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Small charities are the heartbeat of communities, tackling social challenges and transforming lives with limited resources. Our inaugural, Small Charity Week match funding campaign will help to build the resilience, skills and profile of the small charity sector whilst helping them raise vital, unrestricted funding to further their impact.

How does it work?

Small Charity Week utilises our ‘1:1’ model of match funding. Small charities apply to Big Give and their application is assessed by Big Give and our partner, Global’s Make Some Noise. 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.

Global’s Make Some Noise, the official charity of Global, the Media and Entertainment Group, funds vital life-changing projects across the UK, delivered by small, local charities, with the aim of making sure that nobody is left facing life’s toughest challenges alone. They work with some of the UK’s best-loved radio stations, raising awareness of key issues affecting UK communities and supporting small charities with their longer-term sustainability through Learning and Development.

NCVO is the membership community for charities, voluntary organisations and community groups in England. NCVO coordinates Small Charity Week, a campaign to empower the UK’s small charities to have an even greater impact on society, and to address the challenges they face.

Charity Eligibility Criteria

  • UK-registered charities with a Charity Commission, OSCR or NI Charity Commission number. Charities with tax-exempt status will not be eligible. Find out more about tax-exempt status – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exempt-charities-cc23/exempt-charities)
  • Must have a minimum annual income of £5,000 and a maximum income of £1m (as per at least one years filed accounts or one year’s recorded income on the Charity Commission).
  • Charities seeking to raise either £500, £1,000, £2500, £5,000, or £10,000 in public donations (to be doubled by the match funds). Charities are limited to apply for Champion funds which are a maximum of 10% of their annual income.
  • Small charities that are looking for funds to support people and communities 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.
  • Charities in receipt of funding from Global’s Make Some Noise, after June 2025, are not eligible to apply for the campaign.

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 Small Charity Week

2025 Campaign Timeline

  • February 19th 2025: Applications open
  • April 2nd 2025: Applications close
  • May 7th 2025: Offer deadline
  • June 23rd – 30th (midday) 2025: Campaign

Campaign Stage Breakdown

 

Stage 0: The Raise

Big Give and Global’s Make Some Noise start to secure match-funding commitments from champions.

 

Stage 1: Initial application

Big Give, NCVO and Global’s Make Some Noise markets the opportunity to charities. The application involves charities completing information on their proposed use of funds.

 

Stage 2: Vetting and Notification
Big Give and Global’s Make Some Noise completes due diligence checks on all applications. A panel of experts 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, Global’s Make Some Noise and NCVO provide 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

 

 

People’s Postcode Lottery was created to raise vital funding for local, national and international charities. Millions of people across Britain play the Postcode Lottery every month and winning postcodes are announced every day. More than £1.4 billion has been raised for good causes since 2005.

£500,000 in funding for Small Charity Week has been raised by Postcode Lottery players and awarded through the following Postcode Trusts: People’s Postcode Trust, Postcode Neighbourhood Trust, Postcode Society Trust, Postcode Places Trust and Postcode Local Trust.

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 will establish the portfolio of Charities, taking into account your preferences.

We recognise that exclusions to the Small Charity Week match funding campaign will mean some small charities are unable to apply. As this is the first year that Big Give, Global’s Make Some Noise, and NCVO have launched the Small Charity Week match funding campaign, we’ve had to carefully consider what was achievable for year one. This has meant setting certain parameters to ensure that charities that apply have the greatest chance of success. While we appreciate this will be disappointing for some organisations, we’re proud to establish a partnership that will see at least £1million of unrestricted funding raised for organisations across the country in 2025. This also allows us to build relationships with new funders, laying the groundwork to grow the campaign in the future. 

We recognise the vital work of international development charities and will continue to work with our partners to expand the eligibility criteria where we can. International development charities can apply for the Christmas Challenge.

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.

We recognise that exclusions to the Small Charity Week match funding campaign will mean Community Interest Companies (CICs) are unable to apply. As part of our due diligence process, we rely on data from the Charity Commission to review and verify charitable organisations. Unfortunately, we do not currently have a process in place for CICs, as this would require alternative methods for assessing accounts, governance structures, and eligibility. We fully recognise the important work CICs do and are committed to exploring ways to include them in future campaigns.

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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