At M4K’s 2019 ’Stache Bash, the nonprofit raised $360,000 for Richmond-area children’s charities. Ben “Keefernandez” Keefer is pictured at center.
Sometimes, the best ideas for fundraising are right under your nose.
That’s the thinking behind Mustaches for Kids (M4K), a nonprofit that has raised more than $2.3 million since its inception in Richmond in 2003. Last year, after moving to an all-virtual effort, the group topped its own one-year total by bringing in more than $500,000. This year’s fundraising total will be revealed at the annual ’Stache Bache, set for Dec. 3 at Triple Crossing Beer’s Fulton location.
“We really didn’t know what to expect [in 2020],” says Mike Jackson, chair of the M4K board. “Maybe, in some ways, the pandemic helped us, because people wanted something to feel good about.”
The M4K fundraising model is similar to others in which participants undertake an activity and seek monetary pledges. In this case, growers — of both hair and donations — shave their faces fully at the start of November and pledge to continue shaving throughout the month, while leaving their fledgling mustaches intact. It’s expected that the gradual growing process will attract attention, conversation and, with luck, more donations.
“It’s meant to be everything it sounds like it would be: awkward,” says Ben Keefer, a repeat grower who in 2011 won the Sweetest 'Stache award, essentially the group’s MVP recognition for going all in with participation, recruitment and fundraising. “It’s really meant to be a conversation-starter.”
It’s also meant to be fun. Current chair Jackson decided to become involved nearly a decade ago after watching officemates, including Keefer, grow for a cause. “[M4K] was a pretty small group back then; they raised a decent amount of money, but nothing crazy,” he says. “Mostly, I saw those guys were having a lot of fun. I decided it was a way I could do something goofy and help.”
Jackson was also drawn to M4K because its mission is to support organizations that support children. His family had become involved with Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU after one of their sons was born with a rare genetic disorder, and the hospital is one of the core charities to which M4K gives money every year, along with Feed More, ASK Childhood Cancer Foundation and Greater Richmond SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now).
“We’ve been able to make significant contributions to our core charities, and the growth we’ve had [recently] has allowed us to go beyond those core charities,” Jackson says, noting that many of the charities themselves will form mustache growing teams and participate themselves.
“These are folks who go on the journey with us,” he adds. “We get to know [them], and we try to support them as much as we can, even in the offseason.”
In season, growers meet weekly for check-ins, both to monitor hair accumulation and to tally pledges. Meetings last year were online, but this year’s gatherings are blended. “We’re doing more in person now, but we’ve tried to keep some of the things we thought worked well in the virtual year,” Jackson says.
Guests at the 2019 ’Stache Bash
This year’s in-person ’Stache Bash will bring a return of the “mustache-enhancing costumes” that growers are known for. In the past, famous mustachioed folks such as Sam Elliott, Burt Reynolds, Larry Bird and Tom Selleck have been represented, as well as plenty of Super Mario Brothers’ Marios and Luigis, Western cowboys, the Tiger King and even Wooly Willy, the kids’ game where magnetized metal shavings simulate hair on a cartoon face. Within the group, Keefer is known as “Keefernandez,” a nod to his routine appearance as St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez, complete with a No. 17 Mets jersey.
Growers come from all over, but most are recruited through word of mouth. That’s how Scott Armstrong began growing, around 2013. “I bumped into Ben and a few other guys who were doing it, and it seemed like something that was a lot of fun that I wanted to be part of,” Armstrong says. “The fact they were raising money to help children is icing on the cake.”
Armstrong says he didn’t get any push-back from his wife — a common reason given to avoid growing — and says that now he’d feel guilty if he weren’t involved.
“I’ve raised at least $5,000 every year for the past five years, just through email and social media and, honestly beating up family and friends,” he says. “It’s a fairly easy sell. If you can raise substantial money just for looking silly for a month, why not?”
There’s also some creative growing going on. Last year, the 6-year-old grandson of a grower launched his own effort and managed to come in second on the list of top fundraisers. He’s back for a second year. The current season also includes Catherine Stepahin, M4K’s first woman grower, who is relying on her boyfriend to provide her with hair.
“I’ve joked in the past about joining up with the guys in my office,” Stepahin laughs. “This year, I made a joke with the CEO, who’s also a grower, and then he sent me language from the website that says all are welcome. It’s been so much fun.”
Stepahin says she and her boyfriend, who usually is clean-shaven, are both wearing the M4K buttons — used to explain the wisps on the upper lip — and talking about the campaign.
“It’s been helpful to have a surrogate, and he’s not just helping me, he’s also helping by wearing the mustache and fundraising,” she says, adding she hopes other women will find ways to join in.
“I don’t want to be the last unicorn,” she says. “I want this to be something that grows, literally, as well.”
Next year will bring the 20th growing season for the group, and they’re already seeing signs of longevity. Keefer encouraged both his father and his nephew to participate, making them the first three-generation group of growers. He says recruitment is all in the attitude. “It’s the sense of community we create with our participants,” he says. “We try to make it fun and cool. Given that we’re fundraising for children’s charities, we try to keep it PG-13, but it doesn’t stop the jokes from coming every year.”
Jackson adds, “It’s a charity, but at the end of the day, it’s a big group of friends trying to do some good.”
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