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Arts charities are in need of urgent support. Arts and culture play a crucial role in communities, from improving mental health to enhancing social skills. Our newest campaign is dedicated to supporting arts and culture charities across the UK, ensuring they can continue to make a profound societal impact.

How does it work?

Arts for Impact Fund utilises our ‘1:1’ model of match funding. Arts and culture charities apply to Big Give, and their application is assessed by Big Give and our partners, NPAC. Successful charities are awarded a sum of match funding which is ring-fenced for their organisation. This match funding is unlocked by public donations given through Big Give’s online fundraising platform during the week of the campaign.

 NPAC is a network of arts supporters, who are passionate about increasing philanthropic support of the arts and culture sector. Working with Big Give, NPAC has been helping to secure match funding and supporting arts organistions to prepare, and run their campaigns.

Our 2024 results

Charity Eligibility Criteria

  • UK-registered charity with a Charity Commission, OSCR or NI Charity Commission number, or tax-exempt status.
  • Have an annual income of at least £25,000 (as per last filed accounts on the Charity Commission).
  • Charities seeking to raise either £1,000, £2,500, £5,000, or £10,000 in public donations (to be doubled by the match funds). For a small number of charities (which have an annual income of above £1m as per last filed accounts), we will consider targets up to £20,000 (to be doubled by match funds).
  • Charities which are registered on BigGive.org (free to register)
  • Arts and culture charities that have arts and culture as their core mission and are looking for funds to support transformational impact for the people engaging with the charity. 
    • By “core mission”, we mean that the arts and culture is mentioned in the organisation’s charitable objects. This may include (but is not limited to) theatres, dance troupes, choirs, orchestras, arts centres, literary charities, galleries, museums, arts festivals and arts-based community groups.
    • “Transformational social impact” may include (but is not limited to) improved health and wellbeing, improved education, improved mental health, social cohesion and welfare. 
    • Charities will be asked to demonstrate the social impact of their work in the application and to set out how they would propose to use any funds allocated to them from the NPAC/Big Give match fund. Applicants should include a description of the social outcomes their work aims to achieve, the legacy of their work and the breadth of their work, together with a description of how they assess the impact of these activities.
  • Charities where work is focused in the UK.
  • Funds may be applied for in relationship to specific projects or core costs. In the latter case, the impact and legacy of the charity’s work as a whole should be included. Capital projects will not be funded. 
  • Applications will be scored with reference to their impact, legacy and the financial sustainability of the organisation. All scoring is confidential.

Charity Application Process

  • Log in or sign up
  • Once you have access to our charity portal, head to ‘Big Give Campaigns’
  • Click on Apply now for Arts For Impact

2025 Campaign Timeline

  • October 28th 2024: Applications open
  • December 18th 2024: Applications close
  • January 29th 2025: Offer deadline
  • March 18th – 25th (midday) 2025: Campaign

Campaign Stage Breakdown

 

Stage 0: The Raise

Big Give and NPAC start to secure match-funding commitments from champions.

 

Stage 1: Initial application

Big Give markets the opportunity to charities. The application involves charities completing information on their proposed use of funds.

 

Stage 2: Vetting and Notification
Big Give completes due diligence checks on all applications and passes them on to a panel of experts who will review and assign Champion funding to charity campaigns. The total amount of Champion funding allocated to a charity makes up their match funding pot for the campaign.

 

Stage 3: Marketing
Big Give provides a free suite of resources to help support charities to maximise the opportunity and market the campaign.

 

Stage 4: Campaign
All donations are doubled until the Champion match funds have been used. Any donations raised over the overall target count as extra, unmatched, unrestricted donations to a charity’s campaign. Charities that don’t reach their target still receive any match funds up to the value of online donations received.

 

Stage 5: Post-Campaign
Learning and impact assessments are sent out, along with Champion reports and charity reporting requirements.

Ready to get started today? Join our community of like-minded changemakers

For interested funders

Champion Sign-up Process

  • Get in touch with Big Give. We’ll send you a Champion commitment form, and once completed, Big Give and our campaign partners NPAC will establish the portfolio of Charities, taking into account your preferences.

Partners of Big Give, who we call Champions.
A Champion can include high-net-worth individuals, foundations, philanthropists, trusts, statutory bodies, companies and more.

The public will be told if matching funds are available or not when they donate. When donating, match funds are reserved for 30 minutes to complete the donation. All donations are matched in real-time, and donors can see how much match funding has been allocated to their donation.

Funds received during the campaign are restricted to the activity outlined in the application until the charity has hit their target. If a charity receives additional online donations after hitting its target, these funds may be  unrestricted. Charities may use the campaign to raise unrestricted funds as long as it meets the eligibility requirements.

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