# Charities can now apply for 2023 Big Give Christmas Challenge

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2023/05/23/charities-can-now-apply-for-2023-big-give-christmas-challenge/
- Published: 2023-05-23T11:17:15+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**The Big Give Christmas Challenge runs from 28 November – 5 December this year,
and charities have until 7 July to apply.**

The [Christmas Challenge](https://biggive.org/christmas-challenge/) doubles the 
public’s donations by matching them with Big Give ‘Champions’, which are philanthropists,
foundations and companies. This year’s Champions include The Reed Foundation, Julia&
Hans Rausing Trust, The Childhood Trust, and Candis.

Big Give’s annual flagship event, it accounts for around three quarters of the £
240mn the Big Give has raised since 2007. Almost half of the money raised by the
Christmas Challenge in 2010–2022 was for small charities with a current annual income
of less than £1 million.

## Advertisement

Last year it [raised a record £28.6mn](https://fundraising.co.uk/2022/12/06/big-give-christmas-challenge-raises-record-28-6mn/)
for 1,021 charities with 79,000 members of the public donating. 70% of the charities
that took part reached their funding target. The campaign was also promoted by a
number of celebrities including Dame Judi Dench, Claudia Winkelman, Stephen Fry 
and Chris Packham.

Big Give has also released other figures on the campaign’s impact.

These include:

 * 76% of participating charities say the Christmas Challenge’s match-funding results
   in more donations being made compared to a non-match funded campaign (a quarter
   believe significantly more).
 * 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. These donations equated to, on average, 28% of the monetary
   value of all donations made.
 * 74% of the charities believe that the Christmas Challenge has helped to raise
   their profile.
 * 9 in 10 of the charities believe the Christmas Challenge helps to develop their
   relationships with existing and new donors.
 * Participating in the Christmas Challenge improves the skills of charities with
   88% saying doing so has increased their organisation’s confidence in digital 
   fundraising.

Commenting, Alex Day, Managing Director of Big Give, said: 

> “The Christmas Challenge is what we are most well-known for and every year it 
> makes a major difference to so many charities. This year we are looking to smash
> all previous totals with a record amount of matched funds available for the largest
> number of charities and of course record generosity from the public. Taking part
> makes so much sense so we encourage any charity to apply and  be part of what 
> is a great UK success story.”

Information on eligibility and the application process can be [found here.](https://biggive.org/christmas-challenge/)

 * **[Cost of living crisis will see a quarter of people give less this Christmas, poll suggests](https://fundraising.co.uk/2023/11/29/cost-of-living-crisis-will-see-a-quarter-of-people-give-less-this-christmas-poll-suggests/)**(
   29 November 2023)
 * **[239 charities to take part in first Big Give arts campaign](https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/02/21/239-charities-to-take-part-in-first-big-give-arts-campaign/)**(
   21 February 2024)
 * **[Inaugural Big Give Arts for Impact campaign beats target to raise £2.8mn](https://fundraising.co.uk/2024/03/27/inaugural-big-give-arts-for-impact-campaign-beats-target-to-raise-2-8mn/)**(
   27 March 2024)