The Big Give is fanatical about match funding. We want to make it easier for charities, match funders and donors to get involved with match funding and experience the benefits of what match funding offers for all parties.
Since 2008, over £180m has been raised for amazing causes on the Big Give platform. Thousands of charities have already experienced the power of match funding, and our mission is to keep that momentum going.
We have compiled some top tips for charities to consider when thinking about launching a match funding campaign:
- The cause – There are many great reasons you may decide to run a match funding campaign. For example, you may be seeking to raise money for an exciting project that your charity has launched and that may require match funding to encourage engagement with the project. Other great reasons to run a match funding campaign could be to celebrate a milestone event, such as a charity anniversary, or to introduce your supporters to new ways of giving online. Overall, match funding can not only incentivise giving, but is a proven way to engage with existing supporters, lapsed donors, and new supporters.
- Campaign length – Before starting your match funding campaign, a crucial question to ask yourself is how long are you thinking of running your campaign? From our experience, match funding campaigns are most effective when they are time-limited, specifically one to two weeks. This relatively short time period creates a sense of urgency and encourages donors to donate if and when they can.
- Match funds – Now it’s time to think about your networks and who is providing your match funds? Anyone can pledge match funds; it could be businesses, trusts, foundations, major donors, and even your trustees. You may have major supporters who you know will be giving to you at some point in the year. You could approach them and ask them to leverage their gift into match funds, which will multiply the impact of their gift and motivate other supporters to donate your charity.
Why run your own match funding campaign with the Big Give?
The Big Give is a registered charity too (1136547), and we never charge fees to charities for joining our platform. By running a match funding campaign with us, you can promote your charity and showcase your work to supporters. The campaign timing is entirely up to you, meaning it can fit in nicely with your fundraising calendar and dovetail with your other fundraising campaigns. The main attraction for match funding campaigns is when they are run on a time-limited basis, a couple of times a year is best – any more than that and their impact and sense of urgency is diminished.
We would greatly encourage charities to consider running their own match funding campaigns. To help charities do this, we have launched our first ever Anchor Match Fund. The Big Give will offer a contribution of £1k of match funds (up to a maximum of £10k per charity) to charity campaigns for every £4k they raise from pledges. Charities need to submit their expression of interest form by 18th March 2022. Charities will also need to launch their campaigns between 2nd May 2022 and 30th June 2022. Any charity with a minimum income of £25k can apply for the Anchor Match Fund. Please visit the Run your own campaign page for further information on applying.
About Sahil
Sahil Shah is the Partnerships Manager at the Big Give, having joined in 2019. He is responsible for managing the Big Give’s relationships with charities, organising our match funding campaigns and ensuring that charities get the most out of our platform. One of his key focuses is planning and preparing the campaigns- from the applications right through to the post-campaign phase.