Omaze has announced a tenfold increase to its minimum donation for its charity partners to £1m for each competition that it runs.
Since 2020, the fundraising company’s minimum donation to its charity partners has been £100,000 from each house draw until today.
Its previous model saw 80% of the net proceeds from every competition go to its charity partner, meaning the charities would receive whatever was left over after marketing and operations costs were deducted.
Now, the fundraiser is offering its charity partners 17% of total sales from each house draw, guaranteeing the charities a share of all ticket sales irrespective of any costs incurred to Omaze.
RSPCA will be the first charity to benefit from the change, as Omaze’s partner for a competition to win a house in Somerset.
Omaze has previously worked with charities such as the British Heart Foundation, Dogs Trust and GOSH Charity.
Last year, the Lotteries Council raised concerns in parliament about the lack of legally binding regulation for draws such as those run by Omaze.
“Omaze declares that for prize draws, 80% of ‘net proceeds’ (ie proceeds after the deduction of the cost of prizes and marketing) is given to the nominated charity – but this is not legally binding and there is no regulator to ensure that this happens,” its briefing read.
Omaze is registered with the Fundraising Regulator as a non-charity, which means it has committed to following the Code of Fundraising Practice but its business activities are not regulated.
It has raised over £20m for its charity partners in less than four years through the house draws.
