The Christmas Challenge is the UK’s largest online match funding campaign. The campaign is run by the Big Give online donation platform.

It offers supporters of participating charities the opportunity to double their donations. For example, an online donation of £100 is doubled to £200. If Gift Aid is claimed, it could be worth £225. Donations are doubled whilst matching funds last.

Champions

Champions are partners of the Big Give. They are external funders who contribute to the matching pots and can be trusts, foundations, corporations or philanthropists. Champion funds are ring-fenced for the charities they are supporting.

Pledgers

Pledgers are key supporters of participating charities. They contribute to the matching pots by providing promises of funding. Pledgers can be major donors, trustees, or any other significant supporter of the charity. A pledge must be a minimum of £100. Pledge funds are ring-fenced for the charities they are supporting.

Online donors

Online donors are also supporters of participating charities. They make donations online to participating charities when the campaign goes live on theBigGive.org.uk. An online donor can be anyone who would like to donate to the charity but cannot be someone who has also acted as a Pledger to the same charity. The maximum single online donation is £5,000. A donor can make multiple matched donations, up to a value of £5,000 per donation. All donations must be made using a debit or credit card.

Each charity’s matching pot is made up of “ring-fenced” funds. Charity fundraisers will know exactly how much they have in their matching pot to double online donations during the campaign before it goes live on #GivingTuesday.

• Incentivise your donors by offering to double donations.
• Optimise your fundraising by running this campaign at Christmas time when donors are at their most generous.
• Reap the rewards offered by match funding: Research has shown that 84% of donors are more likely to give in a match funding campaign; 36% of donors are likely to give more (Walker, 2016).
• Bring together fundraising streams by running a campaign which can include trusts/foundations, corporates & individuals.
• Secure new major donors who can act as Pledgers and have their donation leveraged up to 4 times.
• Chance to secure additional funds via a Champion procured by the Big Give.
• Increase your income through Gift Aid: 86% of donations made in the Christmas Challenge are Gift Aided.
• Receive tools and support from the Big Give team to help you run a successful campaign.
• Join an international movement of giving as the campaign launches on #GivingTuesday.

In the Christmas Challenge 2017, 96% of charities reported receiving donations from new supporters.

• No fee to join the campaign.
• 4% fee on all gross donations (donation amount + Gift Aid) made on the Big Give. This covers the operating costs of the Big Give’s external payments processor, Charity Checkout.

The Christmas Challenge will require time and work from you and your team. You will need to ensure that you follow all of the communications sent by the Big Give team. You will need to be prepared to secure pledges (promises of funding) from key supporters, and to market the campaign to online donors. The Big Give will be on hand to support you and provide a variety of resources to help you have a successful Christmas Challenge campaign.

The campaign runs for 7 days consecutively from midday on #GivingTuesday 27th November to midday on Tuesday 4th December 2018.

To be eligible to apply to the Christmas Challenge, your charity must be:

• Registered in the UK with at least one year of accounts and an annual income of £25,000 or more (as per last filed accounts).
• Registered on theBigGive.org.uk (free to register, sign up here).
• Looking to raise between £4,000 and £100,000.

To register your charity on the Big Give, sign up here.

Once registered, or if you already have a Big Give charity account, log in to find the APPLY FOR THE CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE button on the right hand side. Applications for 2018 closed in July. 

For stage one of your application, you need to complete the following steps:

• Confirm you understanding of the campaign by reading the essential documents.
• Submit the project for which you wish to raise funds through the campaign.
• Enter details on your charity’s finances (annual income as per your last filed accounts which have been submitted to the Charity Commission or other regulator; reserves policy and amount held in reserves).
• Set your Christmas Challenge target.

You will be required to enter information for each of the areas listed below to successfully upload your project.

• Overview
• Need
• Aims
• Success
• Communication
• Budget
• Background
• Why your charity?

*When you have uploaded your new project, you must go back to your Christmas Challenge application and select it from the list to proceed.*

Minimum = £4,000

Maximum = £100,000

Minimum = £1,000

Maximum = £25,000 and no more than 10% of a charity’s annual income (as per accounts last filed with the Charity Commission or other regulator).

A Champion can respond to your Christmas Challenge application in the following ways:

• Offer the full amount of Champion funding (equal to the amount you have secured in pledges)
• Offer a partial amount of Champion funding (your pledge target remains the same)
• No Champion funds offered

Charities that are not allocated any Champion funds will be able to participate in the Private Match Fund where they will use their pledge funds to match online donations only. They will be able to top up their matching pot by securing additional pledge funds.

For charities with both pledge and Champion match funds, online donations made to your project will be initially matched by your pledge funds. Once the pledge funds have been exhausted, online donations will be matched by Champion funds. It is therefore essential to set a realistic target to ensure you are able to access the Champion funds. If you don’t reach your target, you only receive a proportion of your matching pot.

