Hey, I'm john. And I'm Becky. And this is the we are for good podcast.
nonprofits are faced with more challenges to accomplish their missions and the growing pressure to do more, raise more and be more for the causes that improve our world.
We're here to learn with you from some of the best in the industry, bringing the most innovative ideas, inspirational stories, all to create an impact uprising.
So welcome to the good community, where nonprofit professionals, philanthropist world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.
So let's get started. Hey, Becky,
it's a good day when we get to talk about marketing and branding with a huge expert.
And I wish I would have sported a mustache for this call. Because full disclosure probably a month ago, I texted a picture when I was shaving of me and a mustache, and I terrified Becky and Julie on the thread. It was thank you
for reminding me about that. Julie, can you add that touchdown?
Yeah, absolutely. So friends, we're so excited for today's conversation. This is an organization that literally everybody knows it's November, and we are talking to Caitlin Whitaker. She is one of the masterminds of marketing for this incredible worldwide movement. And she does marketing consulting on this side. She's an expert in all things branding, execution messaging, but she's really here today to help us really break through some strategies for how do we reach millennials? How do you reach the Jon's of the world that are sitting there that need to be spoken to about mental health and men's health and all the things? And how do we do it in a really engaging and fun way. And I think Movember does the fun in such a brilliant way, and really cuts through so much of the clutter out there. So Caitlin is in charge of devising and executing marketing plans, which oversees the brand, the digital and media partnerships for Movember. And she is a Southern California grad at the University of Southern California, with a journalism degree in marketing. And she's now based in New York City splits her time in LA, she's kind of all over the place. And she is incredibly awesome. She is passionate on social social justice and creative positive change in society. So we're just delighted to have the sounds like our people. Thanks for being here.
Thanks for having me. JOHN. I wish you had a mustache today too. But I will see your mustache in November.
Okay, that's that's a deal on this. So
I'm brand I love it.
Hey, would you kind of fill in the gaps of your story? What led you to this place today? How did you get connected to Movember? And just kind of walk us through your journey?
Yes. So journalism at USC, Southern California. And I was the last like, print journalism degree that they gave out. Now. It's, you know, digital marketing, strategic communications.
Yeah, exactly. Which is, which is great. But yeah, last print journalism, degree and minor to marketing. And it was really kind of on that cusp of brands starting to really tell their own stories. So I didn't kind of like, right when I graduated, was when all these jobs were like, emerging. Oh, there's Twitter and Facebook and Instagram had just come out. And brands could really harness their own, like storytelling potential. So I didn't think I was going to go into the nonprofit world. And so ended up at November, I was like, I'll just kind of hang out for a little while, and I had been following the organization. And so one thing led to another and I've been in November for nine years, and worn a zillion different hats on the marketing team and gotten to work closely with CEOs and executive directors and heads of fundraising and work on amazing partnerships and, and do you know, really cool marketing activations? So I just keep staying, because I really love the brand and, and I love the mission. And I love the people. I think nonprofit people are really great people, and November's not very nonprofit. And in the ways of the world, we we actually most of us, like don't have traditional nonprofit backgrounds. So I just I really love the people. We're a global organization, started in Australia in 2003. And then came to the states in 2007. And so it's been a really amazing journey with them to help change the pace of men's health.
Everybody's story is so fascinating. And I love the winding nature of it. And I really want to talk about Movember, because we worked, you know, with the organ organization at our old health care institution who had a really big Movember campaign, it was so much fun. And that I think, is the disruptive component of it. And you made Men's Health, fun, and it's so catchy, and you build community. So can you kind of share an overview of the history and the mission of Movember? And we just want to know how you became this leading charity that's changing the face of men's health.
