Movember began in 2003 to raise awareness and funds for three areas of men’s health: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health. Many workplaces take this as a chance to build creativity, camaraderie, and encourage meaningful actions.
If you’re looking to organize something special for your teams this November, you’re in the right place. There’s something for every workplace and budget, from team-building day activities to fundraising campaigns.
The ideas for Movember we’ll share will engage your employees while they support an important cause.
Why support movember in your workplace?
Benefits for your employees
Supporting Movember creates an environment where your teams feel comfortable discussing health topics that are often ignored. By actively supporting men’s health awareness, you’re showing your employees that their well-being matters. It can be used in addition to occasions like an Employee Appreciation Day to truly show your team you care about them.
When you hold Movember seminars or make resources available, your employees can access valuable health information. They can learn early detection methods for testicular and prostate cancer, learn about mental health support options, and develop healthier conversations with friends and family members.
There is also the social aspect. Your teams coming together around common goals fosters team spirit and break down any departmental silos that already exist. If there are new team members, Movember activities can make it easier for them to integrate into the workplace culture and make friends.
- Encourages open conversations about men’s health
- Shows employees their well-being matters
- Provides access to useful health resources (mental health, cancer prevention, early detection)
- Strengthens team spirit and cross-team bonding
- Helps new employees integrate into company culture
Benefits for your organization
From an employer’s perspective, Movember initiatives show that your company values real issues, not just making profits. This commitment to social causes strengthens your employer brand and makes your organization more attractive to top talent who want to work for companies that care.
Movember campaigns are cost-effective compared to other team-building initiatives. Most activities are free or low-cost, despite keeping your employees engaged and giving positive publicity.
Similar to how International Women’s Day at work encourages teams to speak more openly about equality, Movember can do the same for men’s mental and physical health. Not to mention, health awareness can lead to long-term healthcare cost savings as employees become more proactive about preventive care.
When your staff understands the importance of regular health screenings and mental health support, everyone benefits.
- Demonstrates your company’s commitment to real social issues
- Boosts employer brand and helps attract purpose-driven talent
- Offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional team-building activities
- Encourages open dialogue on men’s health, like IWD does for gender equality
- Promotes preventive care, reducing long-term healthcare costs
15 Movember fundraising ideas to inspire your team
1. Movember challenge
Create a month-long Movember Challenge using the Teamupp wellness app, where employees can choose to grow a mustache, move more than 60 km, or fundraise for men’s health. Our app makes organizing and tracking the challenge seamless — especially across hybrid or multi-site teams.
With built-in leaderboards, team-based tracking, and automated progress updates, Teamupp fosters healthy competition and makes it easy for employees to stay engaged. Whether they’re remote or in-office, everyone can contribute and follow the team’s collective progress in real-time.
Why it works:
- Unites employees across departments around a meaningful cause
- Encourages regular physical activity and friendly interaction
- Supports inclusivity by offering multiple challenge types (move, grow, donate)
Drives engagement with gamified elements like badges, shoutouts, and rankings - Keeps the challenge organized, visible, and fun — with minimal admin
Budget: Depending on your Teamupp plan
Organization tips: Create interdepartmental teams and encourage them to compete using the Teamupp leaderboard. Highlight milestones in internal comms to maintain motivation throughout the month.
2. Moustache style auction
Create an auction where colleagues bid to choose mustache styles for participants. Whoever wins the bid for each Mo-grower gets to decide how adventurous their mustache will be, and participants commit to maintaining their assigned style for the entire month.
Budget: Free to organize, and potential for high fundraising returns
Organization tips: Create style cards with photos. Set minimum bid amounts. Consider offering prizes for the most creative or well-maintained mustaches.
3. Office mo-lympics
This is one of those corporate event ideas that’s low-cost and gets everyone involved. Let your teams engage in a series of fun, office-friendly competitions that anyone can join, regardless of whether they’re growing facial hair. It could be paper airplane contests, desk chair races, or coffee cup stacking challenges. You can raise funds by charging entry fees for each event. Competition can happen during lunch breaks or after work hours without disrupting productivity.
