Big Give

De review

Big Give is a UK-based donation platform and registered charity that specialises in match funding, a model in which public donations to a campaign are matched, effectively doubling each gift. Founded by businessman Sir Alec Reed, the platform launched its flagship match-funding campaign, the Christmas Challenge, in 2008 and has since become one of Britain's best-known match-funding initiatives.

Big Give works exclusively with UK-registered charities, organisations holding a Charity Commission, OSCR, or Northern Ireland Charity Commission number, or equivalent tax-exempt status. Its mechanism combines money pledged by major donors with funds from 'Champion' funders; once a charity secures these commitments, public donations made during a campaign window unlock the matched amount. As a registered charity itself, Big Give relies on voluntary donor tips to help sustain the platform.

The platform's core strength is leverage: match funding lets charities raise significantly more during a campaign than they could from public donations alone, which is why it is popular with UK charities running time-limited appeals. The trade-off is that access depends on securing match-funding commitments and being accepted into a campaign, so it favours established or well-networked charities over spontaneous individual fundraisers.

Big Give is oriented toward the UK charitable sector rather than personal crowdfunding, and campaigns are typically organised around set match-funding events such as the Christmas Challenge and the Green Match Fund. Charities apply in advance and are assessed before being awarded ring-fenced match funding.