The Big Give
theBigGive.org.uk is a non-profit, charitable website which enables donors to find and support charity projects in their field of interest. All UK registered charities can sign up for free and the site currently showcases the projects of over 9,500 charities.
History
The Big Give was founded in October 2007 by Sir Alec Reed CBE. Reed is the founder of Reed (Company)along with several international charities. He is chairman of the Reed Foundation and over the years he became increasingly frustrated by the endless number of unsolicited charity appeals which he received. Reed founded The Big Give to solve this problem; to allow philanthropists to search proactively and save charities' resources.
The Big Give is free for all users and allows philanthropists and donors to support their favourite charitable projects, or discover new charities working in their preferred area. The site's successes include a small charity working in North East England, which received a grant of £175,000 from a philanthropist who found the charity on The Big Give.
Since its launch, The Big Give has raised over £50 million. The majority of this has been raised through Challenge Funding.
Challenge Funding
2008 Matched Funding Challenge
In December 2008, Sir Alec launched his pilot Matched Fund by offering to match online donations up to a total of £1 million. The public response was such that £1 million was donated online in 45 minutes, benefiting 250 charities. The average donation was £1,400 and £44,000 was raised every minute. The Reed Foundation was awarded a Third Sector Award for Innovation in Fundraising in recognition of the success of this Challenge.
2009 Christmas Challenge
In the 2009 Christmas Challenge, The Big Give raised £8.5 million, beating its £6m target. This was leveraged from an initial £1.5m donation from the Reed Foundation. The Challenge was launched on 7 December and donations to the 174 participating charities were doubled by a fund created by the Reed Foundation, along with charities' trustees and major donors. The fund doubled over 7,500 donations, this time raising the first £1 million in 25 minutes and the first £3 million in under 2 hours.
2010 Christmas Challenge
The Big Give 2010 Christmas Challenge doubled over 15,000 donations and raised £9.3 million. 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. The Challenge supported 323 charities which spanned all sectors, from children and health to environment and the arts. Participating charities ranged from international aid agencies such as Oxfam, to small, local hospices.
2011 Christmas Challenge
Over 400 charities participated in the Big Give's Christmas Challenge in 2011, the largest Christmas Challenge to date. Over £12million was raised from 19,7000 individual donations that were matched using a combination of funds raised by the participating charities and 'Charity Champions'.
2012 Christmas Challenge
The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2012 took place from 6 December - 19 December and raised over £10 million for the 350 participating charities. Over 11,500 donations were doubled by a combination of funds raised by the participating charities and the Big Give 'Charity Champions'.
2013 Christmas Challenge
The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2013 took place from 5 December – 18 December and raised over £11 million for 387 participating charities. Thousands of online donations were processed with a peak rate of 390 transactions/minute. For the first time, the UK Cabinet Office became a Big Give Charity Champion and joined others including the Reed Foundation, Candis Magazine, ICAP, Ethiopiaid and the Garfield Weston Foundation to offer matched funding for online donations.
2014 Christmas Challenge
The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2014 took place from the 4-17 December 2014. Building on the success of previous Challenges raising even more than ever before. Their ongoing success was recognised at the Charity Times annual Awards winning the Fundraising Technology Category.[1] With runners up including iStreet Giving, Horse Trust, Paypal Giving Fund/eBay for Charity.[2]
Emergency Challenge Funds
Challenge Funds can be easily adapted to raise funds for emergency appeals, due to the urgency that they create. In total, the Big Give has now run 7 separate emergency appeals and raised over £1,000,000.
In 2013, the Big Give launched Emergency Appeals in response to the crises in Syria and the Philippines. Online donations were matched for a number of charities and aid agencies who were helping in the local areas affected by the crises. Together the appeals helped to raise over £460,000.
Philanthropy in Schools
The Big Give has developed a programme which inspires the next generation of philanthropists, providing the first step towards a lifetime of charitable activity.
Students conduct research into charities of interest to them and answer online questions which help them to evaluate their chosen charities. Each student then donates a charitable voucher online, before discussing their choice with a small group of their peers. As a group, they then choose one of the charities which has already received a voucher to give a presentation on, with the winning presentation earning an extra donation.
The programme has been running for five years and has already been featured in both the Economist and the Wall Street Journal. Twenty schools have now taken part, with over 600 pupils (generally years 8 and 9) benefiting from the project.
