In 2003, two Australian mates, Travis Garone and Luke Slattery were having a quiet beer in a pub and started to comment on fashion trends. Where have all the mustaches gone, they wondered?
Inspired by a friend’s mother who was doing a fundraiser for breast cancer, Travis and Luke decided they should try and raise funds for men’s health issues like prostate cancer by growing mustaches. It was such an irreverent & fun idea – they knew they’d succeed. Movember is born.
A Hairy Idea
They decided to name the month of November for their cause, so, Movember was born.
After creating a logo and a flyer, they sent it to their friends and encouraged thirty guys to grow a stache and charged them $10 each to participate.
After this small success, they formalized their approach by registering the name, getting the website and URL and started building relationships with Prostate Research Associations. The next year they raised $54,000 (Australian) and donated it to a Spanish research association. It was the largest donation this organization ever received since no one was paying attention to this cause.
Today they are in 21 countries and have raised $750,000,000 (Australian) since their start and supported more than one thousand causes focused on men’s health issues.
Along with their journey, the bros have figured out some valuable lessons that could benefit other non-profits or NGO’s, looking to grow awareness, revenue and to support a cause.
Lessons Learned:
- Make giving fun: You don’t have to emphasize the sadness of disease over the joy of helping. Instead, put your energy in the positive, emotional high that can come from being a part of a solution.
- Engage partners: In the case of Movember, they brought barbershops into their network and encouraged them to help spread the word. What better place to tie-in with a moustache-centric charity!
- Values Matter: The Movember brand is clear and not diluted. Everything goes through the filter of their values.
- Create fun: Hold events that people want to participate in because it’s enjoyable
- Stay accountable: Be transparent and overshare information. Don’t hold back anything.
- Harness caring: People join because they care about their brothers, fathers, and sons. Men need to fly their empathy flags too – just like women do.
- Month to remember: Everything happens around a thirty-day period. Movember OWNS a month on the calendar that is special to the non-profit. Movember is memorable and tied to a set time.
- Humble: The organization has a humble attitude and approach to all they do. Gratitude and appreciation are at the core.
- Innovative: Non-profits not only can be innovators and disruptors but deserve the chance to lead. They apply innovation across every aspect of the journey.
- Remarkable experience: They have plotted every touch point that anyone has who comes in contact with the organization. Through drip marketing and ongoing amusing communication, they are always in front of their community. From how they answer the phone to their silly and engaging Instagram page.
- Change Agents: The bros are out to shift the status quo. Nothing can’t be broken to make it better.
- Build a community: The bros knew that they had to find a way to keep the community connected beyond the month of November.
Learning from the Bros
Non-profits whether new or established could learn some powerful lessons from the bros at Movember.
A key takeaway is to examine what happens when you focus on the emotional joy of giving by doing something fun and enjoyable versus trying to shame, guilt or embarrass those who you want to make contributions.
Issues like a disease, homelessness, and hunger aren’t funny. But changing the world might be easier if you view your mission through a different lens.
What wild and hairy idea can you come up with to change the world?
I work with non-profits, NGO’s and charities of all kinds to help them improve their marketing. Let’s connect to see if I can help you. Text me at 919 720 0995 or email me at jeffreylynnslater@gmail.com
A photo of me in my hairy days. I had to water these sideburns twice a day.
Screen grab photo courtesy of Movember Foundation
