Since 2008, over £150m has been raised for thousands of good causes via the Big Give through the power of match funding. This fantastic result would not have been possible without our Big Give Champions that provide the match funding!
Champion: Candis Club.
Campaigns: The Christmas Challenge.
Charities supported: As one of the UK’s top-selling women’s magazines, Candis aims to bring people together to promote healthy living, community and family life. Their charitable giving centres around supporting health charities in the UK.
Further information: To find out more about the charities they support or to join Candis Club, visit https://www.candis.co.uk.
Candis has been one of our longest-standing Champions, having worked with the Big Give for over ten years. Since 2010, they have joined us every year for the UK’s biggest match funding campaign, the Christmas Challenge. Throughout that time, they have supported 418 charities and helped to raise £13,137,801. As the 2021 Christmas Challenge draws closer, we were delighted to chat with them to find out more about their philanthropic goals.
Why did your organisation decide to match fund through the Big Give?
Giving has always been at the heart of what Candis Club does. When we became aware of The Big Give, we immediately saw the value in collaborating with an organisation with the same ideology. We, and our subscribers, want our charitable donations to go as far as possible and to do as much good as possible, and the opportunity to double these donations through match-funding campaigns was one not to be missed!
What charities do you support through the Big Give and why?
We support more than 20 health charities each year, which vary from year to year. As a membership club, we’ve been donating to health charities since we were founded in 1962. Initially, we were established to raise money for Cancer Research following the death of our founder’s son but soon began supporting other charities, such as the British Heart Foundation and Tommy’s. To date, we have given more than £56 million to hundreds of charities and good causes.
What impact have you seen through supporting charities through the Big Give?
We’ve been able to raise more for a wider range of charities. We’ve discovered some wonderful smaller charities focusing on some really worthwhile causes. Each month we feature stories from our supported charities in Candis Magazine and this gives them a chance to get the message of the fantastic work they do and forthcoming projects out to our thousands of subscribers and beyond. We’ve received some great feedback from our subscribers and supporters about the initiative – they know we’re going to match their donation so it’s a great incentive to give. It makes them even more part of the fundraising process – they engage more with us and the charities we support.
As you look to the future, what important goals are you hoping to achieve?
To discover further charities and projects of interest, to help raise more for great causes through online match funding.
Next year (2022) we will celebrate our 60th anniversary – 60 years of raising money for so many worthwhile causes while celebrating health, happiness and family life through Candis Magazine and Candis Club. One of the ways we’ll be marking the occasion is with a sponsored dog from Canine Partners – one of our nominated charities. Our members will be able to read all about ‘Candis’ the dog’s progress online at candis.co.uk, and there will be plenty of other fab features, prizes and events to mark our Diamond year!
“Candis represents what’s best about our Champions; generous, partnership-focused, and always considering how they can add value to their charity partners. Our charities supported by Candis not only benefit from their match funding, but the invaluable coverage Candis give their charity partners in the monthly magazine. We’re proud and thankful for our years of partnership with Candis and look forward to continuing to multiply our impact together in the years to come.” – Alex Day, Director of The Big Give