Cabinet Office supports two match fund initiatives

The Cabinet Office has put money behind two match funding initiatives in a bid to attract more giving both to small charities and larger ones.

The Big Give has for the first time attracted government sponsorship of its annual Big Give Christmas Challenge, with Cabinet Office providing £250,000 to offer as a pound-for-pound match. The Department has also put forward £500,000 for the Grow Your Tenner match fund being run by small charity fundraising platform, Localgiving.com.

The Big Give Challenge is now in its fifth year and has raised £40million for charities. It works by having charities raise a match fund from major donors, and then on 5 December, will open up a website facility which will enable other supporters to give, knowing that their donation will be doubled as a result of the match. Last year £10million was raised within three days through 11,000 donations and some 50 charities are due to take part this year.

Localgiving.com is a platform for small, community organisations and has raised nearly £4million for these charities since its’ launching in 2010. Alongside the Cabinet Office’s offer to match donations of up to £10 during the Grow Your Tenner campaign, which kicks off on 15 October, Localgiving.com is offering to match monthly donations of up to £10 for a six-month period.