The Christmas Challenge seeks to raise millions of pounds for hundreds of groups across Britain.
The UK’s biggest online match funding campaign has opened applications for this year’s push.
The Christmas Challenge seeks to raise millions of pounds for hundreds of charities that take part in the campaign, with up to £25,000 worth of match funds available from the Big Give’s Champions, who are looking to support a multitude of different causes.
Match funding has been shown to encourage donors to give and to give more. A report commissioned by the Big Give found 84% of respondents felt they were more likely to give if matching was offered.
The research also claimed that some donors give more when their donations are match-funded.
The average matched gift made through the Big Give is £333, while the average unmatched gift is £132.
One in three donors said they gave a larger gift because matching was applied to their donation.
This year’s campaign follows a record breaking result for The 2021 Christmas Challenge campaign.
More charities than ever took part (928), more donations than ever were received across the whole campaign (over 79,000), and crucially more money than ever was raised for hundreds of great causes - over £24.1m, 20% up on Christmas Challenge 2020.
An overwhelming amount (94%) of charities that participated in Christmas Challenge 2021 received donations from new supporters, and 75% reported they received significantly more donations than any comparable fundraising campaigns.
The Christmas Challenge hopes to amplify voices across the charity sector, showcase the fantastic work charities are doing and multiply generosity to create lasting impact in the world.
Alex Day, director of the Big Give, says: “With the challenging economic circumstances forecast for the year ahead, we know how important it is for charities to make compelling asks to their supporters.
“We know that more people give and people give more when their donations are matched. That’s why we are delighted to announce we’re expecting our biggest ever match funding commitment from our Champion funders.
“We are looking forward to continuing to support a wide range of charities and raising tens of millions of pounds for great causes again this year.”
The Big Give is the UK’s biggest online match funding platform and is the brainchild of recruitment entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Alec Reed. Over £190m has been raised for good causes through the Big Give’s match funding campaigns.
To be eligible to take part in this year’s campaign charities need to be registered with one of the UK charity commissions or have a charitable exempt status granted by HMRC.
Charities also need to have a minimum income of £25,000 and have at least one year’s accounts filed with the respective charity commission.
