Donate Life America

Donate Life America (DLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization leading its national partners and Donate Life State Teams to increase the number of donated organs, eyes and tissues available to save and heal lives through transplantation while developing a culture where donation is embraced as a fundamental human responsibility.

Donate Life America
TypeNon-profit organization
Location
ServicesDLA manages and promotes Donate Life℠, the national brand for the cause of donation; motivates the public to register as organ, eye and tissue donors; provides education about living donation; manages the National Donate Life Registry at RegisterMe.org; and develops and executes effective multi-media campaigns to promote donation.
Websitehttps://www.donatelife.net/

DLA manages and promotes Donate Life, the national brand for the cause of donation; motivates the public to register as organ, eye and tissue donors; provides education about living donation; manages the National Donate Life Registry at RegisterMe.org; and develops and executes effective multi-media campaigns to promote donation.

Founded as the Coalition on Donation in 1992 by the donation and transplantation community, Donate Life America changed its name in 2006 in response to extensive research and the desire to align the organization with the Donate Life brand. Over the past 25 years, Donate Life America and the Donate Life Community have registered nearly 145 million organ, eye and tissue donors in the United States – more than 58% of the adult population.

The current President and CEO of Donate Life America is David Fleming.[1]

In 2003, Donate Life America helped institute National Donate Life Month, which was first officially proclaimed by President George W. Bush.[2] More recently, Donate Life America has launched awareness campaigns targeted at millennials through digital outreach and social media campaigns.[3][4] Some examples of this are the 2012 campaign on Facebook, the 2016 "World's Biggest A**hole" Coleman Sweeney video campaign and the partnership with Apple to offer the donor registration opportunity on iPhone in the Health App.[5][6]

National Donate Life Registry

Donate Life America manages the National Donate Life Registry.

The National Donate Life Registry was launched in 2015 with the goal of making donor registration an easy, secure and mobile-friendly process across the nation. Having a national registry allows Donate Life America to work with national partners like Apple and Walgreens to make registration available to people through commonly-used phone apps.

Registering the decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor in the National Donate Life Registry ensures donor registration travels with individuals wherever they are.

National Donate Life Month

Every April, Donate Life America focuses national attention through National Donate Life Month (NDLM) on how every individual has the potential to make life possible by registering their decision to be an organ, eye and tissue donor and by considering being a living donor.

Donate Life America creates artwork for National Donate Life Month that illustrates the power of donation. National Donate Life Month was established by Donate Life America and its partnering organizations in 2003. Celebrated in April each year, NDLM features an entire month of local, regional and national activities to help encourage Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to celebrate those that have saved lives through the gift of donation.

For the 2019 National Donate Life Month theme, Donate Life America was inspired by bicycles and the phrase "Life is a beautiful ride". Like the donation and transplantation journey, a bicycle serves as a symbol of progress, renewal and the moving circle of life.

Bicycles come in all styles, shapes and sizes, but each is made of the same components, essential to supporting the rider and converting their energy into motion. Similarly, organ, eye and tissue donation offers many ways to give hope, support and strength to patients waiting, recipients and donor families. All people carry the potential to help make life a beautiful ride for others by registering as a donor, considering living donation, being a caregiver and championing the cause.

Key elements of National Donate Life Month include National Donate Life Blue & Green Day and National Pediatric Transplant Week.

On National Donate Life Blue & Green Day, the public is encouraged to wear blue and green, hold events and fundraisers, and partner with local restaurants, malls, media, and community organizations in an effort to spread awareness about organ, eye and tissue donation and transplantation.

National Pediatric Transplant Week, observed annually the last full week of April, focuses on ending the pediatric transplant waiting list. Throughout the week, clinical partners share their innovative work and patient stories (candidates and recipients), donor families whose children have saved and healed lives through organ, eye, and tissue donation are honored, and recipient families share their thanks and celebrate milestones.

ECHO Donate Life, observed annually for two weeks in July, is an important aspect of this organization, "this National Observance was started with the aim of giving voice to the experience of multicultural communities with donation and transplantation," says Bobby Howard, DLA board member and past president of AMAT. "To increase our educational outreach efforts and donor registrations, voices and stories from these communities need to be heard."[7]

National DMV Appreciation Week, observed annually the last week of September, was created by DLA in 2016 to thank DMVs and recognize them for their commitment to the Donate Life mission through national and local events and outreach.

National Donor Sabbath, observed annually two weekends before Thanksgiving, Friday-Sunday, seeks to engage all major religions in the United States. It is a time for congregations to learn more about the critical shortage, celebrate life and pray for those affected by donation and transplantation.

Staff

[8]

  • President: David Fleming
  • Executive Vice President: Melissa Devenny
  • Vice President, Partnerships & Philanthropy Karen Headley
  • Director of Communications: Hilary Czarda
  • Product and Brand Manager: Valerie Gray
  • Senior Development Coordinator: Casey News
  • Communications and Outreach Coordinator: Lida Pieterman
  • Finance Director: Cindy Wharton
  • Project & Office Manager: Jocelyn Reed
  • Graphic Designer: Anneli Kirby
  • Communications Assistant: Loren Squares

References
  1. "Donate Life Info | Donate Life America". donatelife.net. Retrieved 2015-10-19.
  2. "Presidential Proclamation -- National Donate Life Month, 2003". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  3. Almasy, Steve. "Facebook Encouraging Organ Donations". CNN. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
  4. "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". www.post-gazette.com. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  5. Burns, Will. "Donate Life Boldly Launches Powerful Film About 'The World's Biggest A--hole'". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  6. "Apple & Donate Life America bring organ donation to iPhone". Apple Newsroom. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  7. America, D. L. (2017, June 27). 2017 Donate Life ECHO Focuses on the Importance of Donation and Transplantation in Multicultural Communities. Retrieved July 23, 2017,
  8. Staff. (2017). Retrieved July 23, 2017, from https://www.donatelife.net/staff/
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