What First Give does

First Give is a UK registered charity (number 1156416) founded in 2014 and headquartered in London, delivering structured philanthropy education programmes to secondary schools across England and Wales. The organisation partners directly with lead teachers to run an eight-week programme with a full year group (Years 7-10), in which students identify social issues, partner with local charities, develop social action projects, and compete at a school Final for a £1,000 grant awarded to their chosen charity. The programme is free to schools and is delivered through curriculum-linked resources including lesson plans, hard-copy Coursebooks, and PowerPoints, with support from regional Programme Managers.

The core product offering includes the flagship First Give Programme (eight-week format), a condensed "First Give One Day" variant launched in 2024, and a "First Give Champions" youth voice pilot launched in 2025 for alumni engagement. First Give is funded through grants from foundations and trusts, with major supporters including Pears Foundation, Jack Petchey Foundation, Buffini Chao Foundation, Lower Green Foundation, Westminster Foundation, and abrdn. The organisation does not generate revenue from schools or students; instead, it operates a grant-funded non-profit model with charitable donations accepted via JustGiving.

Cumulative impact reported through 2025 includes 271,022 students empowered and £1,660,500 granted to charities across hundreds of partner schools. Independent evaluation by Global Action Plan, drawing on over 4,000 respondents, reports 94% of students report increased understanding of social issues and 65% of alumni continue social action after the programme. The organisation has 27 employees and is governed by an independent board of trustees, with no parent company or external ownership. As of March 2026, First Give has launched the Route to a Million campaign, targeting £1.5 million in fundraising over three years to scale the programme to one million young people by 2034.

Name

First Give

Legal name

First Give

Website

https://firstgive.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

First Give is a UK registered charity founded in 2014 that delivers structured philanthropy education programmes to secondary schools across England and Wales, where students research social issues, partner with local charities, and award £1,000 grants to winning teams. The charity is funded by foundation grants and aims to reach one million young people by 2034.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Philanthropy Education

NAICS

Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219), Educational Support Services (611710), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Fundraising & Annual Giving (EDALAOAB), Grantmaking Agencies & Education Program Grants Administration (EDADAHAD), Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

Keywords

• Youth philanthropy education
• School social action programmes
• Secondary school partnerships
• Character education resources
• Community engagement charities

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation and Trust Funding: First Give operates as a registered charity (Number: 1156416) funded primarily through grants and donations from foundations, trusts, and corporate sponsors. Major funders include Pears Foundation, Jack Petchey Foundation, Buffini Chao Foundation, Lower Green Foundation, Westminster Foundation, and abrdn. The Route to a Million campaign aims to raise £1.5 million over three years to scale the programme.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

First Give is a registered charity that partners directly with secondary schools across England and Wales to deliver structured philanthropy education programmes. Students research social issues, partner with local charities, deliver social action projects, and compete to win £1,000 grants for their chosen charities at school Finals. The programme is fully resourced for teachers with lesson plans, hard-copy Coursebooks, and PowerPoint presentations.

Product overview

First Give offers educational programmes for secondary schools in England and Wales. The core offering is The First Give Programme, an eight-week social action programme where students identify social issues, partner with local charities, deliver social action projects, and compete to win £1,000 grants at a school Final. This is complemented by First Give One Day (a condensed programme variant) and the First Give Champions Programme (a youth voice initiative for alumni). The organisation also runs the Route to a Million campaign to scale reach to one million young people by 2034.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The First Give Programme: The core programme where students research social issues, connect with local charities, and deliver social action projects to compete for a £1,000 grant.
• First Give One Day
• First Give Champions

Products and services

• The First Give Programme An eight-week educational programme for secondary school students (Year 7-10) where students research social issues, partner with local charities, develop and deliver social action projects, and compete to win a £1,000 grant for their chosen charity at a school Final. Delivered through partner schools across England and Wales, fully resourced with lesson plans, hard-copy Coursebooks, and PowerPoints.
• First Give One Day A condensed alternative to the core First Give Programme, offering a shorter version of the social action experience delivered in a single day. Expands accessibility for schools with tighter schedules or those wanting a lighter-touch introduction to the programme.
• First Give Champions Programme A Youth Voice programme for First Give alumni where past participants support current student cohorts, develop communication and leadership skills, and help shape youth voice strategy and programme development. Schools that took part in 2024-25 or Autumn 2025 are invited to put forward one to four students.

Quantifiable outcome

• 271,022 students empowered to make a positive difference to charities (2014-2025)
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Eden Project CommunitiesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026First Give partnered with Eden Project Communities for The Big Help Out 2026, marking the culmination of Volunteers' Week. First Give developed new free resources for secondary schools to participate in the biggest celebration of community in June 2026.
• Global Action PlancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted independent evaluation of the First Give programme led by Dr Ali Body and Natalie Johnson. The mixed-methods evaluation drew on evidence from over 4,000 students, alumni, teachers and charity partners, providing credible evidence of programme impact on philanthropic citizenship development.
• JustGivingminorOthersFirst Give accepts donations through JustGiving platform at www.justgiving.com/firstgiveuk, providing supporters with a simple way to contribute to the charity's work.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Speakers for Schools: UK charity partnering with secondary schools to deliver curated experiences and inspiration for students, comparable to First Give in its direct school partnership model and teacher-led delivery, though focused on employer engagement rather than philanthropy.
• Generation Change: UK-wide #iwill youth social action campaign and fund that mobilises young people in schools to lead social action projects, directly comparable as a funder of in-school youth social action and a peer in the same ecosystem as First Give.
• The Diana Award: UK charity working with young people (largely secondary-school age) on social action, anti-bullying, and youth leadership through structured school programmes, mirroring First Give's in-school social action model and audience.
• Young Enterprise: UK education charity delivering structured curricula in secondary schools to develop employability, enterprise, and community contribution, highly comparable to First Give's in-school curriculum-delivered model and teacher-led adoption.
• Enactus UK: Charity that runs student-led social entrepreneurship and social action programmes in UK schools and universities, with similar audience, school-based delivery model, and outputs (student community projects), though typically at older age cohorts.
• vInspired (part of The Scout Association): UK youth social action and volunteering brand historically targeting 14-25 year olds, sharing First Give's core mission of mobilising young people into charitable action and operating in overlapping school and community settings.

Broad incumbents

• The Prince's Trust: Large UK youth-development charity delivering structured programmes in schools and communities to build confidence and social contribution, the closest broad incumbent to First Give's youth-philanthropy mission, though operating at significantly greater scale and breadth.

Emerging players

• MYP Trust: Philanthropy-focused education charity developing the UK's first MA in Philanthropy and supporting youth philanthropy education, with overlapping interest in school-based philanthropy curricula and a comparable target audience of educators and young people.
• WE Movement / WE Charity: International NGO that built school-based youth social action and philanthropy programmes (e.g., WE Schools, Free The Children), a useful external peer for First Give's model of in-school social action culminating in charitable giving, though now operating at reduced scale.

Others

• Pears Foundation: Major UK foundation focused on young people and civic engagement, currently a financial partner of First Give; included as a peer given its role as both supporter and a comparable grantmaker in the youth-philanthropy and education space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FirstGiveUK
• Facebookfacebook.com/FirstGiveUK
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/first-give

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about First Give