Mustaches for Kids is all about exploiting the philanthropic space on your face. It’s simple: you get to grow a mustache (or whatever) and look devilishly handsome and your friends give you money because they’re jealous… and because it goes to a damn fine cause! Here’s a quick overview of the fundraising side of things and answers to some questions you’re likely to encounter when trying to gather donations.

Where Does the Money Go?

Every cent you raise goes straight to the Make-a-Wish Foundation (Eastern Ontario Chapter, based right here in Ottawa serving as far west as Kingston and everything in between). They grant wishes to children with terminal or life-threatening illnesses.

How Much Do I Need to Raise?

This isn’t like minor hockey where you have to move a quota of chocolate bars, but please take the fundraising aspect seriously. Some growers raise as little as $25 and some as much as $5000. Most of us fall somewhere in between. If you’re in this to just grow a mustache and have fun, then do it on your own time. If you’re growing with M4K, you do need to raise money. Trust us, it’s not hard! We’ve even attached a pledge sheet to make it super easy for you.

How Do I Find People to Donate Money?

It’s not as hard as you think. Along with a pledge sheet, we’ve included a poster that looks awesome. They make for a great combo. Try posting both sheets on the bulletin board at work. This accomplishes two things: helps you to raise money and informs your boss why you’re sporting that lip rug. You should also hit up all your friends and family – if you can get a few donations you’ll find that it adds up real quick… and you’ll get all the good karma for helping the kids.

How Much Should I Ask For?

Most people donate somewhere between $5 and $30. If you’re collecting one and two dollar donations you’ll have a real hard time raising more than $20.  Remember, only donations of $20 and more are eligible for a receipt.

What Do I Do With the Money I Raise?

We give all the money we raise to Make-a-Wish a week or so after the final ‘stache bash when all the last donations have trickled in. You have two options: hold onto it yourself and bring it at the end of the campaign in a burlap sack with a dollar sign painted on the side, or you can submit it on a weekly basis to your organizers along with your pledge sheet. We prefer the latter so that we can have some idea of how much money we’re raising during the campaign. But, it’s really up to you.

What If I Miss a Checkpoint?

It doesn’t really matter much – just keep fundraising and make sure you find a way to get us the money you’ve raised by the time the campaign is over.

Tax Receipts

Let’s face it. A lot of people will only donate if they can get a tax receipt. That’s fine – we’re raising money for a bona fide charitable organization and they’re entitled to one. Here’s how it works: anybody who donates $20 or more is entitled to a tax receipt. If they want one, get their name and address written on a pledge sheet and submit it with your donations. After the campaign is done and we give all the money to Make-a-Wish, they will issue tax receipts directly to your sponsors. Keep in mind that they’re a small organization so it does take them time to do all the required paperwork. You can tell your sponsors the receipts typically get mailed out in January or early February.

Is This Legit?

The idea of growing hair on your upper lip and receiving donations for doing it is kind of odd to some people… so much so that they might even have the nerve to question the legitimacy of M4K when you solicit a donation. This is a difficult and uncomfortable situation for the grower.  You can direct them to www.M4KOttawa.org and www.MustachesForKids.org to see that we are in fact a real organization that raises real money for a real cause. If that doesn’t cut it, please have the doubter contact Make-a-Wish directly to verify that we are in fact who we claim to be:

Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Eastern Ontario
Tel: (613) 234-3555
Fax: (613) 234-5417
Email: eontariochapter@makeawish.ca

The Make-a-Wish Eastern Ontario Team knows us well and would be more than happy to vouch for any grower participating in Mustaches for Kids.

If that doesn’t cut it you’re dealing with a real square… give them a hairy lip smile and wish them a good day