Movember shows “signs of diminishing returns” in Ireland
Howard Lake | 25 November 2015 | News
The ‘Movember’ fundraising phenomenon in Ireland has declined significantly in the last year, according to a report in the Irish Independent.
In 2014 Movember Ireland generated €1.4 million – a dip of €800,000 compared to 12 months previously. In How Movember lost its mojo Ed Power says that the decline in Movember has amounted to almost €5 million in the UK. The current Movember campaign, which encourages men to grow moustaches and raise sponsorship, is still underway this month so can not be assessed.
The largest recipient of Movember in Ireland is the Irish Cancer Society. This year Movember has broadened its appeal to include physical activity events as well growing a moustache.
Movember reached its peak in 2012 when it raised over €100 million worldwide, according to the newspaper. It is speculated that part of the decline in Movember is due to the trend of growing beards.
One charity expert speaking to the Irish Independent said that it can be hard to recreate the success of the likes of the Movember and the Ice Bucket challenge which depend so much on going viral.
“The risk that these viral campaigns bring is that some charities focus on trying to recreate the magic,” says Jean O’Brien, founder of the Irish Charity Lab, a non-profit that helps build digital skills with the charity sector.
“Virals can’t be forced. There was a brief flurry after those campaigns of charities trying to start similar things, but fatigue is a big issue and people online are more inspired by new ideas rather than rehashes,”
Ms O’Brien said.
Image: moustaches and shamrocks by Iveta Angelova on Shutterstock.com
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.