Yes. So as I mentioned, started in Australia, November actually started With that fun element in mind, so they grew mustaches for 30 days to like wire. How did the mustache go? Why is it like creepy now to have a mustache? This is back like before, you know, it's kind of come back, and facial hair came back in style. And like having mustaches was weird. So they were like, let's start clean shaven on the first of the month, grown groom just a mustache for the month. And then let's see what happens while the party at the end of the month she celebrate. They generated so many conversations. People were so like, offended and shocked and like, horrified. And also some people were like, this is amazing. And they said, we're starting so many conversations, we have to do something with this. And I always say what's manlier than a moustache. So they looked at, they looked at causes, they they realize that prostate cancer rates are very similar to breast cancer rates. And they had had some friends who suffered from mental health issues and unfortunately passed away from suicide. And they kind of looked around and realized that men weren't having these vital conversations about their health. This was kind of right, when everything was really pink washed, and there was so much movement around breast cancer, and which is so important. But women were naturally better at talking about our health, we're better at building community with each other, we are a little bit more proactive about our health. And so our founders in Australia, were really kind of inspired by that movement, and how could we How could they make something that was going to feel similar to that movement and really empower men to speak up for themselves and to have dialogue with each other? And so the thing I love about Movember is that it's built by men for men with great women in the organization to so it's really like a meeting men where they are, and growing the mustache in the month of November. Is this kind of fun. They call it the spoonful of sugar model where we're gonna break the ice and we're gonna talk about your amazing mustache, john. But we're then you know, you're then gonna say, Oh, I'm going this mustache because you know, did you know about Movember? Did you know they're raising funds and awareness for mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer and testicular cancer? And generally, someone's going to be like, oh, wow, that's incredible. Actually, my dad had prostate cancer. We're actually my brother suffered for testicular cancer, or actually, oh, we used to do Movember in college. And it, you know, generated so many amazing conversations between, you know, me and my, my sport team, guys that I was with. And so I think it's just this really powerful way to break the ice and have these natural, like, authentic. That's a word I use a lot about November. And when we're building partnerships and stuff, I always use that authenticity word, which, like, has a little played out in the marketing space. But it's really important to November and we are never trying to do things that feel like we're forcing men into a conversation or we're, I don't know, it always does have to have that that realness to it. Well, I
think y'all clearly been very successful, very
successful at it. It's fascinating.
I just think, you know, sometimes I get into a space Becky and I will talk about that we're kind of purist. It's like we want people to give just because they have this altruistic capacity. But there is something to how do we level the playing field as low as possible. And I think y'all did this by making something so fun. Everybody can get involved in this, to where you could be so far away from ever wanting to have some of these harder conversations or uncomfortable topics. But you made it so light of a doorway to walk through that anybody could talk about it at the supermarket, you know, and I just I love the job, played it that way. And obviously has worked really successfully.
And I mean, just the conversation starter. I mean, look at the Ice Bucket Bucket Challenge. It's something we could all do. And we're all talking about ALS. I mean, this is the same with Movember. And I just think the way that you've marketed it in the way that the fun and disruptive nature brought people together and build community, and having the conversation and listening is the first step. So Bravo,
thanks. Yeah, I think too. I spoke a challenge was a really interesting one to be at Movember and lived through because it was kind of this like, there was a few years in the charity world where like, things did become kind of certainty. And that was like, What are these kind of viral moments? Let's all create this, like viral moment. And a lot of people were looking to November of like, what you guys created a viral moment? And we're like, Yes, we did. And we were one of the very first like digital only charities. So we had a lot of traditional charities calling us in the early days. Like you're not sending direct mailers, but like, how are people like, what, how are people giving to you? And it's like, we have this website. It's called November calm, and you sign up and people can donate directly to your page, we still were getting a lot of checks back in the day grandmas were like no have to mail you can't donate on on the internet. We're like, that's fine. But yeah, so people sign up on movember.com. And, and the mustache is king in our world. So we always want people, you know, signing up and growing a moustache with us. But now, we've really looked at what are other ways people want to get involved with us if growing a mustache isn't your thing. Let's make this inclusive, let's make it available to all let's really swing the doors wide open because Men's Health is for everyone. Like, what does the world look like where the men we love are living longer, healthier, happier lives? Like that's society change. And that's what still gets me excited every day about Movember is like, wow, what what can we change? And how can we better you know, each of our individual lives. So you go to move m.com you sign up, you can take the move, challenge and do 30 days of physical fitness, you can host a really cool event, or you can mow your own way. So we have people you know, running the New York City Marathon for us, we have people doing all these kind of epic challenges with a naked skydiver recently, that was interesting. So and now it's your round, we've got people doing things, you know, 365 days a year, really broadening out. Now it doesn't have to be 30 days where you grow moustache, like Men's Health is year round. So how people are kind of taking the movement. And we're encouraging them to really, you know, own it and think about how they, you know, want to fundraise for us,
y'all are so smart, because you didn't hang your laurels on the mustache thing, because that worked. And that was the key driver, maybe in the beginning. But I love that there's a thread of innovation in everything that you do. And so Who would have known that all of us are covering about half of our faces for a year, you know, but y'all had already stepped into this space. So would you talk a little bit about how innovation has really driven your connectivity with millennials, Gen Z kind of up and coming generations with your incredible mission?