Budget: $50-200 for prizes and supplies
Organization tips: Rotate different events throughout the month. Ensure activities are inclusive for all fitness levels and abilities.
4. Themed dress-up days
Encourage your teams to embrace different themes throughout November while raising funds through participation fees. You can do themes like “Retro Monday,” “Western Wednesday,” or “Superhero Friday.” Each themed day can tie back to men’s health awareness with educational materials or fun facts shared via email or notice boards.
Budget: Free to $100 for decorations
Organization tips: Give advance notice so people can plan costumes. Provide simple accessories for those who forget. Take group photos to share on social media.
5. Movember Trivia championship
Host weekly trivia sessions focusing on men’s health facts, general knowledge, and fun topics. Teams pay entry fees, and winners receive prizes or recognition. This activity works particularly well for remote teams using video conferencing platforms.
Budget: $30-100 for prizes
Organization tips: Prepare questions in advance. Mix serious health topics with lighter subjects. Consider having different difficulty levels for various departments.
6. Cook-off competition
Organize cooking competitions with themes like “Healthy Meals for Men.” Participants pay entry fees, and colleagues vote for winners. This connects perfectly with men’s health awareness by highlighting the importance of good nutrition for preventing health issues.
Budget: $100-300 for ingredients and prizes
Organization tips: Provide basic ingredients. Set clear judging criteria. Share winning recipes with the entire team afterward.
7. Step challenge tournament
Let different departments engage in month-long walking competitions. This directly supports men’s health by encouraging regular exercise, which reduces risk factors for many health conditions.
By the way, you can easily organize and track your step challenge with Teamupp, making it simple to engage both in-office and remote employees.
Budget: Free using smartphone apps, or $2-5 per person for fitness trackers
Organization tips: Set realistic daily targets. Create team leaderboards.
Want to join a challenge for Movember?
8. Mo-mentor program
Pair experienced Mo-growers with newcomers for mentoring and guidance. Mentors and mentees can have a competition at the end and raise funds together.
Budget: Free
Organization tips: Match pairs thoughtfully. Provide conversation starters about men’s health topics.
9. Silent auction extravaganza
Collect donated items from local businesses, employees, and company partners for a workplace auction. Silent auctions work well because they accommodate different budget levels and can run throughout the month without requiring dedicated event time.
Budget: Minimal—mainly printing and display costs
Organization tips: Start collecting donations early. Clearly display all items with descriptions. Extend bidding over several days to maximize participation.
10. Movie night fundraiser
Host evening movie screenings featuring films that resonate with men’s health themes or simply popular choices that will draw crowds. Charge admission and sell snacks with proceeds supporting Movember.
Budget: $100-500, depending on venue and refreshments
Organization tips: Choose crowd-pleasing films. Provide comfortable seating. Include brief intermissions with men’s health information.
11. Bake sale with a twist
Organize weekly bake sales featuring “manly” treats or healthy alternatives. Think protein bars, whole grain muffins, or other sweet treats that are traditionally marketed to men.
Budget: $50-150 for initial supplies
Organization tips: Rotate baking responsibilities among volunteers. Clearly label allergen information. Price items competitively with external options.
12. Charity car wash
Set up weekend car washing services in your company parking lot. This will attract attention from neighboring businesses and passersby, and also provide value to participants. Car washes work particularly well for companies with large parking areas and good weather conditions during November.
Budget: $100-200 for supplies and equipment
Organization tips: Check local regulations. Provide adequate water access. Consider partnering with local car wash businesses for equipment loans.
13. Gaming tournament
Organize video game competitions during lunch hours or after work. Popular options include soccer games, racing simulators, or classic arcade-style competitions.
Budget: $50-300, depending on equipment needs
Organization tips: Choose games that are easy to learn. Set up tournament brackets in advance.
14. Workplace talent show
Encourage your employees to showcase hidden talents through performances and presentations. There can be individual and group performances, and you can make it more interesting by making it a competition.
Budget: $100-400 for venue setup and prizes
Organization tips: Allow various talent types. Set time limits for acts. Create audience guidelines to ensure everyone feels comfortable participating.
