Ep 38. Alex Day, Managing Director Big Give: The Generosity Multiplier!

The Charity CEO Podcast

“What we have learned throughout the years of running the Big Give… is that Match Funding is a great way to get more people to give, and people to give more.”
The Big Give is the UK’s leading online match funding platform.
The Big Give Christmas Challenge took place from the 29th of November to the 6th of December 2022 and in that one week, raised £28.6m for over 1,000 charities across the UK.
With more than £233m raised to date, the Big Give has been a huge enabler of digital fundraising through Match Funding. With the strap line “Matching Donations, Multiplying Impact”, they are in essence, a Generosity Multiplier.
In this episode I speak with the Big Give’s Managing Director, Alex Day, about how the Big Give came into being, its plans for the future, and tech as an enabler for social good.
Alex also shares how through a focus on building resilience, skills and profile for charities, and amplifying the campaign’s messaging, they have enabled 92% of participating organisations to reach new supporters bringing in a third of the overall donations.
Charity fundraisers, listen to find out about the Big Give’s campaigns that are launching this year and how your charity could benefit.
Recorded December 2022.
Guest Biography
The Big Give is the UK's biggest digital match funding platform which has raised over £233m for not-for-profit organisations since 2008.
Alex Day joined the Big Give as Managing Director in 2015. During his tenure, Alex has has grown the size and impact of the Big Give's flagship campaign, the Christmas Challenge, from £7.2m raised for 258 charities in 2015, to £28.6m raised for 1,021 charities in 2022. He has also led on a number of high profile match funding campaigns, including raising £2.6m following the Grenfell Tower Fire.
Alex has spent the majority of his career in the not-for-profit sector. He has worked for a number of international development and humanitarian NGO's including Tearfund and Medair.
Alex holds a BA Hons in Business and Geography from Exeter University and an MA in Charity Management from St Mary's University, which included a thesis entitled 'Impact Bonds: The future of disaster resilience funding'. He is Vice-Chair of Excellent Development, an international development charity specialising in water conservation, and lives in Surrey with his wife and young son.
Links
https://donate.thebiggive.org.uk/