The Big Give Christmas Challenge raises over £20 million in one week

Howard Lake | 10 December 2020 | News

• Tagged with:
• online fundraising campaign
• The Big Give

The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2020, a nationwide fundraising campaign, has raised a record-breaking £20.1 million.
This is the highest amount ever raised during the challenge, beating last year’s total by £4.5 million. Celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Emilia Fox and David Walliams took to social media to support the campaign and encourage the public to donate.
The Big Give is the UK’s biggest online match funding campaign and gives supporters the opportunity to have their donation doubled. The challenge launched at the start of December and over 71,000 donations were made during the week-long campaign window. 764 charities participated in The Big Give, including Disasters Emergency Committee, The Prince’s Trust and Friends of the Earth.
Charities have been “blown away” by the public’s support, said The Big Give. This follows a challenging year for many charities who have seen their income drop during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, 85% of charities who took part in the campaign exceeded their fundraising targets. The average donation was £136 compared to the national average charity gift of £45.
James Reed, Chair of The Big Give and Chief Executive of recruitment company REED, commented:

“We’re delighted to have raised a record-breaking £20m for 764 good causes. This year people have been especially generous and I would like to thank everyone for their incredible generosity, kindness and support.”

The Peak District National Park Foundation’s Fundraising Coordinator, Claire Barlow, said:

“We are delighted at the response our Big Give Christmas Challenge has had with our supporters. We are a relatively small charity, and this is the first time we have taken part in the challenge. But we smashed our £4,000 fundraising target after only 48 hours. With the money raised we will fund planting of a climate change superhero – Sphagnum Moss – on the Peak District Moors. Happy Christ-moss!”

About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale. He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.