15. Sponsored challenges
Create personalized challenges where colleagues sponsor specific achievements. For example, they can “sponsor John to walk 10,000 steps daily” or “sponsor the marketing team to give up coffee for a week.”
Budget: Free to organize
Organization tips: Help participants set realistic goals. Celebrate completions with team recognition.
Key steps to organize Movember in your workplace
1. Planning phase
Start your Movember planning in early October to ensure that you have everything under control. Form a small organizing committee with representatives from different departments who can help spread enthusiasm and gather ideas from their team members.
Many countries have regulations and guidelines for fundraising in the workplace. Ensure that you understand your local fundraising requirements and regulations regarding Movember. Set clear goals that your teams can easily achieve based on your team size and previous charity activities.
2. Engagement strategies
You need to ensure your teams are eager to participate in your Movember events. You can build early excitement with teaser campaigns in late October. Use multiple communication channels, including email, notice boards, and team meetings.
When you share photos from previous years or highlight the impact of Movember funding, you create anticipation and get people talking about the event. You should also make participation as straightforward as possible for your employees. Provide clear instructions, simple registration processes, and different ways for people to contribute. When participation is easy, more of your staff will feel comfortable supporting the cause.
3. Motivation techniques
You’ll find that recognition motivates your employees more effectively than competition alone. Celebrate all contributions so everyone feels valued for their involvement in the campaign.
You need to share regular updates on progress. Your teams stay engaged when they can see their collective efforts making a real difference in men’s health outcomes.
You can connect your Movember activities to larger purposes by sharing men’s health research information, survivor stories, and examples of how Movember funds create positive community change.
Extra tips for nailing your Mo-ment
1. Level up your personal stories
Encourage participants to share why Movember matters to them personally. When your employees share their connections to men’s health, whether through family experiences, personal health journeys, or close friendships, they can inspire others to get involved and donate more generously.
You should feature different employee stories throughout November to help colleagues understand the real-world impact of their fundraising efforts. When your teams see familiar faces and hear specific examples of how men’s health issues affect your workplace community, they are more motivated to take action.
2. Document the journey
You need to assign someone to capture photos and videos throughout your Movember activities. This content serves many important purposes. It boosts current engagement by celebrating participants and gives you enough material for planning next year’s campaign.
You can create time-lapse videos of moustache growth, behind-the-scenes footage of events, and brief testimonials from participants. When you share appropriate content on company social media channels, you show your company’s commitment to social causes while potentially inspiring other businesses to start their campaigns.
3. Coordinate team themes
You should encourage your departments to adopt Movember themes or styles. For instance, your accounting department might choose vintage banker aesthetics for the month.
Team themes make individual participation feel less intimidating. You can create team uniforms, accessories, or props that complement chosen themes. This makes your workplace’s commitment to Movember visible to clients, visitors, and the broader community.
4. Host a grand finale
You should plan a celebration for the end of November that brings everyone together to celebrate the impact they’ve had throughout the program. Whether you choose a simple lunch gathering or an after-work party, your goal is to create a moment where people can see what they accomplished as a community. You could couple this with one of your team away day ideas with a place that’s relaxing, and let everyone reflect and connect about the shared Movember experience.
Your finale events provide the perfect opportunity to announce fundraising totals, recognize outstanding participants, and share information about how the money raised will be used by Movember organizations.
Where to send your funds? 5 organizations to support
1. Movember Foundation
The original and largest men’s health charity focuses on prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health. Your donations fund research, education programs, and support services worldwide.
2. Prostate Cancer Foundation
Dedicated specifically to prostate cancer research and patient support, this organization funds cutting-edge research and provides resources for patients and families affected by prostate cancer.
3. ZERO Cancer
This organization works to end prostate and testicular cancers through research funding, education, and patient support programs. They focus particularly on reaching underserved communities.
4. Testicular Cancer Society
Specializing in testicular cancer awareness and support, this organization provides educational resources, support networks, and advocacy for improved treatment options.
5. Mental Health America
Addressing the mental health component of men’s wellness, this organization provides resources, advocacy, and support programs specifically designed to address men’s mental health challenges.
Want to join a challenge for Movember?
