The Big Give Christmas Challenge has raised more than £24.1m in a week, which is the highest amount since the initiative began.
The match-funding campaign saw 928 charities take part, the most in its 14-year history.
This year's week-long campaign ran from 30 November – 7 December, and some 79,054 donations were made, an increase of 7,854 on last year. Supporters from 118 different countries donated.
The Big Give Christmas Challenge raised £20m in total in 2020 when 764 charities took part, meaning this year they have raised 20% more.
This year, 80% of the charities involved hit their fundraising targets.
The campaign had the support of celebrities like Stephen Fry, Dame Judi Dench, Graham Norton and more.
Crucial time for charity fundraising
The Big Give has said this year charity fundraising is more vital than ever, as while 47% are planning to donate the same as usual to charity this Christmas, 26% plan to give less, according to a survey the organisation conducted.
Louise Richmond, director of development of the Mayor’s Fund for London, said: “We are incredibly grateful to the Big Give for providing us with such an efficient fundraising platform again this December.
“The support we have received from Sahil and the team has been swift and friendly, and thanks to the Big Give we raised over £100,000 in record time this year with four days to go before the campaign closed. The income we receive as part of this campaign is integral to the running of our organisation every year and enables us to plan effectively too.”
Sally Williams, gifts and partnerships manager at The Brain Tumour Charity, said: “This year we set our highest target to date for the Christmas Challenge with a matched pot of £65,000 to be doubled to £130,000.
“We have been blown away that in just five days we raised over £148,000 (including Gift Aid) from our generous Charity Champion (The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust), our brilliant pledgers and all those that donated during the appeal.
“Having the Christmas Challenge matched funding appeal is a real boost to our income at Christmas and we know that our donors love to give in this way, making a real impact to the work that we do.”
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