I was out planting some seedlings the other day and my neighbor came over. I see he had a bush underneath his nose. I said “what did you do, forget to shave?” He said, “no, I was reading on the Internet the other day how I could grow a grow a moustache for charity.”
He’s the type of person that he doesn’t shave for three days and it looks like he hasn’t shaved for a month! Me, I can go three or four days without shaving and no one seems to notice. I’m the kind of person who has a baby face anyway. But I told him I’d sign up and try to grow one too! He sent me this press release by email for me to read about the charity drive:
For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Jay Wiggins
mm08@fundastache.org
(602) 321-6985
Moustache Growers Unite for Charity
Charitable offering takes new meaning at Fundastache.org where magnanimous men don moustaches in May
Phoenix, Ariz. – Mar. 30, 2008 – Fund-A-Stache, the charity driven Web resource linking moustache growers to donors, today announced its plans to return for a third year during May 2008. The site, www.fundastache.org, allows benevolent men to raise money for their charity of choice by simply growing a moustache during the month of May. Through a simple process of linking a grower profile to the powerful features of the Firstgiving.com online donation Web site, participants are encouraged to raise funds while growing facial hair.
Fun, Easy, and Fights Cancer
“It’s mostly about having fun, while realizing that in our daily lives, we have the power to raise awareness and funds for organizations committed to making the world a better place for all of us,” said founder and principal grower, Jay Wiggins. He noted that whether the concern is protecting the environment, fighting cancer or providing opportunity to children, any man can make a difference by simply putting down his razor. “How else can you help out organizations supporting issues near and dear to your heart by actually doing less work,” Wiggins asked. “Think of it as a Lance Armstrong bracelet you wear on your face.”
Fund-A-Stache 2006 and Fund-A-Stache 2007 generated impressive average donation totals of more than $600 per moustache, a marker Wiggins is confidant will be bested this year. “We’re excited about Fund-A-Stache 2008, and believe this will be our biggest year, both in terms of moustaches grown and dollars raised for charity,” Wiggins added.
The Fund-A-Stache site utilizes blog postings and photo uploads to chronicle the moustache growth of each participant and provides an easy mechanism for each participant to profile their chosen charities and pitch their ‘staches.
Turbo Charged Moustache May
Running parallel to the notable Moustache May (moustachemay.com) activities, the Fund-A-Stache gang is capitalizing on the facial hair growth event to add a charity component with the assistance of Firstgiving.com, Fund-A-Stache’s charity portal partner. Firstgiving.com is also geared up for a big May. “We love when groups come together and find creative new ways to use our donation engine and, in turn, drive more awareness and charitable giving,” says Mark Sutton, Firstgiving’s CEO. “Firstgiving’s personal fundraising pages make it fun and easy for groups or individuals to launch online fundraising campaigns in minutes. Fund-A-Stache is a cool way to energize the donor community and we’re excited to help these guys have fun while supporting the important work that our nonprofit organization clients perform.”
Setup and Timeline
Fund-A-Stache is currently processing registrations for the May 1, 2008 launch. The moustache sporting and fundraising will continue through May 31st. All participant growers must be registered with Fund-A-Stache and Firstgiving by May 5, 2008.
About Fund-A-Stache
Fund-A-Stache (http:\www.fundastache.org) has revolutionized charitable involvement by identifying easy and fun mechanisms to support charities. During previous years, Fund-A-Stache has generated tens of thousands of dollars in donations for charitable organizations including, the American Red Cross, the Lupus Foundation of America, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, CURE Childhood Cancer, the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the Aaron Diamond Aids Research Center, the Polycystic Kidney Disease (KPD) Foundation, Project Peanut Butter, The M.I.S.S. Foundation, Last Chance for Animals, and several other worthy organizations. Operating each May, Fund-A-Stache solicits participation in all segments of society and encourages involvement from all whom wish to grow.
About Firstgiving
Firstgiving of Somerville, MA is the US office of Giving, Ltd. of London, England. Established in 2003, Firstgiving provides user-friendly online fundraising tools for fundraisers and organizations that help thousands of individuals raise millions of dollars for certified 501(c) US nonprofit organizations. The company works with over 2,000 charity clients and tens of thousands of individual fundraisers who have raised more than $50 million online. For more information please visit www.firstgiving.com or call (617) 591-2121.
