The Dark Secret Behind Those Omaze Giveaways - How Money Works

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If you have watched YouTube… at all… in the last year or so you have no doubt know what Omaze is…

For the few of you who don’t, they are an organisation that promotes lotteries for all manner of different items and experiences, ranging anywhere from a chance to win a Lamborghini all the way to an exclusive Star Wars set tour before it hit theatres.

This all sounds very cool especially when it is revealed that all of the proceeds from these lotteries go on to support charities. To date the company has raised over 130 MILLION DOLLARS for charities that do everything from providing scholarships to orphaned children, to installing solar power in remote African communities.

Surely it would be pretty hard to hate on an organisation like this right?

Well…

You see despite this chirpy exterior of flashy cars and warm fuzzies, Omaze is hiding a pretty dark secret. So it’s time to learn how your money works in these raffled because also reveals a lot about how an alarming amount of charitable organizations conduct themselves in the modern day.

So before we go any further the first thing you need to know about is that it is a For Profit Institution, which means that its primary goal is not to feed the homeless or save the spotted owl, it’s to make money…

It makes this money by representing organizations that are themselves non profits, but they are not one themselves.

Now there is nothing fundamentally wrong with this, if feeding America held a charity gala in a Hilton Hotel nobody would have any issues with Hilton hotels later going on to turn a profit that’s fine.

Where Omaze starts to push it’s luck though is that it really doesn’t make any effort to stress this relationship.

Just think, when your favorite YouTuber was talking about a car giveaway, they probably spoke a lot about Omaze, and the great work it was doing, but just think, do you remember any of the charities that these charities were actually meant to fund?

If you do, you certainly have a better memory than me.

This is no accident.

The company spends millions of dollars on marketing every year and trust me if they wanted you to hear about the actual non-profits, you would have heard about the actual non-profits.

The company would instead like for you to conflate with saving the children, more so than running lotteries to make fat stacks, and trust me they do make fat stacks.

#Omaze #NonProfit #HowMoneyWorks

Omaze lottery fund raising raffle giveaway some lamborghinis and ferraris to winners of this entry free prize money and then money towards good causes and local charities.

[HowMoneyWorks]

There goes my chances of ever getting sponsored on this channel.

[JohnS-ildr]

This is like the California lottery saying a portion of the winnings go to schools, but the budget for schools get cut exactly the amount the lottery brings in.

[darthowl]

Donate to small local Charities that you can physically go to and see their work being done, and hopefully volunteer some of your time if possible to.

[wardyorgason]

I actually donated to omaze once. I honestly didn’t realize I was basically gambling. I’m really glad you explained this

[vojtechstrnad]

"This is not an attack on George Clooney, or the YouTubers taking the sponsorship deals, this is an attack on you."
Me: never even heard of Omaze before

[makatron]

I remember reading a book "How to profit from non-profit" years ago. You just assign yourself a high salary and pick a cause that's difficult to verify. Imagine building houses in a remote place or providing food to kids in the middle of nowhere, that's the kind of charity that makes you rich.

[FreeRsGuides]

When the giveaway is closer, they send out emails like 'get triple the # of tickets for the same price'... Diluting the people who paid in at the 'regular' price.

[TommyHolly]

Hopefully you read this comment. I have a few corrections making Omaze much worse than you reported.

1. Omaze doesn’t give 15% to charity. Please read their legal disclaimer again. They give 15% to CAF-A, an expensive group of lawyers which handle the money, the legal paperwork, international issues, taxes and so much more… CAF-A also takes an Omaze sized cut since they don’t work for free. Usually around 65-85% depending on what you want them to do. In the end, the so-called charity receives less than 5%.
15% x 35% = 5%

2. I said so-called charity since many of the beneficiaries are actually political advocacy groups, NOT charities. Looking at who receives the money you’ll see many of these groups spend their money on lobbyists, lawyers, and political donations. (And you guess which side of the political spectrum that benefits.)

3. There is no actual raffle. I’m not sure how you came up with odds based on what they spend??? There is no actual raffle or contest. No odds. No broadcast of someone picking names from a hat. No exact person mentioned who picks the “winners” and no mention of exactly what method they pick people. No ticket numbers to track. There is no oversight or regulation like a casino. It’s all behind closed doors.

4. Yes they are doing harm. Most people only donate to 1-2 charities a year if at all. Giving money to Omaze thinking that you are helping only means your money was almost totally wasted. I volunteer for a few different charities. One of the most common responses I get is that they already donated to a charity this year already. When I ask who, most of the time the response is Omaze. People aren’t willing to donate more money because they think they already did with Omaze.

5. Many of the so-called “winners have been social media influencers. Likely they were hand-picked for the extra publicity.

6. Google “Omaze CEO Salary”. You’ll see the average salary at the company is a whopping $200, 000 a year!! The CEO and Board members all make up to $500, 000 a year.

[abyni]

You're so well spoken and explain things so clearly, I do believe you're gonna be big, and you've earned yourself a subscriber.

[MrKn]

Living in DC for a while really opened my eyes about “non-profits.”

[vankram]

Im actually in the middle of setting up my own

[Krrish]

I used to work for a smaller company where the owners dad would travel to a children's home in the Ukraine every summer. He would fill up a trailer with clothes, food, glasses, wheelchairs etc. Even hospital beds and whatever he could get. Everyone who worked there would always contribute something and I always felt like everything we gave went straight to the children. No middleman or "overhead". Was really amazing! He would then develop the pictures he had taken and show us. It was really cool!

[jgn]

Next time I get mugged, I'll insist the mugger gives 1.5% of his proceeds to a homeless guy. That way I feel like I'm helping the needy.

[uneconomist]

Even "legitimate" charities pay their CEOs/Executives millions. I did some research a while ago and thought about making a video on it. The reality is so disgusting that I got upset and didn't want to keep looking. Just look at how luxurious some offices of the SickKids foundations are.

[lasagna]

6:53 IDK I recognized Make-a Wish, meals on wheels, ST. Judes, and the Peterson automotive museum. This video is ridiculous 🤣

[Hyperian]

Omaze just turns into another trickle down business transaction where all the poor people pays out, rich people gets their fill, and other poor people pissed on.

[maemilev]

*Dude, Omaze is utilizing Florida only loop hole law in gambling! It doesn't require an independent group to validates winners!*

[kingali]

Glad you covered this. I am so done having these Omaze giveaways forced down my throat every time I watch YouTube.

[c.erine]

I fell for them one time. I got bad vibes from them and have even stopped following people who promote them. Today on FB a certain person I respected started promoting them, he has a foundation that gives scholarships for "working" class jobs. Shocking to say the least. Thank you for having an explanation of what and who they are, it reaffirms my vibes.

[MatthewStinar]

Them: This raffle is for a good cause.
Me: I don't gamble. Period.