Where is your Movember money going?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Look here http://www.rayrodrick.com/movember.htm to see what the founders planned
to do with your donated money!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Movember Foundation (the charity)
In Australia, TV Channel 7’s Today Tonight aired a show on Friday 26th October 2007 about the charity Movember Foundation (Youtube video clip (removed by Movember Foundation)) - (View the video clip). After investigation by Today Tonight, the Movember Foundation website www.movember.com disclosed increased revenue for 2006 from about $6.6 million to about $7.5 million. Givewell (Australia) now (November 2008) discloses revenue of over $8.0 million. Only about $5.0 million was distributed to the recipient charities, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and Beyond Blue. (Documents reproduced below)
In 2007, the four board members of Movember Foundation were also directors of other companies including The Movember Group Pty Ltd, The Movember Group International Pty Ltd, Forideas Pty Ltd and Sideways Productions Pty Ltd. Today Tonight disclosed that the directors intended to take about $1million in licence fees from Movember in 2006. The two directors interviewed refused to disclose how much they had been paid in 2006. According to Brian Seymour, they were retaining about $1 million for the 2007 campaign. This does not appear to be disclosed in the 2007 campaign reports.
According to the Movember Foundation website, the 2007 campaign raised about $16.2 million in Australia. Only 78% of this (about $12.7 million) was donated to the charities Prostate Cancer Foundation and Beyond Blue (confirmed by the Beyond Blue website). Of the remainder, 10% (or about $1.6 million) was used for wages and running costs. A further 11% (about $1.8 million) was used for an Awareness campaign. Was this paid to the directors' own media companies and was it legitimately spent? Were the Mo Bros who raised the money aware this amount was not going to the charities?
What happened to the 16% being remitted by the Movember charities around the world to the Movember Foundation in Australia? (see the Cancer Society New Zealand media release 16 October 2008
Movember’s auditors are PricewaterhouseCoopers and their staff took out the top fundraising team award for 2007 raising $285,000 for beyondblue through Movember. Do you really think auditors would participate in Movember if it wasn’t operating in an exemplary manner? PwC gives cheque to beyondblue: (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Movember ) Why did PricewaterhouseCoopers bypass the Movember Foundation and donate directly to Beyond Blue? Maybe they know something you don't?
The concept of Movember is claimed to have originated in South Australia in 1999 by a group called the Movember Committee – see their website www.movember.org under the section MO-WARS (with Youtube video clip) for a TV interview on Channel 7 in 1999.The Movember Committee says on their website "By all means, grow your mo (according to our rules, ie. no tickler) and donate your MOney directly to the charity of your choice. Simple!".
ForIdeas Pty Ltd holds Trademarks on the logo, not the concept of "Movember". Why would Movember license the logos rather than making it's own? Could it be because the same people own ForIdeas?
Here are the documents referred to on the Channel 7 Today Tonight TV show in October 2007.
These were acknowledged by the Movember Foundation director(s) :
Letter from Luke Slattery to Adam Garone, Justin Coghlan and Travis Garone 17th April 2007:
The View of Movember from Afar.
Fellow Directors,
I just want to point out from the outset that I am not a moral crusader. I am not friends with my ex girlfriends and I do not pay parking fines. I am just a guy who happens to be part of this great, world changing experience called Movember. This is me purely as a director of the Movember Foundation with no other International or Forideas hats on.
We are, at this moment at what I see our most important cross roads yet. We have as directors and as part of the greater Movember community raised more money from everyday people than men’s health has I believe, ever seen before. This is an amazing achievement. Now our biggest challenge is to decide what to do with this money.
A couple of facts are simple.
We need to retain running costs for the Movember Foundation to reach the point where new funds will be able to be used to run the Foundation. This is $700,000 and will get us to October 2007. It is worth pointing out that the total cost of running the Foundation for the whole year 2007/08 is estimated at $1,783,000.
We have told the general public and the beneficiaries that the PCFA and Beyondblue will receive 50% of each of the net proceeds.
We have a legal agreement in place between Forideas and The Movember Foundation stating that Forideas will receive 15% of raised funds as a royalty for the licence. This is estimated around the $1,000,000 mark, depending on when the end of campaign date is decided.
There is currently approximately $6,100,000 in the bank. It is worth noting that the campaign has actually raised close (if not over) $7,000,000.