Donations beyond your target: Exceeding your target could help you win a Christmas Challenge Award!

Christmas Challenge 2018 resources.

Stage Two of your Christmas Challenge application involves collecting pledge promises from your charity’s key supporters.

Pledge promises are commitments of funding made by your charity’s key supporters. They form part of you charity’s matching pot for the Christmas Challenge.

By pledging, your Pledgers are promising to match online donations received by your charity via theBigGive.org.uk when the campaign is live. Therefore, their funding is conditional upon you receiving online donations.

Pledge promises can be made by an individual or organisation (e.g. a key supporter, a trust or foundation, a company).

No. If you have held, or are planning to hold, a fundraising event you are not allowed to ‘pledge’ these funds for the Christmas Challenge.

Equally, grants or money from other funding sources that have already been received or confirmed cannot be used as pledges.

This is because pledges are promises of funding. Pledgers are only required to fulfill their promise and pay your charity the funds if you receive online donations during the live campaign.

Your supporters can pledge to your charity by completing the online form available in your Christmas Challenge dashboard.

The online form must be completed by the Pledger him/herself. Organisations can also make a pledge to your charity for the campaign. If this is the case, the online form must be completed by a suitable representative of the organisation.

NB: A charity must not complete the online form on behalf of their Pledgers.

5pm on Friday 31st August 2018.

No, the deadline to secure all of your pledges and hit your pledge target is 31st August 2018.

No, you must hit your pledge target not including Gift Aid (that is redeemed in addition and does not make up any of your target).

No, because they would effectively be doubling their own donation. Pledgers can donate to a DIFFERENT charity online if they wish.

All of your pledge promises must be fulfilled i.e. paid to your charity, between 4th December 2018 and 11th January 2019.

When the live phase of the campaign has ended, you should email your Pledgers to inform them of the amount they owe your charity.

If you have not used all of your pledges to match online donations, your Pledgers will only be required to pay a pro rata amount of their pledge. The Big Give may contact your Pledgers to chase payments.

Yes, pledges can be paid to your charity after the campaign in any way that is convenient for the Pledger (e.g. via cheque, BACs transfer, on the Big Give).

You will need to upload proof that you have received your pledges to your Christmas Challenge dashboard, for example a screenshot of your bank account or a scan of a cheque.

If you do not use all of your pledges to double online donations by the end of the Christmas Challenge, your Pledgers will only be required to pay a pro rata amount. For example, if you use 50% of your pledges to double online donations, each Pledger will only be required to pay 50% of their pledged amount. The Pledger may choose to pay the full amount, but this is not compulsory.

There is a Stage Two Application Guide available in your Christmas Challenge dashboard.

Charities are notified whether or not they have been selected to receive matching funds from a Champion. You may be offered the same amount of Champion match funds as you have secured in pledges or a lower amount. Please note that if you are offered a lower amount, your pledges will remain the same and they will still be used first to double donations during the live campaign.

If your charity is not selected by a Champion, you have the opportunity to take part in the Christmas Challenge Private Match Fund. In this instance, you will have the opportunity to top up your matching pot by securing additional pledges.

You must accept or reject the offer you receive within 5 days.

You will be notified whether or not you have received Champion match funding and if so, how much, between 17th September and 5th October 2018.

You must accept or reject the Champion offer within 5 days.

Charities that are not allocated any Champion funds will be able to participate in the Private Match Fund where they will use their pledge funds to match online donations only. They will have the opportunity to top up their matching pot by securing additional pledges.

The Big Give will provide a package of marketing support including an online webinar and guidebook outlining communication channels and creative ideas. This will be available from the start of the Marketing phase (5th October) in your Christmas Challenge dashboard.

The campaign goes live at midday on 27th November (#GivingTuesday) and runs until midday on Tuesday 4th December.

Donations to your project will be doubled during this time or until you hit your target, whichever comes first.

When the Christmas Challenge goes live, donations made to participating charities are doubled. Charities have matching pots made up of funds either from their own supporters (pledges) or from a Big Give Champion, or both, to double online donations made via theBigGive.org.uk.

Pledgers must not donate to the project they have pledged to because they would effectively be doubling their own donation. Pledgers can donate to a DIFFERENT charity project online if they wish.

Yes, the maximum single donation is £5,000. A donor can make multiple matched donations, up to a value of £5,000 per donation.

No, all donations must be made online through the donation button on your charity’s project page on the Big Give website to access the match funding.

We have a ‘reservation system’ which means that, if there are funds available at the point when your donor begins their donation, these funds will be reserved for 10 minutes to give them time to make their donation. There will be clear messaging at every stage of the donation process to notify donors of when their donation will or will not be doubled.

