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1 Ideas & Advice Home Fund Raising Ideas & Advice November 13, 2011 Fast-Growing Group Uses Humor and Fun to Raise Money for Men s Health By Raymund Flandez If Adam Garone gets his way, mustaches will soon become as powerful and iconic a fund-raising symbol as the pink ribbon is for breast-cancer groups. What started out as a joke between Mr. Garone and his friends in Australia has blossomed into an international movement that has raised $174-million since 2004, primarily for groups that help men detect and treat prostate cancer. This year the Movember Foundation, a charity he co-founded, hopes to raise $95-million in the Unted States and 13 other countries, a big leap from the $81-million raised last year. Mr. Garone s charity enlists thousands of men to grow mustaches what he calls the hairy ribbon to symbolize their concern about prostate cancer and as a way to get friends and relatives talking about men s health. Movember runs contests, parties, and other lighthearted fund-raising events to encourage men and women to donate money. His group took its name from the word mo, which is Australian slang for mustache, and merged it with the name of the month during which it asks volunteers to grow mustaches and get donations. So far, some 720,000 people have signed up to raise money at events that will take place around the world this month, an increase over the 450,000 participants last year. No Grim Statistics While the emphasis on competition and raising money from friends and relatives mimics other health charities, Mr. Garone s fund-raising and marketing philosophy is a far cry from more established groups. He says he doesn t want people to feel pressured to give to Movember. We want to be different, he says. Let s celebrate life. And let s have fun. Rather than citing grim statistics or deploring how little money goes to prostate-cancer research, Movember relies on humor and irreverence. 1 of 6 11/21/11 3:55 PM

2 We re not going to motivate people through fear and sadness, Mr. Garone says. The approach is particularly effective in attracting men in their 20s, 30s, and early 40s, a group that other charities have had trouble reaching, fund-raising experts say. Mo Bros, as Movember s male supporters are called, not only grow mustaches but recruit their buddies to sprout them too, partly in camaraderie and partly to compete for donations. Most of the men raise money online by setting up a Mo Space page through the Movember Web site, where they can track donation amounts and post pictures as their mustaches grow. Groups of friends or co-workers can set up teams as well. While the emphasis is on men, Movember also enlists Mo Sistas to support the men, encourage male friends to participate, and help raise money. Movember s pitch is working, says Chris Brewer, a spokesman for Livestrong, the cancer charity founded by Lance Armstrong. That no-pressure approach is what people really dig, and they re making a difference $10 to $20 at a time, says Mr. Brewer, whose charity, along with the Prostate Cancer Foundation, are the two beneficiaries of money Movember raises in the United States. Started as a Drinking Bet Movember was first conceived in 2003 when Mr. Garone s brother, Travis, and his friends discussed growing mustaches for kicks over a few beers. That first year, they recruited 30 people to grow mustaches. The next year, the Garone brothers and their friend, Luke Slattery, decided to peg a health cause to their monthlong stunt. Some 450 people participated and raised $54,000 in Australia. It has been only in the last couple of years that Movember s fund raising has taken off in the United States, where last year some 65,000 volunteers raised $7.5-million, more than double the $3.2-million garnered by 28,000 participants in 2009, when Movember gained official charity status from the Internal Revenue Service. The charity s origins in a drinking bet may be one reason Movember puts a premium on creative fund-raising events. Volunteer organizers are encouraged to hold shave down events on Halloween, the day before the November mustache growing competitions start. For example, last month Movember volunteers held a Sweeney 2 of 6 11/21/11 3:55 PM

