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This article was taken from the November 2013 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online.
Los Angeles-based Prizeo helps celebrities to fundraise for good causes via their online fan-bases. On the first day of its partnership with boy band One Direction, it raised $110,000 (£70,000) from fans for Trekstock, a cancer-research charity. Donors had the chance to win an evening out with band members Liam Payne and Harry Styles.
There were 750,000 page-views on the first day and 10,000 donors in the first ten days. "Our real-time-analytics provider called because they couldn't believe how large the traffic was in such a short amount of time," says Bryan Baum, 24, Prizeo's cofounder and chief executive.
Launched in June by Oxford University alumni Baum, Leo Seigal, 22, and Andrej Pancik, 24, Prizeo's website raffles "once-in-a-lifetime" experiences, such as private cooking lessons with chef Jamie Oliver or golf weekends with Samuel L Jackson. Fans enter each contest for a minimum contribution of $3 (£1.80) to the celebrity's cause, and are prompted to share the contest via Facebook, Twitter and email.
Prizeo has run 25 fundraising campaigns and charities receive 90 per cent of revenue after commission. "It's shocking how many charities don't even have a 'donate' button on their website," says Baum. "It demonstrates the powerful influence celebrities have to fuel social impact."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
