No-Shave November is a cancer awareness campaign where participants stop shaving for the entire month of November, using their growing hair as a conversation starter to raise awareness and funds for cancer prevention, research, and education. Since launching in 2009, the movement has raised more than $13 million for cancer-related causes.
How the Movement Started
The Hill family created No-Shave November in 2009 to honor their father, Matthew Hill, who died of colon cancer in November 2007. What began as a family tribute grew into a web-based nonprofit that channels donations toward cancer prevention, research, and education. The idea was simple: hair is something cancer patients often lose during treatment, so growing yours freely for a month serves as a visible reminder of what they endure.
How Participation Works
The rules are straightforward. You stop shaving and grooming for 30 days. That’s it. The untamed hair becomes a visual cue that invites questions, giving you a natural opening to talk about cancer awareness. Participants are encouraged to donate the money they would have otherwise spent on razors, shaving cream, haircuts, or waxing. You can also line up sponsors who pledge donations in support of your “hair-raising commitment.”
Women commonly participate by skipping leg shaving for the month. But growing hair isn’t the only way to get involved. You can donate directly, fundraise among friends and coworkers, or simply spread awareness on social media. The movement is designed to be inclusive, so anyone can take part regardless of whether they grow facial hair.
No-Shave November vs. Movember
These two campaigns overlap in timing and style, but they aren’t the same organization. Movember focuses specifically on men’s health issues, covering prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health. No-Shave November is broader in one sense and narrower in another: it raises money for cancer awareness and prevention generally, not just cancers affecting men, but it doesn’t extend into mental health the way Movember does.
There’s also a difference in grooming rules. Movember traditionally encourages participants to grow a mustache specifically. No-Shave November is more relaxed, welcoming any combination of facial hair, leg hair, or skipped grooming routines.
The Cancers It Highlights
While No-Shave November supports cancer awareness broadly, much of the conversation around it centers on cancers that benefit from early detection, particularly prostate and testicular cancer.
Prostate cancer survival rates illustrate exactly why awareness matters. When caught while still localized, the five-year survival rate is effectively 100%. Even when it has spread to nearby lymph nodes, survival remains at 100%. But once it metastasizes to distant parts of the body, the five-year survival rate drops to about 40%. The gap between those numbers is early detection.
Testicular cancer is most common in younger men and often first appears as a painless lump or swelling in one testicle. Other signs include a feeling of heaviness in the scrotum, a dull ache in the lower belly or groin, sudden scrotal swelling, breast tissue tenderness, or back pain. Any lump, swelling, or pain lasting longer than two weeks is worth getting checked.
Where the Money Goes
No-Shave November distributes funds to organizations working in cancer research, education, and prevention. One beneficiary, Fight Colorectal Cancer, reported that its supporters raised more than $112,000 through the campaign in a single recent year. Across all partner organizations since 2009, the movement’s cumulative total has surpassed $13 million.
Participants typically donate through the No-Shave November website, where they can create personal fundraising pages, join teams, and track their contributions throughout the month. Workplaces, schools, and friend groups often form teams to compete for the most funds raised, adding a social element that tends to boost participation.