Big Give sets sights on raising £1bn for good causes by 2023
Melanie May | 13 March 2023 | News
Celebrating its 15th anniversary today, Big Give has released a report showing its impact so far, and set a fundraising target of £1billion by 2023.
The report highlights that since, 2007 Big Give has raised £233mn for charitable causes through its match funding campaigns, including donations of £113mn, match funding of £97.4mn and gift aid of £20.1mn.
5,563 individual charities have raised money via the Big Give platform, and 640,000 public donations have been made, with an average gift of £179.
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Its annual flagship event, the Christmas Challenge, accounts for £173.8mn of all monies raised so far on the platform. In 2022, this event raised £28.6mn, with 1,021 charities and 79,000 donors participating.
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.
The report also shows that:
- 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-matchfunded 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.
James Reed, Big Give’s Chair of Trustees and the driving force behind the platform, commented:
“We are very proud of what has been achieved in the first 15 years, but now we want to raise the profile of Big Give and accelerate its work so that we raise £1bn by 2030.
“This is an ambitious target, but deliberately so. There are so many important causes that need support. We want to find more match funding champions – companies, individuals and foundations – to match what the public donate. We want to build the match funding footprint to the benefit of more causes and people.
“We have pioneered the concept of match funding and have shown that it works brilliantly. People give more when they know their generosity will be multiplied in this way. Now we want to take Big Give to the next level.”
Big Give’s match funding campaigns ask funders to match donations to charities made by members of the public, meaning that £50 from an individual, for example, becomes £100 for a good cause after being doubled by a Big Give match funding ‘champion’ – typically philanthropists, foundations or companies such as Julia & Hans Rausing Trust, The Childhood Trust, and The Reed Foundation.
The platform’s campaigns have been supported by celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Dame Judi Dench, David Walliams, Stephen Fry, Emilia Fox, Graham Norton, Ruby Wax and Darcey Bussell.
Big Give also supports the Disasters Emergency Committee campaigns including the response to the earthquakes which struck Turkey and Syria on 6 February. For the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal which closed in June 2022, Big Give raised £3.5 million. And for the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal which closed in December 2022, Big Give received over 4,500 donations totalling £1.1 million. Both totals include match funding.
Over the last three years Big Give has run the following campaigns:
Alex Day, Managing Director of Big Give, said:
“These report findings highlight the importance of the work Big Give does and how it can transform fundraising capabilities and impact of the charities involved. Match funding is the way forward for charities and philanthropists and with the cost of living crisis putting stress on the charities it is more important than ever.”
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.