The Big Give

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.

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."

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. 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.

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. The Big Give has run the challenge every year since 2008.

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. 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.

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. The five-day event raised £527,627 for 18 London charities, including £100,000 in the first ten minutes.

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.

The Big Give Trustee Finder

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

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.