3 Todd event at Samuel Beckett s Irish Gastro Pub, in Arlington, Va. The bar s owner, Mark Kirwan, hired a barber who shaved the mustaches and beards off of 16 customers and staff members to get ready to raise at least $1,500 for Movember, while an alternative Irish band played and costumed patrons chugged Guinness beers. At the end of the month, scores of volunteers will hold parties to thank fund raisers and donors. The parties serve as part incentive, part reward for those who want to show off their mustache. Those who raise a certain amount of money, say $100, are offered a free ticket to a mustache-theme costume party. Men and women compete for prizes like Miss Movember (the best-dressed Mo Sista), Best Mo in Character, Lame Mo (for the facial follically challenged ), or Man of Movember (the Mo Bro with the ultimate mustache). People who raise the most money, called Mo Mo s, also get invited by Movember to meet with leading prostate-cancer researchers or to go on a bike ride with Lance Armstrong. Dan Zenka, spokesman for the Prostate Cancer Foundation, says the $2.6-million it received from Movember accounted for about 7 percent of the $40-million the foundation received last year. He says his group raises money in more traditional ways fancy dinners, tennis tournaments, and direct mai but he thinks Movember has figured out what might work better in appealing to young men. Movember has hit a formula that just really resonates with men, Mr. Zenka says. It s got the right mystique. It s quirky, it s hip, it s young, and that s exactly what we need. 3 of 6 11/21/11 3:55 PM

4 Fund Raising and Cancer Charities Susan G. Komen for the Cure is now one of America s most successful charities, raising more than all but 38 nonprofits. Movember hopes it can follow a similar trajectory. Here s how Movember s early fund raising compares with Komen s: 1984: $1,061,043 (in 2011 dollars) 1985: $2,822, % one-year gain 2009: $3,236, : $7,528, % one-year gain Gaining Momentum While Movember works hard to make sure its messages stay upbeat, it doesn t shy away from cancer or other difficult issues. The group urges volunteers to talk about men s health issues when people ask them why they are growing mustaches. It says 77 percent of its U.S. participants discussed men s health issues with family, friends, or colleagues during November. That success rate has drawn praise from other cancer groups. Among them: Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the organization that made the pink ribbon ubiquitous and raised more than $350-million last year. They certainly have a committed group of people who come 4 of 6 11/21/11 3:55 PM

5 together to keep growing the momentum around the organization, says Julie Teer, Komen s vice president for development. We hope that they are able to really increase funding and awareness for men s health because it s critical. She says she admires the way Movember has drawn participation not only from men but also from women. In this environment, you always have to do something that sort of gets people s attention because there are so many different events that happen. You have to really do something that breaks through and stands out. The Movember team certainly has done that. Tough Month Even though Movember is growing fast, not everybody thinks it can keep up the momentum. Douglas Sweetbaum, a marketing director at Energizer, the battery company, raised money for Movember after getting a diagnosis of prostate cancer and undergoing surgery last year. Because his ordeal inspired friends and colleagues to give, he raised about $11,400 for Movember, but he doubts he can win as much now that he is in good health. And, he says, November is a tough month to raise money, because it falls immediately following the glut of fund-raising activities during breast-cancer awareness month in October. November is also the month when many United Way drives are under way, which may hamper Movember s ability to make progress in getting its pitches to be part of the office fund-raising routine. But others say the idea works well, especially for people in business. Tom Erickson, chief executive of Acquia, which supports open-source software for Web sites, last year was one of the biggest Movember fund raisers in the United States, collecting nearly $23,000 from his friends. I wasn t shy about sending out s and silly photos of me, he says. He and colleagues who grew mustaches in November realized on business trips they needed to explain why they were growing mustaches, and that led to easy conversations with clients and donors. It was actually a tremendous ice breaker. Mr. Erickson says that he and his wife have been involved with charities that fight breast cancer for years. Until Movember came along, he says, he always thought it was strange that there was no male equivalent. There was a major disconnect there, he says. I love what s 5 of 6 11/21/11 3:55 PM

6 happening with women s cancer, but there needs to be a higher profile with what men are going through as well. Copyright All rights reserved. The Chronicle of Philanthropy 1255 Twenty-Third St, N.W. Washington, D.C of 6 11/21/11 3:55 PM