The Big Give

The Big Give is a non-profit, charitable website that enables donors to find and support charity projects in their field of interest. Its main activity is online match funding campaigns, where public donations are matched by donations from notable philanthropists; these donors are referred to as "Champions" and include The Reed Foundation, The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust and The Waterloo Foundation. The Big Give's campaigns have been promoted by celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Emilia Fox and David Walliams among others.[2]

This article is about the British organisation. For the American television show produced by Oprah Winfrey, see Oprah's Big Give.

The Big Give
Founded2007
FounderSir Alec Reed
TypeCharity
Registration no.1136547
Location
  • Dragon Court 27-29 Macklin street, Strand, London WC2B 5LX
MethodOnline match funding; showcasing charities; connecting charities with supporters
Members
9,987 registered charities
Key people
Trustees: James Reed (Chair), Richard Reed, Isabel Kelly, Nicola Reed, Nigel Marsh, Lisa Reed[1]
Employees
Five
Websitethebiggive.org.uk

Since fundraising began in 2008, The Big Give has raised over £156 million for thousands of charity projects, including over £2 million for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.[3][4] It is registered with the Fundraising Regulator.[5]

The Big Give was founded in October 2007 by Sir Alec Reed CBE. The charity is now chaired by James Reed.

History

Alec Reed established The Big Give after growing frustrated at the process of finding and assessing charities of interest to him. He used his experience of compiling searchable websites to create an online database of charities, browsable by sector and including detailed information about their structure and accounts.[6]

The organisation's initial aim was to connect charities with wealthy individuals seeking to donate £100,000 or more, but charities found that donors were deterred by the high minimum donation, so Reed experimented with time-limited match funding, saying: "There is nothing like a deadline to bring out people's competitive nature."[6]

In 2008, The Big Give launched its flagship online match funding campaign, the Christmas Challenge. Reed put up £1 million of his own money in match funding. It was matched by other donors within 45 minutes.[7] Since then the Christmas Challenge format has been refined and, along with an increase in the number of philanthropist 'Champions' and the amount of match funds available, the Challenge has become the UK's largest online match funding campaign.

Fundraising activities

The Big Give Christmas Challenge

The Big Give Christmas Challenge runs annually for seven days from #GivingTuesday, during which time donations to participating charities are doubled. The match funding used to double donations comes from both philanthropic partners of The Big Give ('Champions') and a charity's own major supporters ('Pledgers'). Champions include The Reed Foundation, The Childhood Trust, Candis, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The People's Postcode Lottery and The Waterloo Foundation.[8]

Each charity has a ring-fenced matching pot used to double public donations until the pot is empty or until the Christmas Challenge ends, whichever is sooner.[9]

The Christmas Challenge has run every year since 2008. It provides special awards for the best performing charities; in 2017 the overall winner was Aurora Orchestra.[10]

YearActivities
2008£2 million raised in 45 minutes for 240 charities.[7] The Reed Foundation was given a Third Sector Award for Innovation in Fundraising in recognition of the success of this challenge.[11]
2009£8.5 million raised, beating a target of £6 million and benefiting 174 charities. Fundraising from the challenge period was doubled by a fund of £1.5 million from the Reed Foundation and additional funds from trustees and major donors.[6]
2010The Big Give hosted its launch party for the Christmas Challenge at Fortnum & Mason's London store. Attendees raised £80,000 in one night.[6][12] £9.3 million was raised for 323 charities; donations from the public were doubled by a number of sponsors, including Arts & Business, Reed Specialist Recruitment, Reed Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Candis Magazine and Ethiopiaid.[6][13][14]
2011£12 million raised for 424 charities[15][13]
2012Raised over £10 million for 350 charities,[13][16] including £4 million raised in a two-hour period.[17]
2013£11 million raised for 387 charities. Online donations were processed at a peak of 390 transactions per minute.[18][19] The UK Cabinet Office joined as a Charity Champion, alongside Reed Foundation, Candis Magazine, ICAP, Ethiopiaid and the Garfield Weston Foundation[20]
2014£11 million raised for 367 charities.[21][22] The initiative was recognised at the UK Charity Awards, with The Big Give winning the Fundraising Technology Category.[23]
2015£7.1 million raised for 258 different charities, including 1,192 donations made in the first five minutes, worth £2.5 million.[24][25]
2016 £7.2 million for 332 charities across 17,000 donations
2017 £11.3 million for 528 charities across 29,000 donations[26]
2018 £13.3 million for 589 charities. The average donation was £175 and over 35,000 people donated.[27][8]
2019 £15.6 million for 588 charities.[28]
2020 £20.1 million raised for 764 charities, including Disasters Emergency Committee, The Prince’s Trust and Friends of the Earth, across 71,000 donations.[2]

Grenfell Tower fire

The charity raised over £2.6m in an online match funding campaign for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. The appeal raised £1 million in the first 48 hours and £2m a week later. In total the appeal raised £2,612,646. The Charity reported funding from the Reed Foundation, The Cadogan Estate, Julia and Hans Rausing and The Bjorgolfsson Family among others.[29]

Emergency Appeals

The Big Give has adapted its match funding model to emergency appeals, which are launched quickly and in co-ordination with the Disasters Emergency Committee to raise money.[30] Emergency Challenge Funds have been launched in response to the Syria Crisis, typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, earthquakes in Haiti and Nepal, and other international emergencies.[13][19][31] In October 2017 £232,446 was raised for Rohingya refugees escaping violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State. The funds were distributed to seven charities working directly with Rohingya refugees, including the British Red Cross and UNICEF UK.

