How to donate – The Big Give

Donating in the Christmas Challenge 2019

When? The campaign launches at 12pm on #GivingTuesday (3rd December). Donations will be doubled until 12pm on Tuesday 10th December (whilst match funds last).
Where? Online at www.thebiggive.org.uk
How does it work? Donate to a participating charity’s project on thebiggive.org.uk during the Christmas Challenge and your donation will be doubled whilst match funds last. You will be able to browse a list of participating charities a couple of weeks before the Christmas Challenge launches.

Donating to a charity of interest during the campaign:

1. In the ‘Find a charity’ box either type in the name of the charity, project or keyword you are looking for.
2. Your search results will be displayed below the ‘Find a charity’ box.
3. Click on the ‘Double Your Donation’ button for the charity project you want to donate to.
4. Follow the donation process and pay attention to messages regarding whether your donation will be doubled.

Important information for donors

1. The maximum single donation is £5,000. A donor can make multiple matched donations, up to a value of £5,000 per donation. We accept all major credit and debit cards. These are Mastercard / Visa / Maestro / Switch / Solo / Delta / American Express.
2. Start the donation process at 12pm on Tuesday 3rd December when you will see a clear message to indicate the Christmas Challenge has started. If you start the donation process before 12pm and pre-fill the donation form, your donation will not be matched.
3. If available, matching funds will be reserved for 15 minutes whilst you donate.
4. You might be required to input your 3D secure details so make sure you have these to hand. Your 3D secure checks are controlled by your bank or card issuer so payments may not be processed if you fail to provide the correct details.
5. Do not open multiple tabs in a browser to donate as this might lead to technical errors.
6. Please use either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox for the best user experience. Internet Explorer is a less responsive browser and does not display the Big Give website correctly.

About the Christmas Challenge

1. 1. - What is the Christmas Challenge?
      The Christmas Challenge is the UK’s biggest online match funding campaign that helps UK registered charities raise funds for their cause. The Big Give offers supporters of participating charities the chance to have their donation doubled on thebiggive.org.uk when the Christmas Challenge goes live. Since its launch in 2008, the campaign has raised over £103 million for thousands of charity projects.
    - What is a charity project?
      A project is a specific activity for which a charity has a particular goal or aim, such as building a school. A charity may run one or more projects at a time. However, each participating charity can fundraise for only one project through the Christmas Challenge; donations made to this project only will be doubled.
    - Can I donate to the main charity instead of its project?
      Yes, but your donation will not be doubled. Only donations to the charity’s Christmas Challenge project will be doubled during the campaign.
    - How do you choose which charities are in the Christmas Challenge?
      Charities registered on the Big Give website with an annual income of over £25,000 are eligible to apply for the Christmas Challenge. Once the application period has closed, the list of charities and their projects are forwarded to our philanthropic partners, who we call ‘Champions’. Each Champion selects the project(s) that they would like to support. They provide part of the match funding used to double public donations to these projects during the Christmas Challenge.
    - Can I make a donation to a project not in the Christmas Challenge by mistake?
      We have taken steps to ensure that you cannot unknowingly make an unmatched donation to a project not selected for the Christmas Challenge. Only projects within the Christmas Challenge can be found via the Big Give homepage while the campaign is live. If you attempt to make a donation to a project not involved in the Christmas Challenge, a warning message will appear explaining that your donation will not be doubled and directing you to the correct Christmas Challenge donation page for that charity.
    - Can corporate supporters make a donation in the same way as individuals?
      Yes. Corporate supporters and organisations are able to make an online donation in exactly the same way as individual donors, as long as the donation is made via one of our accepted payment methods.
    - Are the donations received restricted to the project selected for the Christmas Challenge?
      Yes. All online donations and match funds are restricted to the specific project that has been accepted into the Christmas Challenge.

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Making a donation

1. 1. - When should I make my donation during the Christmas Challenge?
      The Christmas Challenge will open at 12pm (midday) GMT on #GivingTuesday (3rd December). Match funds are ring-fenced for each charity and your donation will be doubled as long as the charity has match funds available. To be sure not to miss out on the ‘double your donation’ offer, you should try to make your online donation as soon after midday on #GivingTuesday as possible.
    - Will the campaign pause at any point?
      No. The campaign will run uninterrupted from midday on Tuesday 3rd December to midday on Tuesday 10th December. You will be able to donate to participating charities at any time during the campaign and your donation will be doubled as long as the charity has match funds available.
    - Where should I make my online donation during the Christmas Challenge?
      To have a chance of making a matched donation, you must click the donation button on the Christmas Challenge project page of the charity to which you wish to donate. Please note that only online donations made to the project selected for the Christmas Challenge will be matched.
    - What if I am donating from abroad?
      As the Christmas Challenge is hosted in the UK, all references to time are Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT. If you are donating from abroad, you will need to donate via thebiggive.org.uk from midday GMT and you can check what time that equates to where you are here. You are able to donate from abroad as long as you have one of the accepted card types. These are Mastercard / Visa / Maestro / Switch / Solo / Delta / American Express.
    - Will offline donations be doubled during the Christmas Challenge?
      No. All donations during the Christmas Challenge must be made online through the donation button on your chosen charity’s project page on thebiggive.org.uk, without exception. This is because we need to have a live record of donations in order to manage the various matching funds for the duration of the Christmas Challenge and cannot, therefore, allow for offline donations.
    - Can I donate via text, cheque or bank transfer?
      No. All donations during the Christmas Challenge must be made online through the donation button on your chosen charity’s project page on the Big Give website, without exception.
    - How much can I donate during the Challenge?
      The maximum single donation is £5,000. You can make multiple matched donations, up to a value of £5,000 per donation. Please note that the minimum online donation is £5.
    - How will I know my donation has been successful?
      Once you have made your online donation, you will be automatically redirected to a thank you page with a receipt. Your receipt will show exactly how much of your donation was doubled, or if it was an unmatched donation, and if Gift Aid was claimed. You will also receive an email thanking you for your donation. This automatic email may well find its way into your spam folder, so don’t forget to check there!
    - What does it mean if my donation is ‘partially matched’?
      ‘Partially matched’ means that there were not enough match funds available to double 100% of your donation.
    - What payment methods are accepted?
      Donations must be made online using a debit/credit card. The following card types are accepted:
      Mastercard / Visa / Maestro / Switch / Solo / Delta / American Express / CAF Bank Business cards displaying the MasterCard® logo
    - Can I make an online donation from my personal CAF account?
      No. At present, we are unable to accept online donations made via CAF accounts. Given the nature of the Christmas Challenge, we need to have rapid confirmation that there are sufficient funds held in donors’ accounts and this confirmation can take several days from CAF.
    - When will the Christmas Challenge close?
      The Christmas Challenge Please will close at midday on Tuesday 10th December.
    - Can I get a refund?
      Please refer to our Terms & Conditions.
    - I am having problems making a donation. How can I contact you?
      The easiest way to get in touch is to email us at info@thebiggive.org.uk

