All Mo’s are created equal but one inspiring Mo Bro has gone above and beyond the call of Mo duty over the last few years raising over $100,000 for men’s health - $57,000 of which was raised last year alone.
You could be forgiven for thinking such a fundraising effort comes from one of the nation’s financial institutions or a millionaire playboy, however this is one down to earth individual who is Mo’ing it alone. Meet Nick Halkitis, a self-made man from Darwin who loves nothing more than going fishing and spending time with his family.
We had a chat to Nick to get some fundraising tips first hand.
Movember: Nick, tell us a bit about the man behind the Mo
Nick: I’m a born and bred Darwinite and work in the family business. My particular passion is speedway motorsport and I have a sprint car that I race in a local competition - when I can I travel interstate to race as well.
I’m one of five kids and run the family business with my brother, John. We have three sisters. My wife Helen and I have three kids - Michael, Anthony and Georgia. If you haven’t got family you’ve got nothing else. They’re the ones you always fall back on to.
Movember: How did you first get involved with Movember?
Nick: I thought I’d give it a go. Initially it was a bit of fun and it grew from there. By trying it the first time we got some reasonable results and thought it wasn’t too hard to carry on. This is my fifth year now.
As you get a bit older you realise that men’s health issues are a bit more important and that you’re not as bullet proof as you were when you were 18. Rolling into Movember and seeing the results, and the cause, I thought, why not use our business and contacts to help?
Someday I might need the services Movember supports so you’ve got to get involved and do your bit.
Movember: How do you get the Movember message out?
Nick: I use email. I have a general contacts list and a Movember contacts list. If they’ve got an email address they’re a candidate - I put them on the list and target them. My Movember contact list is at just under 800 people. Last year we had 130 – 140 donations. If everyone puts in a few bucks a lot can be achieved.
When you’re organised it’s not that hard.
Movember: How often do you communicate with your contacts about your Movember efforts?
Nick: I send a weekly email and try to include a photo in a different location to lighten things up. Last year we had a cyclone warning through the Darwin region so I went out for lunch and took a couple of photos with the caption: ‘here we are in full cyclone preparation’.
Day to day people recognise that you don’t normally rock a moustache. Straight away I spark up a conversation and promote getting a health check. I’m quite proud to say I readily switch into Movember mode and sing from the hymn book. I take info from the Movember website and quote statistics.
Towards the end of the campaign I email my contacts twice a week. I update the level of contributions and let them know where we’re standing on the leaderboard to motivate the Darwin community.
Movember: Last year you raised over $57,000, a whopping amount and the second highest for an individual in the country. What’s your secret?
Nick: Just persistence. Every Monday I’d send an email and the money would come in. You’ve just got to keep getting the message out there and keep talking to people. I’m in Movember mode talking about it all the time. The Darwin community is very giving.
Movember: Do you have any big plans for the remainder of 2014?
Nick: I’ve grown a different moustache each year for the last four years. My biggest concern every year is deciding which style of Mo I’m going to grow! I’m also committed to sending a thank you email to every donor as the donations come in - I think that’s really important.
Not a bad effort for a humble Mo Bro from Darwin. Head over to Nick’s Mo Space page to give the great man some Mo love.
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