Hospital marketing tool kit

April is National Donate Life Month

Click here for press release, infographics and promotional materials

You are Our Partner in Making Life Happen

You may not realize it, but as a member of your hospital’s marketing team, you play an important role in educating the public about organ, tissue and eye donation.

By promoting donation in your hospital and to the communities you serve, you help bring hope and healing to the thousands of Louisianians waiting for life saving organ and tissue transplants.

LOPA appreciates your partnership in achieving our core purpose of Making Life Happen. This hospital marketing tool kit has been developed to assist your teams in advocacy and education efforts.

We’ve included information on LOPA, general donation facts, and calendar observances to help you craft meaningful stories and campaigns that are easily understandable for your audiences. We can also provide social media graphics and web banners for your digital marketing efforts; write blogs and/or articles and provide transplant recipients, donor families and those waiting for awareness events.

Questions? Let us know! Email us anytime at marketing@lopa.org

Additional Resources on this Page

  • Fact Sheet: LOPA History & Facts

  • Organs Recovered for Transplantation

  • Donation & Transplantation in Multiethnic Communities

  • General Graphics & Brand Guide

  • Content Calendar, Topics & Observances

UNDERSTANDING DONATION

Donation can save and enhance lives in a variety of ways. Most notable are organs that are transplanted into very sick people--giving them a second chance at life. Organs that can be donated are: heart, lungs, liver/hepatocytes, pancreas/islet cells, kidneys, and intestines.


Yet, people suffering with more common ailments such as sports injuries, eye diseases such as glaucoma, and clogged veins can be treated with donated tissues. Burn victims and those with severe wounds also benefit from tissue donation.

Multiethnic Communities and Transplantation

Although organs are not matched according to race/ethnicity, and people of different races frequently match one another, all individuals waiting for an organ transplant will have a better chance of receiving one if there are large numbers of donors from their racial/ethnic background. This is because compatible blood types and tissue markers—critical qualities for donor/recipient matching—are more likely to be found among members of the same ethnicity.

A greater diversity of donors may potentially increase access to transplantation for everyone.

In Louisiana, patients from communities of color make up 63% of the waiting list for a life saving transplant.

Observances

FEBRUARY - National Donor Day - Valentine’s Day (Show your heart...say YES to organ and tissue donation!)

MARCH - Kidney Health Awareness Month

APRIL - National Donate Life Month - National Blue & Green Day

MAY-JUNE - National Nurses’ Week - AHEC of a Summer Program

AUGUST - National Multi-ethnic Donor Awareness Month

SEPTEMBER - Hispanic Heritage Month - National Suicide Prevention Awareness

OCTOBER - Biliary Atresia Awareness - Breast Cancer Awareness (Areola Complex)

NOVEMBER - Faith and Religion/Donor Sabbath - National Diabetes Month - Thanksgiving

DECEMBER - Christmas (THE greatest gift) - AIDS Awareness

Stats, Facts & Language

  • Organs recovered by LOPA: heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, small intestine

    • One organ donor can potentially save the lives of up to 8 people.

    • Tissues recovered by LOPA: bone, skin, tendons/ligaments, heart valves, saphenous vein.

    • One tissue donor can help heal the lives of 75 people.

    • There are three eye banks in Louisiana. They are responsible for recovering corneas for transplant.

    • There are over 100,000 Americans currently waiting on a life saving organ transplant.

    • There are approximately 2,000 people waiting in Louisiana on the national waiting list.

    • Only a small percentage of all individuals will have the potential to donate organs upon their death.

    • In order to become an organ donor, an individual must have a traumatic brain injury, be supported by a ventilator and die in a hospital.

    • Registering to be a donor will not affect any medical treatment you may need.

    • All major religions support organ and tissue donation.

    • There is no additional cost to your family.

    • Donation still allows for an open casket and other traditional funeral arrangements.

  • “RECOVERY” of organs not “harvesting” of organs

    “RECOVER” organs not “harvest” organs

    “DETERMINE BRAIN DEATH” not “declare brain death”

    “MECHANICAL or VENTILATOR” support not “life” support

    “DONATED ORGANS AND TISSUES” not “body parts”

    “DECEASED DONOR” not “cadaver” (when used in a donation context)

LOPA was established in April 1988 as the only federally designated, nonprofit organ & tissue recovery agency for the state of Louisiana. LOPA recovers donated organs and tissues, places them for transplant and offers support for families throughout the entire donation process.

The agency manages the Louisiana Donor Registry, a database of individuals who have registered to become organ, tissue and eye donors. LOPA plays a vital role in educating Louisianians about donation.

By partnering with Louisiana eye banks, universities and hospitals like yours, LOPA broadens the impact of its Core Purpose of MAKING LIFE HAPPEN.

LOPA’s abridged BRAND GUIDE helps to create consistency in public education efforts.

Please read the guide by clicking the button.

Anyone can register to be a donor!

Organ and tissue donation begins with a simple decision to say YES.

A family discussion is strongly encouraged so that all family members, or next of kin, are aware of a person’s decision to donate. You can register to be a donor one of the following ways…

  • Visit lopa.org/register and fill out an online registration form. This registration is exactly the same as saying YES at the Office of Motor Vehicles.

  • Register within the LA Wallet app by clicking on menu and then selecting Organ Donor Registration. You can also check your registration status within the app.

  • Say YES when renewing or receiving a driver’s license or identification card.

    Donor registration is a legally binding decision that individuals make for themselves. Organ procurement organizations (OPO) work with family members to carry out the decision of the potential donor in the event donation becomes an option.