The general public believe that we have raised between $6,300,000 and $6,800,000 depending on when and where you looked at our post campaign information. (Website says $6.8 million, report says $6.3 million)
Here is where it gets tricky.
We need to decide when the end of the campaign was. Was it when we produced our post event report? Is it when we hand over the cheques? Is it a mystical date (say 28th Feb or 31st March) to give us time to get everything planned and in order to hand over cheques and budget for the coming year?
The reason this date is so important is because that is when all figures will be drawn from including budget for the next year, IP licence and beneficiary cheques.
The end of campaign would mean that any money received after that date will be applied to the next year’s campaign and not form any part of this reporting.
Integrity of the charity.
Many months ago we talked about being one of the highest performing charities. I believe, and I may be wrong, that we as well as many of the participants of Movember were disillusioned with so many charities around the country and the globe.
Where were our donations truly going? Why does World Vision have such large beautiful offices? What is happening with Rose Hancock and her charity event being exposed on a current affair? How come we keep hearing that funds haven’t been spent/ allocated or used effectively from the large number of Tsunami appeals?
We talked of how the PCFA’s 60/40 rule was extremely high and how we would show these charities how it is done. During the campaign emails were replied to from Mo HQ stating that 90% of funds raised would be going to the charities.
This address is not to bind us to discussions, decisions and words of the past but to remember what we and the Movember participants were feeling. Around 45,000 Australian men grew mos and 145,000 people donated to Movember. They did this because they felt that Movember was a charity by the people and for the people. It was run by normal people. It had low overheads. It was going to make a difference.
Remember importantly about the Mo Bros. Non traditional donators. People who hadn’t been involved in charity before. Why? Because it was inaccessible, It was filled full of questions and you never truly knew what was happening with your money. People who were so proud to say that, “I’m doing Movember” “I’m a Mo Bro” and who begged and coerced others to donate.
Think also about the large number of organisations and corporate sponsors who gave us money, gift matched employees funds raised and made us charity of the month.
Think of the close friends and family who proudly supported Movember and were even prouder to tell their friends and work colleagues that they knew the guys who started and run it.
Think of the people who have made bequests. The Mo Bro who took his own life late November and his mother called to organise donations be made to Movember rather that flowers for his funeral. He was suffering from depression and Movember meant a lot to him.
All these people TRUST Movember and in turn TRUST the four of us to do what is right.
If we work back from $7 million raised $7,000,000 - $900,000 running costs 2006 campaign - $700,000 running costs for 2007 campaign up to October - $1,000,000 licence fee to Forideas =$4.4 million left in total = $2.2 million for each beneficiary
If I was a Mo Bro who had donated my face for a month and raised $100 or even only $20 and I found out that the beneficiaries only received $2.2 million each I would think that something doesn’t stack up. And it doesn’t. The running costs which include the licence fee are more than what the beneficiaries get each. It can’t be this way.
To Me as a director of The Movember Foundation with all my other hats off it doesn’t stack up. We are not meeting our objectives and responsibilities as directors. As we state on the website below –
Movember's Objectives:
1. Run the Movember event annually, enabling Mo Bros and Sistas to get involved to make a tangible difference to the state of men's health.
2. Partner with the preeminent men's health charaties as beneficiary partners. Raise funds through the Movember event for the beneficiary partners and work with them to ensure the funds donated are put to the best possible use with tangible outcomes.
3. Reduce the number of preventable male deaths by: ? Raising the awareness level of men's health issues. In general terms make the community aware of the very real health issues faced by men, specifically Prostate Cancer and depression in men. ? Encourage men to access health services for an annual check-up and when they are initially faced with a health concern thereby increasing the chance of early detection, diagnosis and effective treatment.
4. Secure corporate sponsors for Movember which compliment the event and assist in covering the annual running costs.
Corporate Governance Our promise is to act on behalf of all Mo Bros, Mo Sistas and those that sponsor them to maximise the impact of their support and the funds they raise.
As is sits at the moment running costs including licence fee are 38%. The beneficiaries only receive 31% of raised funds each.
Imagine if you knew that the Good Friday Appeal had raised $10,000,000 but only $6,000,000 was going where you thought it was all going?
Or if the $1 dollar a day to buy the starving kid a bowl of rice a day ended up being 60% of a bowl of rice because someone owned the concept of ‘feed the kids’.
