Movember – an annual month long event that lets grown men around the world shave their moustaches in obscure designs while raising money for charity.

The Movember initiative is a great example of an online community. The company website ‘Movember and Sons’ offers several pages relating to its community such as:

1) Global Leaderboard – shows the number of participants registered from each country and the total amount of money they have raised for the Movember Foundation. This generates friendly global competition as well as giving Canada a pedestal to stand on for raising $14 million to date – more than any other nation.

2) Mo Stories – offers participants an opportunity to share their story whether it relates to Cancer and mental health issues, love stories stemming from Movember creations or just general observations relating to the movement as a whole.

3) Mo Photos – allows participants to post photos of their moustaches progress from their clean shaven state on November 1st to its fully blossomed state on November 30th. This platform encourages participants to get creative with their shaving and inspire others to do the same.

4) Hall of Fame – each year since Movember began in 2007, one man has been entered into the Hall of Fame for his beautifully terrible moustache creation. This serves as a goal for men worldwide to strive for.

As of 2011, $300 million dollars have been raised for the Movember Foundation supporting Prostate Cancer and mens mental health initiatives.

Since its creation, many companies have capitalized on the excitement and buzz generated by Movember. An example close to home is Granville Island Brewery. For the month of November, Granville Island drink coasters get into the Movember spirit by offering different cardboard moustaches attached to each coaster. This encourages all bar goers to participate in the event regardless of their moustache growing abilities. In return, Granville Island Brewery donates 10 cents from every Granville Island beer they sell.

The Movember initiative is such a simple concept yet it has the ability to join together men from opposites sides of the globe through a moustache growing competition. Not only that, but it has generated millions of dollars for charity and continues to grow exponentially as a movement each year.