To your point about the moustache? Yes. And we're, we're so brand focused that we still have one of our co founders, I was talking to him this week, about about the brand and and, you know, we're always kind of thinking about refreshing and revamping and never really sit resting on our laurels and thinking about, like, yes, we want to retain the fun and the cause and everything we're known for. But we have to keep pushing forward. And we have to keep innovating. And if we want to change the face of men's health, that goes all the way down to the programs we find and how we, you know, force global collaboration. And we're one of the only, you know, global Men's Health charities that we have researchers from all over the world. So we can put together these innovative groups of researchers and have them tackle really big problems, because we've got a global network, which, which is really different than a lot of other, you know, cancer research or mental health programs, any of that is traditionally done, it's usually a little bit more siloed. It's usually more country based. And so the fact that we can take a global lens is really special. And we've been able to, you know, impact more change, and test things and more markets and roll more things out globally. And to your question about yet innovation, I just think we're always thinking about what does the next phase look like and the next generation to so when I started at Movember, you know, the millennials were it right? We were We were really experts in reaching millennials, a lot of us were millennials, we were digital first charities. So it was kind of just like in the DNA of who we were, as an organization. So it didn't feel that it felt like second nature to us. And now I think we've used a lot of those learnings that we've continued to push and figure out, how do we want to keep reaching? You know, how do we want to grow with the millennials and the people who have known about Movember. But how do we also then want to spread men's health awareness and have these conversations with younger generations of men? So one way we do that is through a really big university program and a university ambassador, program, so kind of going right into, you know, fraternities, sports organizations, you know, groups where, where people, men are naturally congregating on campuses, and encouraging them to participate in the lumber. That's really smart.
I mean, what tell tell me about how you're going into those groups and how are you finding them and how are you leveraging marketing or digital to connect with them? is are these are you going in and having talks are they digital campaigns? I'm just really curious about it. Yeah, so
we have a very incredible header. University Relations. It's actually a role we've kind of always had at November someone has kind of been looking after that university community, it's actually usually someone that did November while they were university students, that's an emo member ends up being like one of their first jobs after graduation. We love an expert at Nov. Like we love someone, you know, for all the way from our men's health programs we want, you know, clinician experts, we want men with lived experience, we're going through prostate cancer, testicular cancer. And then we also in our, in our fundraising and marketing team, you know, we want people who are who are experts in that space. So the university, you know, head of universities is always fairly close to that audience. And they're always educating us on we need to be sliding into people's dams, like they're not going to read our emails, we need to be you know, developing a text campaign. So that our, you know, fundraising team can text you directly with with people, we used to have Facebook groups. Now we had kept WhatsApp groups. And so having enough flexibility within within the brand and the and the channels that we oversee, to then let our community be able to have those touch points so that they can, you know, connect and build their own Movember communities, because that's really the power of November. It's not, you know, the handful of us that that run things. It's this incredible network of men and women participating in November. So how can we have a strong enough brand that we can then turn the keys over to them come the fall every year and say like, cool, now you guys run with this? Like what is Movember to you? How do you bring it to life in your workplace or on your campus or, you know, with your family? Can we give you enough tools so that wherever you are, and wherever you want to do Movember that, that that can come to life for you.
Taking a quick pause to share some exciting news from our friends over at give butter, they just launched an even better way to give with an end to end fundraising solution. They've paired their beloved virtual events and online fundraising platform with an integrated CRM and built in tools to engage your supporters through custom emails, texts, and more. And the best part, it's completely free. It's easy to see why gift butter is loved by more than 35,000 nonprofits and other good causes just like yours NPS. They're also loved by the three of us who are super fans ready to get started with give better check them out at get better.com.
