Omaze Auctions Experiences with Celebrities To Fundraise For Charities

Can you remember the last time you dreamed of meeting your dream athlete, musician or celebrity and actually had that dream come true? Yeah, me neither. The longer we immerse ourselves in popular culture the more we begin to realize that those fabulously advertised exclusive meet and greets and private meals with your favorite personality are for those who have bundles of cash lying around and who are willing to spend it on a one off event like this. Meeting the cast of Breaking Bad and joining Hans Zimmer in the studio, these are dreams that are just meant to be dreamed, unless you use Omaze.

Founded by Ryan Cummins and Matt Pohlson, two die hard Laker fans who experienced the same dismay we do when faced with these opportunities, Omaze is an online fundraising platform that offers these once in a lifetime chances for a $5 or $10 donation. The process is based on a raffle format so everyone who donates has an equal chance of getting to meet their favorite figures in politics, entertainment, sports and more. But what’s even better about Omaze is that each experience not only has the potential to benefit you, but it also benefits a select nonprofit. Each opportunity is paired with a nonprofit which receives 80% of the proceeds from bids. Like in a standard raffle, the more bids you buy the higher your chance of winning, (and if you get your friends to join you can gain additional entries) and the winner is chosen at random to ensure fairness.

Omaze was essentially born from a convergence of three key ideas that its founders noticed after several years of working in the entertainment and nonprofit sectors. The first was that while typical auctions for meet and greets with celebrities do raise a lot of money, they could raise even more if other methods of fundraising were employed. This led to the second idea – to democratize the charity framework and give everyone an equal opportunity at winning the grand prize, which would in the process also raise more money. And then there is the third idea, which is an integral part of the Omaze’s foundation: it is not enough to raise awareness, you also have to contribute to making a meaningful impact.

Some of the most popular experiences Omaze has offered so far include a VIP visit to the set of NBC’s Parks and Recreation, a visit to a live studio session with band Linkin Park, and a chance to discuss the future of Latin America with Vicente Fox, former president of Mexico. Current experiences being auctioned off include the chance to interview celebrities on the red carpet with Katie Couric and to cruise to a private island with Florida Georgia Line, along with many other exciting opportunities. Thus far, Omaze has enjoyed a great deal of success. Their average donation value has been recorded to be rising approximately 20% per month, with average donations reaching around $55 per person, and some extraordinary individual donations reaching as high as $15,000. Their partner charities work all around the world in many different realms of life and include notable organizations such as Stand Up to Cancer, UCLA Operation Mend, The Taia Peace Foundation and The Jason Mraz Foundation. Omaze embodies the concepts of innovation and social good. Based on the crucial contemporary need to make an impact efficiently it has garnered the attention and support of nonprofits, celebrities and regular individuals hoping to take part in a once in a lifetime experience and also give back. It’s democratization of the charity process has been received as “revolutionary” and despite the fact that it has only been around for a short while, Omaze has definitely already made a big impact on the lives of dreamers across the globe, whether they are sitting behind their computer screens hoping to participate in an amazing opportunity or on the receiving end of the generous donations. “Read more”

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