The Big Give is on the lookout for more charities to join the Christmas Challenge

After a record breaking campaign in 2017 which raised over £11.3 million for over 500 charities, the Big Give wants to support even more charities in 2018. Participating charities offer their supporters the opportunity to double their donation for one week only. Since its 2008 launch, the Christmas Challenge has raised over £90 million for participating charities, with donations matched by Big Give ‘Champions’: Trusts, Foundations, philanthropists and corporates who support the initiative, as well as charities’ major donors. Match funding also provides opportunities to secure new donors, with 96% of charities receiving donations from new supporters last year, and 74% of charities reporting that current supporters gave more than normal.

Alex Day, Director at the Big Give, said:

“The Christmas Challenge is the Big Give’s flagship campaign and we’re delighted to be able to continue to run this campaign to help hundreds of charities raise much needed funds for their work. The team at the Big Give works hard to continuously improve the campaign for charities and last year introduced an enhanced support offer to further upskill charities in online fundraising and digital marketing.”

Confirmed funding for 2018

The Big Give has so far confirmed a wide variety of funding in a number of areas across the board including international development, child poverty in London, animal welfare and the elderly among others. The list of funders is due to grow over the coming  weeks and you can find full details about who has confirmed their participation as a 2018 funder here.

More than money

The Christmas Challenge has long been notable for its success in helping charities to raise millions of pounds in just a few days, but over recent years charities have revealed that the benefits stretch far beyond the most obvious financial results. Thanks to the free training and support package that the Big Give provides to all participating charities, in 2017 85% of charities which took part in the campaign said that they increased confidence in individual online fundraising online. They also indicated that they were able to develop skills in social media, individual giving, crowd-funding and PR, amongst many others.

How to join

To apply to join the UK’s biggest online match funding campaign, charities apply in their Big Give account (free to register for any charities who are not yet on the platform). Applications are now open. The deadline for applications is 6th July although charities are encouraged to apply as soon as possible in order to secure more time to prepare for the campaign.

For more information and to apply, visit  theBigGive.org.uk. You can contact the Big Give via info@thebiggive.org.uk for any queries relating to your application.