The ability to adapt to know your audience to segment to target to be in the places where they are. I mean, I just think we need like especially Gen Z and millennial like they're not really hanging out on Facebook very much anymore. That was super intuitive, that you understand that they're evolving out of that, and they're in WhatsApp, they're in tik tok, they're in Snapchat, it's like, I just think it's really, really smart. And the ability to allow them to drive it creates a really, I would think connected community, you know, that is pushing from the ground up, what's important to them, how they interpret this, how it's impacted their life, I just think the storytelling must be incredible. So Bravo to you.
I think too, it's like the founders and you as like an advisor to the founders, too. I think that you just see that their grip is on the right things is on protecting the community, not this tactic that everybody just is married to, I just think that's a really powerful and real applicable thing to every organization.
Yeah, I would say to to, like nonprofits listening to this to don't feel like you need to be on every platform to because we don't have that big of a tick tock presence. Like we're not we're, we're a nonprofit, just like everyone else listening to this, like, we don't have these huge, you know, marketing budgets, and we don't have huge teams where we, where we can then create, you know, strategies and have us have a presence on every platform. But it's really that I think that ownership of then letting our community have a presence and letting them talk about Movember. And, you know, the literal millions of like hashtags November, like hashtag November that exists on Instagram, like, that's our community, you know, doing that, and owning that conversation. And so just, you know, championing them and encouraging them to do that, versus us feeling like, we have to hold so tight to this and like, we're the ones that have to have the present on presence on all the channels. I think as, as a nonprofit team, it's too much when we'd be chasing shiny objects all day, every day, instead of you know, building and sticking to, you know, strategies that we can, you know, develop and scale.
That would have been a really great one good thing. I mean, really, that is Caitlin is giving you permission, you nonprofit professional, to release every single social platform. And think about your audience. We talk about this a lot. I mean, the we're for good has three core audiences, and we know who they are. And so we need to counter those messages to them if you're a nonprofit leader, or if you're a young professional Those are going to be totally different spaces that we need to be in, which is why multi channel is so smart and something that you should employ. So thank you, Caitlin, because I really don't want to create a Snapchat.
I do have to say if a nonprofit slid into my DMS on Instagram, I would respond that is so brilliant,
so true. Well, I would imagine y'all have just yet so much good advice about crowdfunding. I mean, y'all, y'all do this incredibly? Well. I think back in 2003, you had 30, mustaches to now millions every year, what are some advice? What are some lessons learned for how crowdfunding can really take fire and put it in the hands of the community, like you've kind of talked about?
Yes, we were one of the original, you know, charities who was looking at, at crowdfunding, and before Facebook had their, you know, platform for for fundraising, and before all these other emerging platforms, like we were doing it. And so it has been so exciting to kind of see the rise of, of crowdfunding and really that one to one fundraiser, and I think it kind of really opened up the charity landscape, you don't have to have $50,000 to give to an organization, you can, you know, be an individual person and one, you can fundraise, and you're not asking people for $50,000 donations, you know, you can ask your friends and family for $5 $10 it's that many hands make light work, you know, adage, that, that if we all come together, and you know, our average fundraiser raises a couple $100. But when you spread that over 1000s of fundraisers, then you have you know, a really big impact. You know, we do have corporate partnerships, we do have a few major gifts, but like our bread and butter of our fundraising is November every year, and getting you know, our mo community to come back and and use their story and their journey and their passion for Movember to then go out and ask their networks and grow mustaches. And then you're excited to give to each other or, you know, you're taking on this move challenge. And I'm excited now for how charity has changed in that I love to give to my friends who are who are doing different things throughout the year to not just Movember related, but it makes me feel like, Oh, I can be a charity donor to I can give back and make a difference. Because throughout the year, I can give you know, $20 to your run, I can give $30 to your Movember campaign, you know, I can I can help this cause it's important to you back to what we were talking about earlier, you know, giving the power of the brand to the community, and giving them enough tools to be an educated fundraiser. A lot of you know what we talked about with with younger generations, a lot of guys, this is their first charity activation, this is their first time asking for money. So we spent a long time thinking about it. This is your first November, what does that look like? You know, this is if you're a young guy who's never done a charity before? How do you ask for money? You know, a lot of that every year is what we come back to the table of like fundraising tips and the basics of charity and thanking your donors, and giving our community a lot of tools to be able to go out and run their own fundraising campaigns, you know, on behalf of November,
I'm curious about what that toolkit looks like. Because I think we've all been on social media at some point. And someone in our circle, you know, whether it's a Facebook friend, or whatever platform it is, like says, I'm doing x and raising money for x, because I love them for these reasons. And depending on who they are. I mean, I've read those stories. And there have been times I'm reading about admission, and I'm like, wow, I love this. Yeah, I'll throw 25 bucks or 50 bucks on top of the pile. And I wonder how are you getting people telling that story, because I think story is the way that we emotionally connect with each other. And I think it also creates a connection point for the person crowdfunding and their friend because they can follow up at the end and say, I didn't know you were passionate about this. That was a great story. So talk about the tool kit, that you're in the messages that you're arming, these crowdfunders with.
