for each charity, which meant that funds lasted longer than in previous years and enabling charities to better able to control their performance in the campaign. ## Advertisement Alex Day, director of the Big Give said: > “We are extremely happy to have raised over £7.2 million in this year’s Christmas > Challenge with a record number of donations coming in. A greater number of donations > means that charities are able to build their donor base and future fundraising > capabilities, enabling them to be more sustainable and to have a greater impact > on the beneficiaries they exist to serve. So far, the feedback on the new model > has been extremely positive from donors and charities Charities interested in participating in future Big Give events can register [here](https://secure.thebiggive.org.uk/charity) on the Big Give site. * **[Big Give announces Send A Cow as overall Christmas Challenge Award winner](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/02/14/big-give-announces-send-cow-overall-christmas-challenge-award-winner/)**( 14 February 2017) * **[Last chance to apply for Christmas Challenge](https://fundraising.co.uk/2017/07/04/last-chance-apply-christmas-challenge/)**( 4 July 2017) * **[Christmas Challenge awards winners announced](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/02/28/christmas-challenge-awards-winners-announced/)**( 28 February 2018) ![Loading](https://fundraising.co.uk/wp-content/plugins/page-views-count/ajax-loader- 2x.gif)