

As of January 28 2023, we’re changing the way we do things. In order to have the biggest impact for our charity partners, worldwide, we’re simplifying the experiences we offer. While we reflect on how to do this effectively in the US, we will not be adding new experiences to omaze.com.
To be the first to hear about our exciting new experiences when they launch, make sure you follow us on Facebook and Instagram. And remember, if you’re based in the UK, you can head on over to omaze.co.uk now, and check out our live draws.
We will, of course, honor all of the US experiences that have already been won, as well as the donations to our charity partners, which, to date total: $160M to charities worldwide.
When we started Omaze in 2012, I never could have imagined the huge impact our community would have on the world. As we take this opportunity to reflect on how we can increase our global impact, I will never forget that this is where it all began.
Our donors in the US have made countless dreams come true. You have changed lives. And I look forward to opening the next chapter on this incredible journey with you.
We will be back.
Love and Optimism,
Matt

We went big in 2022 with our first ever Superdraw. We offered our Omaze community in the UK the chance to win a luxury holiday villa in Spain worth £2,000,000, along with the Superdraw cash prize of £250,000. We also offered incredible Early Bird Prizes along the way, including a Porsche 911 and a McLaren GT.
Mark from Devon won the life-changing Grand Prize. Mark said he will be dusting off his swimming trunks and practicing his Spanish in anticipation of keeping the villa for family holidays, although he admits that he’s always struggled to find a work-life balance and that knowing he could now retire tomorrow is a wonderful feeling.

Your entries into the Marbella Superdraw raised an incredible £800,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust, reaching our target to raise over £1M for the charity in three years. Teenage Cancer Trust is the only charity in the UK dedicated to providing specialist care to teenagers and young adults with cancer.
The money we’ve raised together will help Teenage Cancer Trust fund specialist nurses, youth support teams and hospital units within the NHS to provide the very best care and support during treatment and beyond, making sure cancer doesn’t stop young people living their lives.

Richard Branson walked off the ship from his historic flight to space and shared that he had an announcement: “I am partnering with Omaze to send someone to space.” The word spread globally, and you answered the call. People entered from countries around the world, but the winner came from one of the world’s smallest. Keisha (44), a health and life coach from Antigua, who had always dreamed of going to space, will board one of the next flights. What’s more, she is bringing her 18-year-old daughter, who is studying astrophysics and dreams of becoming an astronaut. They will be the first people from the Caribbean and the first mother-daughter duo in space. Even Richard had a hard time topping that.

In one of our first brainstorming sessions, we wrote that Omaze would be a success if we could help an everyday person go to space. In addition to making Keisha’s dreams come true, in just 8 weeks, 164,338 of you raised $1.7M in projected grants to support Space for Humanity and their effort to develop the first Sponsored Citizen Astronaut Program in human history. These funds will help Space for Humanity transform perspectives and train leaders to ensure an inclusive future in space. One woman's inspiring win truly marks one giant leap for humanity.

Our first house in the UK could not have been more inspiring. Ian is a 53-year-old police officer from a small town who had recently lost his wife to cancer. He entered into the Million Pound House Draw to support Teenage Cancer Trust in honor of his wife. He also entered to honor his sons. They’d all been living in a dilapidated two-bedroom house riddled with difficult memories. But because of the incredible support of our Omaze UK community, that was about to change. When Ian found out he won, he burst into tears sharing that “he needed some sort of boost to carry on.” And yes, we cried again.

It was a partnership that almost didn’t happen. With all of the commercials filmed and one week until launch, our original charity pulled out. Meanwhile, Teenage Cancer Trust found themselves in a similar bind: the pandemic forced them to cancel their big star-studded fundraising concert one week before the show. So with our team needing a quick replacement and a cancer charity on the brink of shutting down units, we joined forces and got to work. The campaign launched on time and thanks to the Omaze UK community, we were honored to raise £250,000 of our £1M goal for Teenage Cancer Trust. Now they can continue providing specialized care to young people with cancer around the UK – a great example of turning a challenging situation into a positive one.

David (22) was working at a pizza place in Fort Lauderdale when he got the call: he was now a millionaire, thanks to all of you. Asked the first thing he’d do with the money, David didn’t think twice. He’d help his mom, Tanya, who had raised him and his siblings as a single mom. In one of the most touching moments in Omaze history, David got Tanya on the call to share the news, and thank her for all she’s done for him. Tears ensued, and we may have all called our moms that night.

Back in 2018, the Omaze Team got to vote on which tangible project in Los Angeles they wanted to support. The choice was PATH (People Assisting The Homeless), and the project was to build a community hub in Downtown Los Angeles. Through a series of experiences, we raised $1.7M to help PATH build a brand new campus, providing shelter, job training, health services, and more to 500+ people a month. As a special thank you to all of you, a commemorative wall was constructed featuring the names of every donor that made this dream project a reality. Your kindness is immortalized.

Jon (24) from Seattle, had a difficult morning. He’d just found out that there had been layoffs at his work and he was out of a job. He had an infant daughter and was understandably scared. Four hours later he got a call from Omaze. He had won a $250,000 McLaren. Jon is a lifelong car fanatic and the look on his face when he picked his car up at the Omaze office was priceless. “I’ve never won anything before. This is a dream come true.” We bridged a new frontier with cars, and thanks to you, turned someone’s life around with a single win.

