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Omaze
Online fundraising platform From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Omaze is a for-profit entertainment company that partners with charities in fundraising events. To enter the draw for the prizes, customers purchase an entry or subscribe, with a percentage of sales going to charity. Businessmen Matthew Pohlson and Ryan Cummins established the organisation in the US in 2012. It initially specialised in celebrity-experience draws, before switching focus to UK house draws in 2020.[1][2][3]Omaze has raised more than $250 million for charities as July 2025.[4]
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History
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Pohlson and Cummins met at Stanford University in the late 1990s. In 2011, Pohlson and Cummins attended a Boys & Girls Club of America charity event in Los Angeles. This inspired the pair to create a model where the wider public could take part in such fundraising events. In July of 2012, they launched Omaze, which offered customers the chance to win experiences through sweepstakes, while also raising money for charities.[5]
In 2018, co-founder Ryan Cummins stepped away from the company, while Pohlson remained as CEO.[6]
In 2020, Omaze introduced the Million Pound House Draw in the UK, offering participants the chance to win luxury homes while supporting charitable causes. By 2023, Omaze had fully transitioned to the house draw model and relocated its headquarters from Los Angeles to London. The company paused operations in the U.S. but continued its efforts in the UK, and as of 2025, in Germany as well.[7] The company launched its first campaign in the United Kingdom in 2020. Each account on Omaze UK is limited to £500 of entries per calendar month. Omaze draws in the United Kingdom are run by Omaze UK Limited, which, according to their financial statements, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Omaze Inc.[1] In the United Kingdom, Omaze currently gives 17% of total sales to the charity partner, with a guaranteed minimum of £1 million.[8] Prior to the Somerset House draw in November 2023, Omaze UK gave 80% of the net profit from a sweepstake to the charity, after deducting the cost of the prize and marketing, and took 20% as its profit. Omaze has generated more than $250 million for various charitable organizations since its inception.[9][10]
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Business model and house draws
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Omaze's previous US model started as a privately owned, for-profit company that had two models to raise funds for charities. Sweepstake entries for a celebrity experience see 60% of the money donated to charity, 25% towards fees and Omaze's costs for advertising and creating content for the event, and 15% to Omaze as profit.[2]
For prize-based experiences, 15% went to the charity, 70% to sourcing and shipping the prize, covering the winner's taxes, processing credit card fees, and Omaze's costs in marketing and creating content for the experience, and 15% to Omaze in profit.[2]
Since 2020, Omaze has operated a fundraising model that combines charities with the chance to win prizes and luxury homes.[11] For each draw, Omaze partners with a charity. A fixed percentage covers the cost of the draw and prize, with the remaining portion paid to the charity partner. As of May 2025, Omaze has held draws for 37 homes.[12]
The inaugural draw featured a £1 million property in Cheshire and raised £250,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust.[13] As of 2025, Omaze has awarded 40 homes, each valued at over £1 million. The average value is currently £2.9 million.[14]
In August 2024, Omaze gave away a £5,000,000 luxury warehouse conversion in Victoria Park, Hackney, London. The highest value house drawn was a £6,000,000 coastal house in Norfolk.[15]
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Contests
Omaze offers prize draws in which entrants are encouraged to contribute financially to a charitable cause, with the amount given determining the number of sweepstake entries that the person receives.[16]
Sweepstakes systems such as Omaze include a no-purchase-necessary clause to comply with fundraising and gaming regulations.[17] In the US, participants could select an "enter for free" option to receive 2,000 entries at no cost.[18] In the United Kingdom, participants may submit a postal entry with no fee.[9]
In January 2023, Omaze paused operations in the United States.[19] Due to the move, on 9 December 2022, Omaze laid off 103 employees.[20]
References
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