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My information

1. 1. - Will the charity be able to see my donation details?
      When you make your donation you will be asked whether you would like us to share your contact details with the charity. If you agree, the charity will receive your full contact details, if you choose not to, the donation will appear as Anonymous.
    - Will the Big Give contact me?
      When you make your donation you will be asked whether you would like to be kept up to date with the latest news from the Big Give. If you would like to receive updates, make sure to select ‘Yes’. If you select ‘No’, you will receive your automated e-receipt from us but we will not contact you again in the future.
    - What is Gift Aid?
      Gift Aid is a way for charities to increase the value of donations made to them by UK taxpayers. This is done by claiming back the basic rate tax paid by the donor and can increase the donation by a quarter at no cost to you, the donor.
    - Can I claim Gift Aid on my online donation made during the Christmas Challenge?
      Yes. If you are eligible (i.e. a UK taxpayer) you can claim Gift Aid on the donation itself. Note that the Gift Aid can only be claimed on your actual donation and not on the matched amount as well – you can read more about Gift Aid on the HMRC website by clicking here. All Gift Aid claims are made on the charity’s behalf by our payment processor, Charity Checkout.
    - What charges are involved?
      Online donations are processed by Charity Checkout who deduct a fee of 4% from the gross donation (donation amount + Gift Aid). Read about more about our fees here.
    - Is it secure to make an online donation via the Big Give?
      Yes. All online donations are processed by Charity Checkout, our payments processor. All donations made through Charity Checkout are securely encrypted and processed using SSL with a minimum 128-bit encryption and firewalls. It only stores card data on PCI DSS Level 1 compliant servers, the highest level of security. Furthermore, your connection to the Big Give is encrypted so it is perfectly safe to donate via our systems. 3D Secure may also be incorporated by your card issuer to complete the donation process.

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About the match funds

1. 1. - Who is matching my donation?
      Online donations will be matched either by charities’ own key supporters, Big Give Champions or, in most cases, a combination of both.
    - What is a Champion?
      Champions are trusts, foundations, corporations and philanthropists who support charities through the Big Give Christmas Challenge. They provide some of the funds used to match donations during the Christmas Challenge.
    - What does ‘Match funds remaining’ mean?
      This is the amount remaining in a charity’s matching pot that can be used to double online donations.
    - What does ‘Total raised’ include?
      The ‘Total raised’ includes all donations made to the charity during the Challenge. All unmatched, fully or partially matched donations are included as well as Gift Aid.
    - What happens when the matching funds run out?
      Match funds are ring-fenced for each charity in the Challenge. If a charity uses up its match funds before the campaign closes on Tuesday 10th December, it will have hit its fundraising target. When match funds are not available, a message stating this will appear on the donation page. In some cases, you will see a message encouraging you to make an unmatched donation to the help the charity win a Christmas Challenge Award.
    - Can I make a matched donation to a charity if I am one of their Christmas Challenge Pledgers?
      No. If you have already pledged to match online donations made to a given project, you are unable to donate to that project during the Christmas Challenge as well, as you would effectively be doubling your own donation. However, you are welcome to give to any other project in the Challenge.
    - How does the matching system work?
      If matching funds are available, the system works like a ticketing website and will reserve the match funds for you for 15 minutes. It will be made clear whether you have reserved the match funds or not. A timer will also appear on the donation page indicating how long you have left to complete your donation.
    - What happens if I don’t complete my donation in 15 minutes?
      When the 15 minutes expire, the donor will be notified that their donation will no longer be matched. The donor will be given the option to restart the donation process or continue to make an unmatched donation. If the donation is not completed within 15 minutes, the reserved funds will revert to the charity’s matching pot, where they will then be available for another donor to reserve.
    - Why are some charities still offering to match donations whilst others have finished?
      Each charity participating in the Christmas Challenge has match funds ring-fenced for its project. When a charity has used up its allocated match funds, it will have hit its fundraising target and will no longer be able to double online donations.

Still have questions?

If your question is not answered above, please contact us by emailing info@thebiggive.org.uk and a member of our friendly team will aim to get back to you within 3 working hours.

Donating in the Christmas Challenge 2019

More questions? Read our Christmas Challenge 2018 Supporter FAQs below

About the Christmas Challenge

Making a donation

My information

About the match funds

About the Christmas Challenge

Making a donation

My information

About the match funds

Still have questions?