The bid team, led by Suffolk Construction chief executive John Fish, are inviting the city's business elite to join a club known as the "Founders 100", with entry starting at $50,000 (£33,000/€44,000).

The Boston Globe reports that 30 people have already signed up to the club, which is "limited to the first 100 businesses/individuals who donate at a leadership level to the Boston 2024 Olympic Bid."

Membership to the Founders 100 offers special benefits, according to a presentation to potential supporters labelled "Investing in Boston's Future'', including serving as an Ambassador for the Olympic Movement; participating in private events with Olympians; joining regular insider briefings; receiving weekly updates; and enjoying amenities such as Founders Packet, Boston 2024 memorabilia, and other services.

The moves comes on the back of Boston's pledge not to use public money in its Olympic campaign, other than to pay for upgrading current infrastructure.

The Boston 2024 Bid Committee is led by Suffolk Construction chief executive John Fish ©Getty Images



The current list of donors includes Boston's wealthiest figures of the financial, philanthropic, academic, and health care worlds, with big names including Bain Capital, EMC, Staples, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, LPL Financial, Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins, New England Patriots, Parthenon Group, and Putnam Investments all represented in the fundraising effort.

The group, according to the Globe, is hoping to raise the $75 million (£50 million/€67 million) needed to sell Boston's bid to the International Olympic Committee when it chooses the 2024 host city at its IOC Session in Lima in September 2017.

Boston and Rome are the only two cities to officially open their bids to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, however, Germany is expected to put forward either Berlin or Hamburg.

Baku, Budapest, Istanbul and Paris could be other European bidders, while Doha and either Pretoria or Gauteng Province in South Africa are other potential contenders.

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