If the donor opts in to sharing their contact details with you, you will able to see this information in your charity account area under the ‘Your donations’ tab. Otherwsie, the donation will display as Anonymous.

Any donations made to your charity after your matching pot is exhausted will not be doubled. However, supporters are still welcome to make an unmatched donation to your charity.

Any donations made to your charity after your matching pot is exhausted will not be doubled. However, charities that hit their targets will be eligible for the Christmas Challenge Awards and could win additional funding. The prize funds will be unrestricted.

You will not be penalised for not hitting your target and will still receive all donations made to your project and any match funds secured. Any online donations you do receive will be doubled as per the matching model.

This means that you will receive a pro rata amount of funding. For example, if you achieve 50% of your target, you will redeem 50% of the funds in your matching pot.

No, this is not allowed and is in breach of the Christmas Challenge Terms and Conditions. Doing so could result in your organisation being removed from the Challenge with matching funds withheld.

Charity Checkout, our payments processor, will do this on your behalf where donors have indicated that they are eligible. All Gift Aid payments will be made as soon as they have been received from HMRC (approx. 8 weeks).

If you do not use all of your pledges to double online donations by the end of the Christmas Challenge, your Pledgers will only be required to pay a pro rata amount. For example, if you use 50% of your pledges to double online donations, each Pledger will only be required to pay 50% of their pledged amount. The Pledger may choose to pay the full amount, but this is not compulsory.

No, Gift Aid is not matched.

Our payments processor, Charity Checkout, requires donations to be made online using a debit/credit card. The following card types are accepted: Mastercard / Visa / Maestro / Switch / Solo / Delta / American Express.

Yes, as long as they have one of the accepted card types. Please ensure they are aware that the Christmas Challenge begins at 12pm (midday) GMT on Tuesday 27th November. All donations must be made in GBP.

No, the campaign will run continuously for 7 days hours without pausing. Your donors can donate at any time during those 7 days and have their donation doubled providing you have match funds remaining.

All donations (including Gift Aid) made on the Big Give website are subject to a 4% fee. The fee is calculated as 4% of the gross donation (donation amount + Gift Aid). This fee is charged by our payments processor, Charity Checkout, to cover their administrative costs.

Funds received during the campaign are restricted to your Christmas Challenge project until you hit your target. If you receive additional online donations after hitting your target, these funds may be unrestricted. You would have been asked to indicate how you would use these additional funds in your Christmas Challenge application.

If you win a Christmas Challenge Award, the prize money is unrestricted.

You will be required to take steps following the live phase of the campaign in order to complete the Christmas Challenge. Crucially, you will need to collect your pledge payments and upload proof of receipt to your Christmas Challenge dashboard (not applicable to IMF). Once this has been completed, you will receive the Champion matching funds owed to you.

Pledges (not applicable to IMF)

Pledges can be paid directly to your charity after the Challenge officially ends (4th December 2018) or via the Big Give website between 4th December 2018 and 11th January 2019.

You will need to contact your Pledgers to collect these funds after your charity has completed the Challenge. The Big Give may also email your Pledger(s) to remind them about paying. You are required to upload proof to your Christmas Challenge dashboard to show when a pledge has been fulfilled. Satisfactory proof is one of the following:

• A scanned copy/ photo of the cheque.
• A scanned copy of your bank statement showing the funds have been transferred.
• A screenshot of the payment made via the Big Give.

Please note the following:

• Pledges made online via theBigGive.org.uk will be subject to an additional 4% fee. The fee is calculated as 4% of the gross donation (donation amount + Gift Aid). Any pledges collected via the Big Give will have Gift Aid automatically processed where applicable.
• You are responsible for claiming Gift Aid on any pledges received directly to your organisation.

Online donations

The Big Give works with a partner payments processor, Charity Checkout, and so payments will come from Charity Checkout on your bank statement. Online donations will be paid into your bank account via Charity Checkout on the 20th of each month (or the nearest working day thereafter) for any donations made during the month prior.

Gift Aid payouts for your donations through Charity Checkout will be paid to you directly by HMRC. You must complete the steps and paperwork in the Gift Aid Status tab in your Charity Account area.

Champion funds (not applicable to PMF)

Champion funds will be paid to charities approximately two months after the completion of the Christmas Challenge. You will receive these funds by cheque in February (subject to satisfactory pledge due diligence).

The Big Give carries out due diligence on pledges (not applicable to IMF) to ensure that these have been paid. Donors have made donations on the basis that they are being matched so you must ensure that you receive your pledges to honour this commitment to donors.

Satisfactory proof is one of the following:

• A scanned copy/photo of the cheque.
• A scanned copy of your bank statement showing the funds have been transferred.
• A screenshot of the payment made via the Big Give.