By Thomas Kohnstamm

What do Tom Selleck, truckers and scores of Microsoft employees around the world have in common?  At least for the month of November, it happens to be mustaches.

And when I say that these Microsoft employees have mustaches, I don’t mean simple hairs sprouting out from under their noses. I mean money-raising, cancer-fighting magic mustaches.

OK, so what the heck am I talking about?

It’s called Movember. And Microsoft’s Movember “Captains” Darshan Bavaria, a software engineer in Office, and Matt Bielich, a software engineer in Xbox, explain that this month-long mustache-growing fundraiser “is the biggest global grassroots campaign for men’s health in recent memory.”

Movember was founded by a handful of Australian “Mo Bros” in the early 2000s (the name is a mashup of “mo,” Aussie slang for mustache, and the month of November). It started in response to the fact that 1 in 2 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime and though rates of prostate cancer are comparable to rates of breast cancer in women, fundraising for men’s health is infinitesimally smaller.

Darshan says, “Most men are uncomfortable talking about their health in the first place and more so about issues like prostate and testicular cancer.” He sees Movember as the antidote to men’s refusal to confront these issues in that, “You need to have a sense of humor to do Movember and, obviously, humor is a great way to get people to address difficult issues.”

Matt seconds the point, “Growing a mustache can be a bit humiliating – in a good way. If people have always known you to be clean-shaven, a mustache is the ultimate conversation starter. And if that conversation helps raise money for men’s health, then all the better.”

Movember mustaches started to creep onto the upper lips of ‘Softies in the last few years. While past organizers did a commendable job of getting the ball rolling, the Movember effort remained fragmented among a number of different Microsoft teams.

And then Darshan and Matt got involved.

These hirsute heroes became the brains behind the mustaches at Microsoft. Their streamlined effort built a company-wide Microsoft Movember that has raised over $82,000 this November. Matt adds, “And the greatest thing about doing Movember at Microsoft is that the company matches donations of $25 or more from employees, so we end up doubling much of the fundraising dollars.”

Darshan and Matt successfully spread the word through our internal OfficeTalk application, external social media sites and homemade posters around campus. They also increased participation by offering a series of facial hair awards and by sticking adhesive mustaches on the bathroom mirrors.

Darshan says, “We send a weekly newsletter with tips of the week on how to improve your mustache and how to perfect your fundraising like letting the highest bidder name your mustache or you can make the process interactive and let people bid on your mustache style.” Matt chimes in, “My mustache was named Sir Reginald von Burlington IV.”

Both Matt and Darshan have been impressed by the global breadth of Microsoft’s participation in this year’s Movember.

Matt says, “We have Mo Bros at a variety of offices like Microsoft Ireland and Canada, but there’s also been support from a surprising variety of businesses within the company. For example, the guys at the Microsoft Store in Mission Viejo, California have come through big and they don’t get to hide in an office all day. They have to wear their mustache with pride while speaking with customers.”

Women (affectionately called Mo Sistas) can also get involved in Movember through fundraising, event hosting and generally being tolerant of their partner’s and friends’ facial fuzz.

Matt and Darshan already have their sights on Movember 2012. Darshan says, “Next year we have even bigger plans with a more elaborate kickoff party and we want to get people to pre-pledge because, otherwise, we are faced with November fundraising right after the end of the October Microsoft Giving campaign.”

Matt smoothes back the corners of his glossy ‘stache and philosophizes, “Movember is also a great bonding event for employees. It’s a chance for us to come together beyond our work roles and do something good. That and, obviously, we want to raise more money than Google.”

UPDATE: 546 people from Microsoft office around the world participated to raise over $100,000 for Movember this year. You can view a special message from Movember Executive Director and CEO, Adam Garone here.