Posted on 25th February 2010
The Big Give has announced two new projects in support of their mission to provide an intelligent way for proactive philanthropists to find and support charities and to grow the next generation of philanthropists.
It is launching a new scheme to double the value of public donations using charitable legacies made to selected charities using The Big Give's matched funding platform.
Legacy-makers can indicate the causes they wish to support, such as ’arts’ or ‘animals’, or suggest specific charities. The Big Give will then use expert advice to select the most suitable charities supporting that specific cause. The legacy will be used to double online public donations to these charities, on a first-come-first-served basis.
The new scheme will also reassure legacy donors that, when leaving a gift for the future, they will be supporting charities that are engaged with their public supporters, says the Big Give.
The Big Give is supported by the Reed Foundation, the charitable arm of Reed Specialist Recruitment, set up by founder Alex Reed CBE. It regularly runs matched funds with gifts from major donors and also runs an annual multi-million pound Christmas Challenge. The December 2009 challenge raised £8.5m for 175 charities.
“These challenge funds reward those charities with a strong relationship with their supporters and a desire to achieve their mission. The person leaving the legacy will be reassured that their donation will benefit the most proactive charities working to support the donor's favourite cause,” says Reed.
The Big Give is also launching a schools programme to encourage the next generation of philanthropists. Students are given a charity voucher provided by a local sponsor and asked to donate it to the charity which they feel most deserves their support. The programme involves researching charities and projects on theBigGive.org.uk, evaluating short-listed organisations and then selecting which charity will receive their voucher.
The scheme has been piloted at the Dragon School in North Oxford where a £1,250 sponsor donation was divided between 25 Year 8 scholarship students. It will be run in five schools this year, with plans to expand.
“The Big Give project provided a fantastic opportunity to teach children how to give intelligently, to engage more with the local community, to learn how to use the web to develop IT, research and analytical skills, and in the final interview their ability to present a proposal. Our pupils felt responsible and empowered,” said Danny Gill, director of social impact at the Dragon School.
The Big Give has also launched a school logo design competition, with a top prize of £10,000. Young people aged 18 and under are invited to design logos for any of the 6,000 charities on the Big Give website. The closing date is 28th May, when 10 designs will be shortlisted before charities decide on the winner.
More information is available on the Big Give's website.
