Published by isobel.regan@dontpanicprojects.com
Published Date 26.07.2024 
The Big Give Christmas Challenge is the largest match-funded campaign in the UK, providing vital support to a wide variety of charities across all sectors, both domestically and internationally.
Our yearly giveaway:
As a certified B Corp, supporting local charities is central to our mission, and we’ve seen the tangible impact of our efforts over the years.
The Big Give Christmas Challenge provides a crucial opportunity for charities to have their donations matched. However, launching an effective campaign in such a short window can be challenging due to limited time, resources, and expertise.
In 2022, we partnered with the Bath-based charity Voices for Life, helping them reach their £5,000 target at no cost. We have also led a campaign for Wiltshire Air Ambulance to support them raising £10,000 in just 72 hours during a previous Big Give challenge.
In 2023, we were thrilled to support Wicked Weather Watch in their fundraising efforts.
So, who are Wicked Weather Watch?
Wicked Weather Watch are a small charity based in Corsham in Wiltshire. They’re dedicated to educating children and young people about climate change and global warming and provide access to unbiased information, bringing these crucial issues to life for both children and their teachers. Through the personal experiences of Arctic explorers like David Hempleman-Adams and the latest scientific insights, they highlight how climate change affects the Arctic and the world. Their work includes face-to-face and virtual workshops, teacher training days, and interactive events with primary schools across the UK.
The campaign objectives:
The objectives of the Wicked Weather Watch campaign were:
- To raise £4,000 in 7 days, between 28th November and the 5th of December 2023 to support their workshop delivery in 2024
- Turn around a full campaign in just 4 weeks
- Increase social reach and brand awareness
The approach
Following our initial discovery meeting, we identified that Wicked Weather Watch had an engaged email list but were inconsistent with their social media activity, resulting in a relatively low number of engaged users. With the team’s limited resources, our campaign strategy needed to be heavily digital, and recommendation based.
With individual giving shifting significantly in 2023, reaching the £4,000 target could be potential challenge. Reviewing past campaign performances, we noted that Wicked Weather Watch had only met their target 2 or 3 times in previous Big Give campaigns… But we accepted the challenge and devised a robust marketing plan.
Our strategy included both offline and online marketing opportunities, providing trustees, directors, and volunteers with templates and visuals for social media. We encouraged integration of Big Give messaging into pre-planned activities and coordinated efforts with key funders and partners.
The Results
- £4,287 raised, 34 donations – exceeding the target
- 85,091 reach on Facebook
- 219 website users
- 664 link clicks through paid ads to the Big Give landing page
- 125,960 impressions through paid ads
- 7 pieces of press coverage, including an interview with the charity’s Founder on ITV West Country
Client Feedback
“Thank you so much Natalie and Rachael for all of your help. I honestly couldn’t believe the spike we had so close to the end! I am incredibly grateful for all of your hard work on this; our goal would not have been met without you. You’ve been instrumental.” – Rhianna Davies-Smith, Director, Wicked Weather Watch
“We’re incredibly proud to have been shortlisted for this year’s award, particularly in this category as we really do care about making expertise affordable for even the smallest of companies” – Natalie Luckham, Founder & Director
Find out more about the work we do for our clients.