The money we raised will in particular change the face of prostate cancer in Australia forever. That is such an enormous achievement and something we should be so proud of for the rest of our lives. Prostate cancer will never again be the hidden illness. We know more and more people are getting checked. We know that in the next few years we will see the statistics change. We know we have saved peoples lives.
Every year we donate to the PCFA more money than they could imagine. However the downside is that there is no possible way for the amount to be kept private. $2.2 million or $2.8 million or whatever the figure is, will be the single biggest donation they have ever received and there is no doubt in my mind that they will use this money to its best effective outcome. It will become public knowledge, no two ways about it.
How do we explain to the public that we have become everything we aimed not to be?
That we’re just another 60/40 charity?
How do we explain that our biggest single cost was the licence fee to Forideas, which it just so happens we own?
If these figures become public knowledge Movember is finished as we know it. Another 200,000 + people will be disillusioned with charity giving and participation. Our personal reputations will be marred for good. Our staff will be disillusioned with their employers whom they currently respect highly.
I can also hear the commentary against many of the points raised as I hear the same voices in my head. It can be justified. It is for a greater outcome. It is all legal and all stacks up. The IP must be paid to have a value. We can spin it anyway we want.
Now I can spin my own clothes dry and I have watched spin classes at the gym. However if we think we can spin the fact that as directors of a public charity we signed a cheque for $1,000,000 to our own commercial company because it was for the greater good of Prostate Cancer worldwide we are only kidding ourselves.
I, as much as any of you, want to explode Movember onto the world stage. I want one moustache to cover the world. I want there to be 50p Mo Rides and 50€ Mo Rides and I want to see little Prince Harry with a Mo. I want to meet Burt Reynolds and I want to be a real cowboy or a mountie or meet a real eskiMO.
However I am scared of the risk we are taking. This is our most important step to date. One wrong move and I believe it has a fairly high chance of coming crashing down.
We need to put all legal agreements, accountant advice and ambition to conquer the world to one side and ask ourselves as directors of the Movember Foundation – Are we maximising the impact of the support and the funds raised by the Mo Bros and Mo Sistas of Australia?
If you were all Mo Bros would you be happy?
Have a think about all this with only your Foundation hat on if you can. My voice is but only one of four. I am more than happy to be told I am wrong.
But I want to be a proud Mo Bro and I want there to be 71,000 proud Mo Bros this year attending the best gala parte’s and celebrating because together we raised $10 million dollars. Will our actions ruin the dream?
Let me/ everyone know over the next few days what you think. No need to rush a response. Sleep on it or let it keep you up at night.
Hopefully someone can see an answer that I can’t.
Lucky Just a Mo
Reply letter from Adam Garone to Justin Coghlan, Luke Slattery and Travis Garone on 17th April 2007:
My two bobs worth……we find ourselves in a privileged and enormously responsible position – I can’t overstate the responsibility enough, every day there is at least one phone call or e-mail that emphasizes the responsibility we now have. I believe the decision we make regarding the IP Fee and how we fund O/S is singularly the biggest issue we face.
Here are my thoughts:
Paxo has confirmed it legally stacks, Darren from Deloitte has confirmed it stacks from an accounting perspective but neither will ever be held accountable for the decision, they will never have to explain it to the media or to their peers.
The four of us are paid well for our respective roles, we have created a work environment that is second to none, all my mates envy what we do and are totally cool that we are paid for it through our sponsors.
But……none of them know about the licence fee and the commercial benefit to us.
Are we double dipping by charging an IP licence fee??
To answer that I think about our stakeholders and what would they would think about the IP fee.
The stakeholders in my mind are: ? 30 original Mo Bros – we are shit scared of telling them or one of them finding out about the licence fee – WHY? Cause we know they would tell us to **** off…. ? Our staff – who could be working elsewhere making more money – I’m terrified of any of them finding out ? Our 45,000 Mo Bros / Sistas would are our fundraisers – would they be ok with it? ? The 146,000 sponsors of the Mo Bros – would they be ok with it? ? Sponsors – would Scott Delzoppo from Foster’s be ok with it? ? Beneficiaries – would Andrew Giles, Graham Johnson, Jeff Kennett, Leonie Young be ok with it? ? What would the media that has supported us think? ? Our partners – what would Shane and Mark from Urchin, Martyn from Frank Media think?
Assume for a moment we had 4 independent board members with the Movember Foundation. Would they approve it?