This year marked the beginning of our partnership with Folds of Honor. They provide scholarships to families of our fallen veterans. Supporting veterans has been an important part of Omaze’s history, and there is no population that deserves it more. Because of your support, we’ve gone on to raise $2.85M to support Folds of Honor, enough to provide over 560 life-changing scholarships.

Remember when Idris looked into the camera, cocktail in hand, cozy fire in the background, and offered to “pound some yams” on Valentine’s Day? YOU made that happen. And the internet went crazy. Fans began posting videos of why they should, no… must win. It was a hot topic on The View and many other talk shows. It seemed everyone in the world wanted to go on a date with Idris, but Diana from Colorado won. There was prosecco, painting the London skyline and of course, plenty of hugs and selfies. “I’m so thankful and so blessed to have gotten to spend an evening with such an incredible, caring and socially conscious man,” Diana said.

We launched our fourth collaboration with Star Wars: Force for Change to support UNICEF in 2017. Our first partnership in 2014 was a breakout moment for Omaze and kicked off a historically impactful collaboration. Because of your generosity, we helped raise more than $3.4M and saved the lives of 21,000-plus children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.

It took Omaze and one lucky winner to settle a very important friendship dispute: who does Tom Brady like better, Matt or Ben? Rick (57) from Boston, a massive Pats fan, entered when he saw the campaign’s video with Matt and Ben humorously arguing over the point. The video appeared everywhere from Good Morning America to SportsCenter. And after the dinner, Rick finally put an end to the debate. “I can tell you with certainty that it is me who Tom likes best!” Good work everyone, now we can sleep.

“Omaze is a great platform. It creates money for good causes out of nothing.” Even with the enduring partnership, we didn’t expect Matt to say that in an interview. Water.org, which he co-founded, is an amazing organization that breaks down the financial barriers between people living in poverty and access to safe water. Thanks to you and over 10+ campaigns with Water.org, we’ve raised enough to provide nearly 200,000 people with safe drinking water around the world. That’s a literal ripple effect.

Chloe Howard (15) from Redwood City, was born with a club foot. After a group of girls assaulted her, showing her foot to the entire school, she was traumatized and depressed. Her dad, Dane, a huge U2 fan, introduced Chloe to the song “Invisible,” which became a source of strength for her. Around the same time, Dane entered for the chance to meet Bono backstage at a show and won. After hearing her story, Bono inspired Chloe to use her experience “to fight for what’s right.” She went on to start a non-profit called STAND Beautiful, deliver a TED-X Talk and write a book helping girls around the world embrace their uniqueness and boldly face their beautiful selves. The support of the Omaze community made this life-changing experience possible for Chloe, a win that keeps on winning.

This experience kicked off our partnership with RED to help provide women around the world with lifesaving medication to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child. Because of your generosity, we went on to raise over $25.6M together, providing over 275,000 women with life-saving medication for a year. RED projects that within a decade we can live in a world where no baby is born with HIV.

“Come to LA and crush things in my tank.” Arnold’s epic opening line fueled one of Omaze’s first viral videos – earning tens of millions of views and media coverage everywhere, like the Today Show to Jimmy Fallon. And of course, Arnold delivered, and so did you. Alex from Detroit, the lucky winner, didn’t just meet his hero, they lifted weights, smoked cigars, practiced iconic one-liners (“Get to the choppa!!!”), and crushed stuff in Arnold’s tank, naturally. The legend is real.

Thanks to your support, this was the beginning of our incredible partnership with After-School All-Stars. We have since done 18 experiences together raising over $5.9M. To date, 100,000 kids in 60 cities have participated in after-school programs, many of whom have credited ASAS with being able to attend college. What’s more, Alex – the experience’s winner – became a passionate volunteer for ASAS. Now that’s a full-circle ripple effect.

Breaking Bad changed the course of TV history – and Omaze’s history too, thanks to your support. Aaron and Bryan wore matching hazmat suits with our winner, Dan from Minnesota, and took him for a spin in the iconic RV before watching the series finale together. The campaign raised $1.6M, shattering our previous record and officially putting us on the map. Dan, who had cerebral palsy also got to bond with one of his heroes, cast member RJ Mitte, who also has CP. Dan got teary-eyed when they met, and we got a little teary-eyed, too.

“We were able to dramatically expand the reach of our rallies because of the Omaze partnership,” said Kind Campaign co-founder Lauren Paul. After one rally funded by the experience (and your donations), a group of girls was moved enough to apologize to a classmate who they had bullied relentlessly. The classmate later wrote a letter to Lauren sharing that she had been planning on taking her own life that morning, and likely would have, had she not attended the rally and received that moment of kindness. And Lauren said, “if it wasn’t for Omaze, we wouldn’t have done that rally.”
2013

In 2012, we launched our first experience to Be a Guest Judge on Cupcake Wars. After an ambitious six months of planning, we raised a whopping $780 (hey, it was a start). But we saw the potential to make dreams come true, and so did you. The winner, Christina (17) from LA, took a big step closer to her aspirations of running a bakery when her dream visit to the show turned into a dream internship, courtesy of Candice, the co-host and owner of Sprinkles.

Our first nonprofit partner was Team Rubicon, who also took a chance on us for their very first fundraiser. It was a humble start, but thanks to your support, a partnership was formed that would span many years (and many more experiences!). To date, you’ve helped raise $1.7M for Team Rubicon, empowering them to build an army of 150,000 veteran volunteers who have brought disaster relief to over 9 million people in over 20 countries. That's the ripple effect.
2012