Moustaches everywhere I look...

I struggle a little bit with Movember. I recognise it's a fabulous fundraising campaign but the sight of all those wispy moustaches makes me feel a little queasy.

However, not wanting to get a reputation as a grump and a killjoy I tweeted this..

@pauldegregorio me???
— Vasileios Kospanos (@vasilakosp) November 22, 2012

As you can see Valsileios was the first to respond. So that's who I gave to. Giving to Valsileios made me realise that I only ever give by text or PayPal, unless of course I am completely obsessed by the organisation, (looking at you Send a Cow). But, I digress.

On the payment confirmation screen there is this fab video. Simple and brilliant.

As a donor I get a real sense of what my money will do. I've just given to Valsileios, not Movember, so in my mind it's critical that donors to these types of campaigns move past the novelty moustache quickly. This video really did that for me.



And if you haven't sponsored anyone yet, sponsor Valsileios. He's a top chap.

Movember, by a nose ...

I was lucky enough to go to the recent ‘I wish I’d thought of that’ event hosted by SOFII. The agency I work for Open Fundraising helped plan and organise the event. It was a fab afternoon out of the office – a real and rare chance to pause and reflect on some amazing fundraising ideas.

I’ll confess to being a little tense as we had decided quite late in the planning of the event to run a text vote, where the audience could vote on the most inspiring fundraising idea presented. In the end it worked brilliantly (despite having to access the results via 3G as the wifi in the hall let us down) and Movember presented by Andy Harris was the idea that topped the poll.

Everyone in the room applauded, it's a campaign that raises a lot of money - a worthy winner.

A couple of days later, I got a deeper insight into the camapign. I was sent a Movember email from a mate, that included this video.

I love it. It shows exactly why this campaign is so great, yes it raises a lot of money, but just as importantly it raises a LOT of awareness. And the information is presented beautifully.

And here are some pictures from the event.