Christmas Challenge: Terms and Conditions

The sponsor for 2009 is The Reed Foundation (charity number 264728)

1.) The sponsor's pledge is £1,500,000 joint matched funding. Due to high demand from charities, The Reed Foundation has generously increased its pledge from £1m to £1.5m.

2.) Charities registered on The Big Give (excluding charities promoting religious or political beliefs) may apply for joint matched funding between £1,000 and £50,000 against an equal amount to be raised from their Trustees and Major donors and paid through The Big Give.

3.) All applications received on or before 27th June will be given equal consideration. Any applications received after this date will not be considered. Donation amounts may be scaled down at the sponsor's discretion.

4.) Charities will be notified whether their application is successful by 7th July. Participation will be dependant on The Big Give receiving the required donations from trustees and major donors by 30th September at 5pm.

5.) Trustee and major donor gifts of under £10,000 must be made to the selected charity through The Big Give using a credit or debit card. For amounts of £10,000 and over, cheques can be sent directly to the charity (with copies and written donor authorisation sent to The Big Give for verification).

6.) It will be the responsibility of fundraisers to approach both trustees & major donors and December donors through telephone, face to face meetings, direct mail, email marketing and any other appropriate marketing channels.

7.) Charities Trust (Charity no. 327489) and The Reed Foundation have kindly agreed to process payments received from major donors at no fee and will charge the standard 4% admin fee for December donations.

8.) December donations will be capped at £5,000 per donor for charities applying for up to £50,000 from the Reed Foundation. December donors may give up to £5,000 to multiple charities.

9.) The matched funding will be released between 7th and 11th December 2009:

Date: Amount released:
Monday 7th December: £1.5m (£750k Reed Foundation; £750k major donors)
Tuesday 8th December: £750k (£375k Reed Foundation; £375k major donors)
Wednesday 9th December: £750k (£375k Reed Foundation; £375k major donors)
Thursday 10th December: £750k (major donors)
Friday 11th December: £750k (major donors)

10.) While Reed Foundation funding is available, every donation in December will be matched 50% by The Reed Foundation and 50% by the Trustees & Major Donors fund. Once Reed Foundation funding has been exhausted, December donations will be matched 100% by the Trustees & Major Donors fund until it runs out.

11.) Any shortfall in matched funding will be carried over to the next day and any from the week will be carried over until midday on 31st December 2009, when The Reed Foundation will donate any uncommitted balance to charities of their choice and any balance of major donor funds will be released to the charities they are supporting.

12.) The target for Summer donor matched funds is £3,000,000 (releasing £1,500,000 from the sponsor). Should the sponsor's money be exhausted, standard matching will continue against the major donor funds until midday on 31st December 2009.

13.) Charities Trust make payments on or before the 20th of each month for money received by the first of the month (in this case, charities will be paid by 20th January.) Charities Trust make all payments by BACS transfer, so all charities must ensure that Charities Trust hold their correct bank details if they wish to avoid delayed payments.

14.) Where applicable, Charities Trust will reclaim gift aid on behalf of charities, for which they will charge a 4% admin fee. This may take longer to be reclaimed due to HMRC timescales, and will be transferred by BACS.

15.) Online donations made outside of matching limits can not be refunded nor matched.

16.) Accepting a donation in order to claim matched funding and subsequently refunding the donation is illegal and will be classed as fraud. Anyone found to be doing this will be immediately removed from the challenge.

17.) The Reed Foundation reserves the right to cease or limit matched funding offered to any charity or sector at any time. In the case of any dispute the sponsor's decision will be final and non-negotiable.

18.) Any charity entered late on to the scheme will be allowed to raise funds for the Summer phase of the challenge after the deadline of 30th September, however any online donations made after the deadline will incur the standard 4% admin fee. This deadline extension only applies to late entries, which have been expressly allowed by The Big Give.

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