I'll talk about the toolkit and then I would love to talk more about storytelling too because that's why I'm really passionate about the toolkit is literally like a physical toolkit. It lives on our box comm account like it's not sexy, like if we were a bigger team would probably be built out in a beautiful web page on our website. But like every year, we have so many, you know, new assets we want to provide people or new video assets or like things our community has asked us for that we want to build for them. So we literally I'll send you guys the link after I'm happy happy to share it in the show. We've got like a branding 101 guide that I was passionate about creating. I was like I want people to have the messages because we even this is what I spend my days working on but we spell mustache with And oh, you like Queen's English, because we're, we're, that's how everyone else spells it around the world and you can't spell Nov and mo without the Oh, so you have to spell mustache that way. So it's like even things like that, how we can educate our community to like, be in line with with, you know, November's tone of voice and our writing guides and stuff. And that's uh, yeah, marketing in the in the weeds moment but but in this box toolkit, we also have like social ads ads last year, we created zoom backgrounds, of course, we have videos and photos and logos that our community can use. So they really can go out and like brand their events, or, you know, share the right things on social. And then from a storytelling perspective, we really do want our community to be telling their stories. So we have when you sign up on movember.com, one of the first things you're prompted to do is fill out your motivation, and share like why you're doing Movember and why you're participating in this. And then you know, we prompt you later in the process to share on, you know, share on social, tell people why you're doing Nov and use your motivation as a starting point. And then we have a stories section on movember.com, where we are constantly telling the stories of our community and shouting them out. You know, it's those stories that really, I love that like generational storytelling and how November's really, you know, impacting and changing people's lives.
I feel like a bobble head right now. Everything that you just said is so incredibly smart. I mean, we believe storytelling is the heartbeat of connection. And it just even as a marketer, I'm just geeking out at the fact that you are going to have an arsenal of people who have dropped their y into your digital inbox through this, which is so so smart. And I think having it be one of the first questions is very tone setting. It's not about what you're fundraising, it's about the movement that you're making and how you can bring people along and it's about personalizing it. And I love that you've given them some tools to personalize not only their page, but it's the words and the story that is going to draw their people in. And it's just a great way to build community Bravo.
Okay, so you get to be around so many inspiring stories and people and naked skydivers and all these things. We believe philanthropy changes people on both sides of the equation, the giver and the receiver. What is the story that's really stuck with you? In your journey? It could be November, it could be just be personal?