To benchmark ourselves against other charities is irrelevant – it’s all about our stakeholders. Our stakeholders don’t give a **** what the Breast Cancer Foundation or World Vision does because they are not part of it.
For me the answer is obvious – the Movember Foundation is not a commercial venture and we should only take a fair salary from it which is funded by our sponsors. My firm opinion is that we should not charge the IP licence fee.
What is the downside of this?
1. Personal gain – I don’t care about that
2. Funding overseas ventures – I care about that and think we need to do it. But how do fund the $1mill price tag?
Three options as I see it – possibly they can be combined:
1. The Movember Foundation makes a one off investment / loan to the Movember Group International (MGI) to set-up the international ventures. Why would the foundation do that? a. The loan would be totally commercial with interest due at commercial rates and total payable within 12 months. That money would then be dispersed to the Australian beneficiary partners. b. In return MGI could also offer a royalty free licence for the Movember IP forever to the Movember Foundation (I know it’s owned by Forideas but that arrangement could change so that MGI sub-licences to the Foundation). The IP is valued at 15% of funds raised, we know that because other countries are paying that so there is significant benefit to the foundation and it retains the value in the IP. c. MGI would use some of the investment to expand the expat program which raised $117,000 for the Movember Foundation in 2006 with no effort. The expat program is forecast to raise $1 million this year. d. MGI will use the remaining funds to launch Movember in new countries which will potentially raise $10 million in year one and $100 million over the next five years. The benefactor of those funds are prostate cancer research institutes that will use those funds to find better screening methods, treatment options and ultimately a cure for prostate cancer. Those research outcomes will benefit every man in every part of the world. Potentially Movember could be a major player in finding a cure for prostate cancer which benefits Australian men.
2. Raise funds through personal investors in MGI – would need to give away equity in MGI to do that. Personally I would invest in MGI beyond my current shareholding and know others that would.
3. Raise funds through global sponsors – I think this will be very tough given timeframes and because Movember is new outside Aust and NZ.
So in summary – no IP licence fee. Fund MGI through a combination of a loan from the Movember Foundation and personal investors.
More information can be found on the Wiki Movember Wiki Movember Wiki (Discussion) Follow the wiki history links to see how the Wiki is being manipulated to censor the truth. Movember Wiki (History)
For information about one of the Movember Foundation founders and (ex?) Director, Justin Lee Coghlan see www.rayrodrick.com
Company Information (from ASIC in 2007)
THE MOVEMBER GROUP PTY LIMITED ACN 119012243 ---Registered: (28/03/2006) --- Director: JUSTIN LEE COGHLAN (28/03/2006 - ...........) --- Director: ADAM JOHN GARONE (28/03/2006 - ...........) --- Director: TRAVIS PETER GARONE (28/03/2006 - ...........) --- Director: LUKE MICHAEL SLATTERY (28/03/2006 - ...........)
THE MOVEMBER GROUP INTERNATIONAL PTY LIMITED ACN 123991953 ---Registered: (16/02/2007) --- Director: JUSTIN LEE COGHLAN (16/02/2007 - ...........) --- Director: ADAM JOHN GARONE (16/02/2007 - ...........) --- Director: TRAVIS PETER GARONE (16/02/2007 - ...........) --- Director: LUKE MICHAEL SLATTERY (16/02/2007 - ...........)
FORIDEAS PTY LIMITED ACN 119738144 ---Registered: (17/05/2006) --- Director: JUSTIN LEE COGHLAN (17/05/2006 - ...........) --- Director: ADAM JOHN GARONE (17/05/2006 - ...........) --- Director: TRAVIS PETER GARONE (17/05/2006 - ...........) --- Director: LUKE MICHAEL SLATTERY (17/05/2006 - ...........)
SIDEWAYS PRODUCTIONS PTY LIMITED ACN 119012261 ---Registered: (28/03/2006) --- Director: JUSTIN LEE COGHLAN (28/03/2006 - ...........) --- Director: ADAM JOHN GARONE (28/03/2006 - ...........) --- Director: TRAVIS PETER GARONE (28/03/2006 - ...........) --- Director: LUKE MICHAEL SLATTERY (28/03/2006 - ...........)
Some information on these companies can be obtained free from the ASIC website www.asic.gov.au and more detailed information can be obtained for a small fee from an ASIC Information Broker http://www.search.asic.gov.au/gns001.html (search page)
