Movember is the leading charity dedicated to changing the face of men’s health around the world. Our fathers, partners, brothers and friends are facing a health crisis that isn’t being talked about. The organisation wants men to take action to live happier, healthier, longer lives and they do this by investing in these critical areas: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. They fund groundbreaking medical research, innovative cancer tests and treatments, and game-changing mental health interventions – over 1,250 men’s health projects around the world and counting.
Movember’s mission is to also motivate men to stay healthy in all areas of life, with an emphasis on social connection, talking more often and opening about their health, and reaching out in tough times. They are going to where they know men can be reached – such as online, in the workplace or through sport – and helping build behaviours to reach out for support; help them think about their health; to open up the conversation around the problems; and to fight for better treatments and services for men when things aren’t good.
TGE – Could you give us some examples of programs or actions you have recently led or implemented? Where are they taking in place (in the UK, abroad)?
Mrs. Graciet – Movember funds and runs dozens of amazing programmes all over the world, but if I had to pick favourites, it would be the following ones:
Ahead of the Game: this UK-based programme teaches young athletes how to build resilience and overcome challenges in sport and life. It sets them up with the skills to look after their mental wellbeing now and in the future. Through our partnership with Rugby League World Cup 2021, 8,000 teenage athletes and their families and coaches will be given mental fitness workshops over the next year.
Forward Momentum: Black men are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer than white men. To address this, Movember has teamed up with three prostate cancer organisations in the US to create Forward Momentum. Forward Momentum aims to address racial disparities, increase diversity in research and develop new digital resources for Black men with prostate cancer.
TGE – Why did you decide to use the TGE Network and its platform? Was there a need to answer a specific challenge your organisation is facing?
Fundraising Manager Europe
Mrs. Graciet – We are present in more than 20 countries around the world and in some of them, it’s essential to be able to offer certain tax benefits to boost our fundraising efforts. Working with TGE has enabled us to do just that for our French donors by linking us up with Fondation de France. Thanks to this partnership, we managed to reach more donors during our 2020 campaign and raise vital funds to support men’s health.
TGE – What do you think about the concept of a TGE Online Giving Platform? How does it fit with your fundraising efforts?
Mrs. Graciet – We were extremely impressed with the way it looked and very pleased to be able to offer a similar user experience to our donors. We have a very strong visual identity so it was really important for us that, if we were to use another fundraising platform, it could replicate the look and feel of our website and TGE’s Online Giving Platform did just that!
TGE – How is your organization dealing with the current pandemic situation? Do you have some specific initiatives happening for the moment?
Mrs. Graciet – As an organisation that focuses on mental health, it was really important for us to be there for our community and support them in any way we could because the current health crisis affects everyone in some way or another. It will be some time before some of the long-term effects emerge, but what we do know is the combination of enforced social isolation and economic uncertainty represents a particular threat to male mental health.
The key to getting through this crisis lies in strengthening our social connections. That means using technology to stay connected with our loved ones and checking in on anyone who we suspect might be struggling. When the pandemic first began, our teams pivoted quickly and began to take on the challenge remotely. In the past ten months alone, Movember has shared practical tools and advice designed to help us all look after our mental health and provide some guidance on how to support others around us, notably through our new digital programmes Movember Conversations, which is an online tool that helps you have those tough conversations with someone who is struggling, and Family Man, a digital programme aiming to equip fathers with the right parenting tools and increase their confidence in handling stressful situations.
TGE – What are the next steps for Movember? Your projects for the future?
Mrs. Graciet – We plan to keep investing in projects that give men the tools they need to live happier, healthier, longer lives.
More information about Movember
Website: https://www.movember.com/?reset=1
Do you want to make a donation?
Do it here: https://movember.com/donate
For French donors: https://donate.transnationalgiving.eu/landing/movember?lang=en_EN