The Summer Give

Since 2015, The Big Give has used its match funding model to run an annual Summer Give campaign in partnership with The Childhood Trust. The Summer Give offers match funding to charities alleviating child poverty in London, specifically aiming to keep children well-fed, safe and productively engaged during the summer holidays. It has helped over 87,658 children through partnerships with over 150 projects throughout London.[32][33] In 2017, the Summer Give raised £778,680 for 36 participating charities.[34]

National Emergencies Trust

The Big Give raised over £1.36m for the National Emergencies Trust COVID-19 Emergency Appeal, with donations from 1,900 individuals. The appeal funded food and sanitation supplies to support the elderly and vulnerable across the UK. Co-funders included the Julia and Hans Rausing Trust, the Reed family, Reed Foundation and Cazenove Capital (Schroders).[35][36]

Champions for Children

In July 2020 The Big Give raised £3.2m for Champions for Children, a joint campaign with The Childhood Trust to match fund 94 charities working in support of vulnerable children in London affected by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.[37]

Other activities

Philanthropy in Schools

The Big Give's 'Philanthropy in Schools' programme seeks to encourage the next generation of philanthropists by promoting research into charities and charitable donations. Participating schools partner with a sponsor who funds Big Give vouchers which students donate to their chosen charities. Students compete to make the best presentation on their preferred charities; the winning team receives an additional donation to its chosen charity.[38][39][40]

The Big Give Trustee Finder

The Big Give Trustee Finder advertises vacancies for charitable trusts, organised by skill, interest and location.[41] In 2013 the service was extended to feature vacancies on the Reed website for six weeks.[42]

The Big Advice Column

In 2012 The Big Give introduced an online advice column, The Big Advice Column, where a team of experts answer questions posed by charities.[7]

References
  1. "Contact and trustees". The Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  2. News, Helen Packer on 10 December 2020 in (10 December 2020). "The Big Give Christmas Challenge raises over £20 million in one week". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  3. "Improvements announced for The Big Give's Christmas Challenge match-funding campaign | UK Fundraising". UK Fundraising. 1 June 2016. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  4. https://www.thebiggive.org.uk/
  5. "Only four digital fundraising platforms registered with regulator". www.civilsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  6. Sir Alec, Reed (2012). I Love Mondays: The autobiography of Sir Alec Reed CBE. Profile Books. ISBN 978-1846685163.
  7. "History – The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  8. "Big Give Christmas Challenge 2018". BigGive.co.uk. 4 December 2018.
  9. https://www.thebiggive.org.uk/christmas-challenge/
  10. "Christmas Challenge awards winners announced | UK Fundraising". UK Fundraising. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  11. "Reed Foundation wins innovation award for £2m matched funding challenge". Philanthropy Impact. 12 November 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  12. "The Big Give announces Royal Wedding Challenge fund | Philanthropy Impact". www.philanthropy-impact.org. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  13. "Timeline – The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  14. "The Big Give Christmas Challenge raises £6 million in two days". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  15. "Big Give to double donations to 423 charities this week". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  16. "350 charities take part in The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2012". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  17. "No trouble for Big Give challenge this year » Charity Digital News". Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  18. "The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2013 – The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  19. "The Big Give | Digital Giving | Grow Your Charity Online". Tech4Good Awards. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  20. "The Cabinet Office supports the Big Give Christmas Challenge – The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  21. "Over £11m raised in The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2014 | Charities Trust". www.charitiestrust.org.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  22. "The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2014 – The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  23. Matt, Ritchie. "2014 Charity Times Awards winners announced". Charity Times. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  24. "The Big Give Christmas Challenge has nailed it this year » Charity Digital News". Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  25. "The Big Give Christmas Challenge raises over £6.4m in first three days". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  26. Reed, James (24 April 2018). "The business of giving: Why corporate philanthropy is more than just good PR". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  27. News, Melanie May on 6 December 2018 in (6 December 2018). "Big Give Christmas Challenge raises record £13.3m". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  28. "Big Give raises £15m in just seven days". Third Force News. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  29. "Grenfell match funding appeal raises £2.6m » Charity Digital News". www.charitydigitalnews.co.uk. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  30. "Emergency Appeals – The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  31. "The Big Give launches Nepal match fund appeal » Charity Digital News". Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  32. Clark, Austin (12 March 2018). "Summer Give 2018 details released". Charity Digital News. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  33. "The Big Give announces The Summer Give matched funding campaign". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  34. https://www.thebiggive.org.uk/match-funding/the-summer-give/past-summer-give-campaigns/
  35. News, Melanie May on 16 April 2020 in (16 April 2020). "£600k raised for NET coronavirus appeal through The Big Give". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  36. "The Big Give COVID-19 campaign raised £1.36 million for national appeal". CharityToday.co.uk. Charity Today. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  37. "Champions for Children". donate.thebiggive.org.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  38. "Philanthropy in Schools – The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  39. "Learning by doing". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  40. Espinoza, Javier. "Teach Your Children (How to Give) Well". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  41. "The Big Give launches trustee matching service". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  42. "Big Give offers trustee finder service". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
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