Oh, that's a great question. I mean, I've been in November for such a long time. There's so many amazing stories, we have a lot of fun at Movember. Like, that's one of our, our, our values as a company as a brand. As like how we do our work where we're one of our like taglines that we use is having fun and doing good. Like we really believe in that you can have a good time, doing good in the world. And that and that can really be like the essence of who you are. And so I think there's, you know, I've met so many amazing people, I've had so many fun times, dressing up in moustache costumes with the end of the month parties that you would wear a costume to match your mustache. And it was it was a blast. I think something that will always like that always stays with me. And the something that I've missed in these kind of, you know, COVID times I used to really love on our fundraising team got to do it more than I did sometimes, but but getting to have in person meetings with our community, or like agencies or corporate partners, or, you know, big corporations that we're supporting November going in. And people are kind of like, Oh, yeah, I think I know what November is. And then doing a little bit of of the pitch and giving them a little bit more information, you know that we're a global organization, we've raised almost a billion dollars for men's health, we fund 1000s of programs around the world, and just kind of telling them the scale and how many, you know, lives we've changed and how that everyone's individual actions are really, you know, contributing to this movement. And there's always a moment where you see like, the lights come on for people, their eyes get wide, they get a smile on their face. They're like, Oh, what you guys are doing is amazing. Like, oh, how cool is this? And there's always that moment of recognition and realization that like, Oh, this charity is more than this. Maybe I thought it was a gimmicky kind of moustache thing. And oh, you're really making tangible change in men's lives. That moment. I love that moment. And and yeah, I've missed I've missed being In person for for that moment, over the past year and a half, but I know we'll, we'll get back to in person stuff soon enough. But yeah, I love that that kind of Spark. You're great. I
just adore you. Okay, our final question that we asked all of our guest is, what is your one? Good thing? Caitlin, what's your one good thing
I have been pondering, but I think I'm going to relate it back to one of my other favorite Movember values, which is being an agent of remarkable experiences. So one of our values is just remarkable experiences. And, and, and having different functions of the business kind of bring that into their worlds. And so everyone that we have a touch point with, we always try and it's just this kind of ingrained, I don't like actively think about it anymore. But we're leaving people with this sense of, Oh, I had a remarkable experience engaging with Nov, and whatever way that I did that, and, and I really think about it in the rest of my life, too, you know, how do people, you know, how am I leaving my everyday interactions or providing remarkable experiences for friends or family or being someone that you know, people have a great interaction with? So I think it's, um, it's a simple thing, but it can really make a big difference.
Just clapping super loud over here. I mean, you're an evolved leader, such a brilliant marketer. And I think all of us should look at that, specifically, of how do we show up, we have this intangible we can offer people and just an amazing experience, you know, we can't always physically give somebody something as a nonprofit, we can give the warm feelings, the warm fuzzies and that, you know, the boost that you're doing something really meaningful. So
yeah, I love that. And I will just say that you're talking about customer service. I mean, though, the word for that. And nonprofit is donor relations. I mean, they're exactly the same thing. We are stewarding this experience because we want them to come back. And when you do all of these touch points, you show that you care, you show that you're invested. And I just I just think you're doing an amazing job be an agent of remarkable experiences. I'm adding that to my quote book.
I love it. Okay, Caitlin, for everybody that wants to reach out, you have got consulting that you do on the side, you clearly are leading a huge worldwide charge with the marketing at Movember. How can people connect with Movember? And you personally?
Perfect. So yeah, you can find us on movember.com. We're on social at November on Instagram and Twitter. And then I'm on LinkedIn, feel free to connect with me if anyone from the nonprofit world has any questions. I mean, November's an open book, we're always super happy to connect with fellow leaders in the nonprofit space. I feel really passionately that that there is there's not a scarcity complex in the nonprofit world and that we are learning and growing and sharing together so very happy to share any of my knowledge that I can. You guys
human. It's to this has been just such an invigorating conversation. I feel like I've learned so much. I wish you luck. I mean, we're two months away from November as we're having this conversation two and a half months and I just want to cheer you all on and just say you're doing amazing things. Thank you for joining us.
Thank you for what you guys are doing. Thank you. The enthusiasm is real.
Yeah, it is. Hey, friends, thanks so much for being here. Did you know we create a landing page for each podcast episode was helpful links, freebies, and even shareable graphics. Be sure to check it out at the link in this episode's description. You probably hear it in our voices but we love connecting you with the most innovative people to help you achieve more for your mission than ever before. We'd love for you to join our good community it's free and you can think of it as the after party to each podcast episode. You can sign up today at we are for good comm backslash Hello. One more thing if you loved what you heard today, would you mind leaving us a podcast rating and review? It means the world to us and Your support helps more people find our community. Thanks friends. I'm our producer Julie Confer and our theme song is sunray by Remy Boers boom
