Flutter Gives You a Chance to Win ‘The Ultimate Boston Experience’
Spencer Bramson and Tom O’Keefe of Flutter. / Photo Provided
A $10 donation to the West End House Boys & Girls Club could win you a helicopter tour of Boston, two tickets to an afternoon Red Sox game, dinner for two at the Capital Grille, and complimentary drinks and a one-night stay at the Lenox Hotel.
Consider it “The Ultimate Boston Experience.”
The package comes courtesy of Flutter, a startup launched by Tom O’Keefe, more colloquially known as @BostonTweet on Twitter; Spencer Bramson, an entrepreneur who founded his first marketing agency at age 19; and Steve Callan, the director of technology for advertising agency Hill Holliday. Their goal? “To get people excited about donating to charity.”
“I’m a huge fan of giving back and really trying to support communities,” O’Keefe says. “Especially those in our community who need it most.”
With Flutter, users can enter themselves in to win a unique experience by simply donating $10 to charity. Companies like the Lenox will offer a prize and set a “tipping point” for when it can go live. For “The Ultimate Boston Experience,” that’s $3,000. If the goal isn’t met, the package won’t be awarded. Eighty percent of donations raised will be deposited directly into the charity’s bank account, however, and Flutter will collect the additional 20 percent.
“Bidding and auctions exclude a lot of people,” says O’Keefe, explaining why Flutter donations are limited to $10. “It gives everyone an equal chance. And ultimately, we think we can raise more money if we have more people donating.”
Flutter launched on June 1, and has so far raised roughly $1,000 for charity—most of that money coming from the site’s offer of a four-night stay in Azores, an island off the coast of Portugal, for a $10 donation to the b.good Family Foundation.
For smaller charities, that $1,000 is “a massive amount,” notes O’Keefe. And for businesses, Flutter offers added exposure. The team calls it “good promotional karma.”
Over the next few months, the team will focus on providing more unique experiences, such as backstage concert access, and ensuring that Flutter conquers the Boston market.
“We’re focusing on Boston, and making sure Boston is right, and figuring out what really works,” O’Keefe explains. “It’s all about creating local experiences for local charities.”
If Flutter can succeed in Boston, O’Keefe says he would like to see it expand to the likes of Chicago and New York City—similar to how the original Groupon model did, which O’Keefe calls “the ultimate goal.”
But for now, O’Keefe is focused on “The Ultimate Boston Experience.” To promote the package, O’Keefe and Bramson will embark on their own helicopter tour of Boston on Tuesday, starting at 10 a.m.
They will film the trip live on Periscope, so follow @BostonTweet and @Flutter365 for more details, and look up from your phone if you’re strolling through Downtown.