The Big Give Trustee Finder
The Big Give also allows charities to advertise Trustee vacancies. Donors interested in giving their time can search on the site for charities that are keen to receive trustee applications. For example, The Big Give has helped a charity fighting poverty in Africa to benefit from a businessman who was keen to get involved. As well as sharing his skills as a Trustee, he travelled with them to Ghana to see the projects in action and offer direct help and advice.
In September 2013, the Big Give updated the service and Trustee vacancies are now advertised on both the Big Give website and on reed.co.uk, helping to reach a larger audience and entice further applications.
Fortnum and Mason Charity Christmas Party
In 2012, the Big Give hosted their first ever Challenge launch party at the prestigious Fortnum & Mason store in London. Entertainment for the 2010 Christmas Party was provided by top arts organisations including the National Children’s Orchestra, Classical Opera Company and Deafinitely Theatre. The party raised a total of £60,000, with each guest deciding which charity benefited from their ticket. Ruby Wax, who helped out at the party, said "it’s fantastic that you can decide which charity to give to, and can follow your heart."
The 2011 Fortnum & Mason Charity Christmas Party saw 1,000 guests fill the Piccadilly department store. There were performances by some of the country’s leading performing arts charities including the Royal Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Circus Space, Little Angel Puppet Theatre and Voces 8. Stephen Fry added his own unique touch by compering the evening and encouraging some wonderful festive cheer. The evening raised £130,000, with each guest able to select which charity on theBigGive.org.uk benefited from their ticket.
The 2012 Fortnum and Mason Christmas Party was the third of its kind. Tickets sold out online in just 13 minutes and the party took place on 4 December. Entertainment was provided by dynamic street dancers from Ignite Trust, an opera duo from Bampton Opera Company and professional signing group Voces 8.
The Big Give Christmas Auction
In 2010, the Big Give also ran a Charity Christmas Auction which raised £13,000 for six charities. Prizes included an original illustration by Quentin Blake, tickets to see We Will Rock You and meet Brian May, a VIP weekend in Monaco and a dinner at Fortnum & Mason.
In 2011, the Big Give Christmas Auction raised over £16,000 for charity. 39 lots were sold including an original signed drawing of 'The Snowman' by Raymond Briggs and Champagne Afternoon Tea at Fortnum & Mason.
The Big Give Quiz
At 7:30 pm on Wednesday, 20 June 2012, the Big Give hosted the inaugural online Big Give Quiz. Over 200 supporters took part and helped to raise over £2,500 for a whole range of charities on the Big Give website.
Supporters were invited to take part by the Big Give and by charities who wanted teams to compete on their behalf. With every supporter’s £10 entry fee going directly to the charity of their choice, charities were able to benefit from additional donations regardless of the success of their teams.
The Second Big Give Quiz took place on Wednesday 3 October 2012. Once again, the participation fees went to the charity of the participant's choosing. The winning team received a £250 voucher to give to charity through the Big Give and a £250 cash prize.
The Big Garden Give
On Sunday, 21 August 2011 the Big Give hosted its very first Big Garden Give. Sir Alec Reed opened the grounds of The Manor in Little Compton to benefit hundreds of charities on the Big Give.Each visitor donated their £5 entry fee to a charity of their choice on the Big Give website, raising over £2,600 for a wide range of charities.
The Garden Give was repeated in 2012 (22 July) and 2013 (28 July). As well as homemade cakes, visitors at the 2013 party also enjoyed music from a local orchestra, the chance to meet birds of prey, stalls run by local charities and magic from one of the UK's top young magicians. The 2013 event raised over £1,750 and benefited 70 charities.
The Big Advice Column
The Big Give has introduced a new initiative called The Big Advice Column. A team of experts answer questions posed by charities and, each month, select questions are posted on the site for the benefit of all charities.
The Big Give Charities Raffle
In the summer of 2013, the Big Give ran their very first raffle. The raffle allowed participants to buy tickets on behalf of any charity registered on the Big Give and be in with a chance of winning a the top prize of £2,000. Prizes were kindly donated by the Reed Foundation and so charities received 96p from every £1 raffle ticket sold. Over 190 charities benefited and, in total, the raffle raised over £18,000. The raffle is planned to be repeated again in 2014.
References
- ↑ Matt, Ritchie. "2014 Charity Times Awards winners announced". Charity Times. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
- ↑ "Charity Times Awards 2014 - Shortlist". Charity Times. Retrieved 9 April 2015.