The Big Give

This article is about the British organization. For the American television show produced by Oprah Winfrey, see Oprah's Big Give.
The Big Give
Founded 2007 (2007)
Founder Sir Alec Reed
Type Charity
Registration no. 1136547
Location
  • Dragon Court 27-29 Macklin street, Strand, London WC2B 5LX
Method Online match funding; showcasing charities; connecting charities with supporters
Members
9885 registered charities
Key people
 Trustees: Alec Reed, Peter Williams, Stanley Davis, Martin Warnes
Revenue
£870,671 (June 2014)
Employees
None
Mission To provide a platform to promote causes and inspire people to give
Website thebiggive.org.uk

The Big Give is a non-profit, charitable website which enables donors to find and support charity projects in their field of interest. Its main activity is online match funding campaigns, where donations from the public are matched by donations from philanthropists.

History

The Big Give was founded in October 2007 by Sir Alec Reed CBE. Reed is the founder of employment agency Reed along with several international charities. He is chairman of the Reed Foundation.

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.[1]

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. After lobbying Reed for a smaller donation threshold, Reed decided to experiment with time-limited match funding, saying: "There is nothing like a deadline to bring out people's competitive nature."[1]

For the first Christmas Challenge in 2008, Reed put up £1 million of his own money in match funding. It was matched by other donors within 45 minutes.[2] Since then the challenge format has been refined, along with an increase in both the number of philanthropist 'champions' and in the amount of match funds available.

Fundraising activities

The Big Give Christmas Challenge

The Big Give Christmas Challenge doubles donations made by members of the public with funding pledged by its 'Charity Champions', being individuals or organisations pledging money in support of their chosen charities. Match funding is released at a fixed time every day, and public donations are doubled by Champions until that day's funds are exhausted.[3] The Big Give has run the challenge every year since 2008.

Year Activities
2008 £2 million raised in 45 minutes for 240 charities.[2] The Reed Foundation was given a Third Sector Award for Innovation in Fundraising in recognition of the success of this challenge.[4]
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.[1]
2010 The Big Give hosted its launch party for the Christmas Challenge at Fortnum & Mason's London store. Attendees raised £80,000 in one night.[1][5] £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.[1][6][7]
2011 £12 million raised for 424 charities[8][6]
2012 Raised over £10 million for 350 charities,[6][9] including £4 million raised in a two-hour period.[10]
2013 £11 million raised for 387 charities. Online donations were processed at a peak of 390 transactions per minute.[11][12] The UK Cabinet Office joined as a Charity Champion, alongside Reed Foundation, Candis Magazine, ICAP, Ethiopiaid and the Garfield Weston Foundation[13]
2014 £11 million raised for 367 charities.[14][15] The initiative was recognised at the UK Charity Awards, with the Big Give winning the Fundraising Technology Category.[16]
2015 £7.1 million raised for 258 different charities, including 1,192 donations made in the first five minutes, worth £2.5 million.[17][18]

Emergency Challenge Funds

The Big Give has adapted its match funding model to emergency appeals, which are launched quickly and in coordination with the Disasters Emergency Committee to raise money.[19] 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.[6][12][20]

Summer Challenge Fund

In 2015 The Big Give used its match funding model in a 'Summer Challenge', partnering with charity The Childhood Trust and restricting the challenge to charities that support London's poorest children.[21] The five-day event raised £527,627 for 18 London charities, including £100,000 in the first ten minutes.[22][23]

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 presentation team receives an additional donation to its chosen charity.[24][25][26]

The Big Give Trustee Finder

The Big Give Trustee Finder advertises vacancies for charitable trusts, organised by skill, interest and location.[27] In 2013 the service was extended to feature vacancies on the Reed website for six weeks.[28]

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.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Sir Alec, Reed (2012). I Love Mondays: The autobiography of Sir Alec Reed CBE. Profile Books. ISBN 978-1846685163.
  2. 1 2 3 "History - The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  3. ↑ "How it works - The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  4. ↑ "Reed Foundation wins innovation award for £2m matched funding challenge". Philanthropy Impact. 12 November 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "The Big Give announces Royal Wedding Challenge fund | Philanthropy Impact". www.philanthropy-impact.org. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Timeline - The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  7. ↑ "The Big Give Christmas Challenge raises £6 million in two days". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  8. ↑ "Big Give to double donations to 423 charities this week". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  9. ↑ "350 charities take part in The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2012". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  10. ↑ "No trouble for Big Give challenge this year » Charity Digital News". Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  11. ↑ "The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2013 - The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  12. 1 2 "The Big Give | Digital Giving | Grow Your Charity Online". Tech4Good Awards. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  13. ↑ "The Cabinet Office supports the Big Give Christmas Challenge - The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  14. ↑ "Over £11m raised in The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2014 | Charities Trust". www.charitiestrust.org.uk. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  15. ↑ "The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2014 - The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  16. ↑ Matt, Ritchie. "2014 Charity Times Awards winners announced". Charity Times. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  17. ↑ "The Big Give Christmas Challenge has nailed it this year » Charity Digital News". Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  18. ↑ "The Big Give Christmas Challenge raises over £6.4m in first three days". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  19. ↑ "Emergency Appeals - The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  20. ↑ "The Big Give launches Nepal match fund appeal » Charity Digital News". Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  21. ↑ "The Big Give announces The Summer Give matched funding campaign". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  22. ↑ "Summer Give match-funding campaign raises £527k for vulnerable children in London". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  23. ↑ "Summer Give match-funding campaign raises over £500,000 » Charity Digital News". Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  24. ↑ "Philanthropy in Schools - The Big Give". The Big Give. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  25. ↑ "Learning by doing". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  26. ↑ Espinoza, Javier. "Teach Your Children (How to Give) Well". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  27. ↑ "The Big Give launches trustee matching service". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
  28. ↑ "Big Give offers trustee finder service". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 2015-12-21.
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