Photo credit: Surreal Instagram
Surreal is a fundraising platform that helps to provide fans with incredible festival experiences while also raising funds for deserving charities. The organization first starts by working with a festival to choose a charity that they would like to raise funds for. Then they work to design on of a kind experiences like riding in a helicopter with Kaskade or race cars with Afrojack. Fans can enter by donating as little as $5 to the campaign. Winners get to enjoy a once in a lifetime experience and everyone gets to feel good about donating to a worthy cause!
We had the chance to talk with their team learn a little bit more about the program. Read our exclusive interview below.
What is the story behind Surreal? When was it founded and what inspired the organization?
Surreal was created to provide an easy way for festivals and artists to give back to charity by providing once-in-a-lifetime experiences to their fans. We launched in May of 2017 with EDC Las Vegas, where we raised roughly $40,000 in just 11 days.
How big is the team?
Right now, there are about 5 people working on Surreal that operate different functions of the business.
In less than a year you raised over $100,000 for deserving charity partner and causes, congratulations! What contributed to this success?
Thanks for the kind words. I really think the key to success has been working with the right festivals, artists and planning the right type of unique experiences. This has generated a lot of excitement for fans and caused them to donate to these amazing charity organizations.
Can you tell us what kind of experiences the winner for Shaky Beats will be getting with Marshmello, Ookay, and London on the Track?
The winner of this campaign got to Facetime their friends with Marshmello and Ookay and then also got to hang out with London on The Track. She texted me as the experience was taking place and had an incredible time with her best friend getting to meet all of these amazing artists.
Some of your experiences for EDC are out of this world, like helicopter rides with Kaskade and eating Greek food with Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike. How do you go about securing these experiences?
We try to suggest experiences that are unique to each artist and something that they will enjoy doing with the winning fan and their friend. Local businesses are really good about donating their services if an artist wants to do something off-site.
How do you go about choosing and vetting a charity to receive the donations?
We allow our festival partners to select the charity of their choice. For the ones that don’t already have one in mind, we have a list of pre-vetted charities that we like to recommend based on what causes the festival wants to support.
Anything else you want inquiring minds to know about Surreal?
We are launching a new version of the site along with merchandise & new campaigns with Bonnaroo, Forecastle, and Breakaway. Stay tuned for what’s to come!
The next campaign they have coming up is at Bonnaroo. Those who donate can enter for the chance to win one of the following experiences:
- Have a Christmas party and eat tacos with Kaskade.
- Get a Golf Cart Tour with Kayzo.
- Challenge Said the Sky in Cornhole.
- Hang out with Carnage.
- Enjoy an autograph Session with Pigeons Playing Ping Pong.
- Hang in the Studio with Slander.
- Play Clozee in Backyard Games
- Receive a signed Bassnectar merchandise package and an autographed Vinyl
- Recieve an autographed Alison Wonderland Vinyl
You can donate for your chance to win here. All donations will go towards the Bonnaroo Works Fund which has the mission to make communities healthy in the areas of education, environmental sustainability, and arts.