Entry Category
Single Entry – Strategic Use of Audience Insights
Name of Intervention/ Program
New England Donor Services, Organ Donation Social Marketing Campaign 2026
Background and Situation Analysis
MORE worked with New England Donor Services (NEDS) to develop a young adult-focused campaign based on an ongoing decrease in the donor designation rate (DDR) data coming out of the MA RMVs among young adults, and having never tried to reach this specific segment before, they wanted to see if they could make some meaningful change with this group.
Priority Audiences(s)
The priority audience was young adults and teens, ages 16-24 who have lower DDR rates in MA.
Behavioral Objectives
MORE conducted survey research with the audience, including a barrier analysis. The research objective(s) were to identify young adults’ attitudes, experiences, motivations, and barriers related to organ donation and registration, as well as the messengers and information that resonate most with them. The research revealed that a lot of young adults fell into the “movable” segment (lukewarm and pro-registration). The barrier analysis showed that there were minimal barriers aside from convenience and preparedness. From these insights and using a social marketing framework for objectives, our objectives became: Know: You’ll be asked about organ donation at the RMV—know what it means and why it matters. Feel: Prepared, confident, and proud to make a decision that reflects your values. Do: Decide before you go—learn about organ donation and talk to your family or
Description of Strategy/Intervention
The strategy was to simplify the topic of organ donation and focus the messaging on preparedness, not the decision of whether to be an organ donor or not. Many young adults were pro-registration. The strategy was to encourage young adults to consider organ donation now, before they go to the RMV, and set expectations – “know before you go.” Our Key Opportunity was to turn a passive prompt into an empowered choice at the RMV. RMV visits are stressful and not ideal for thoughtful decision-making. Preparing people ahead of time increases confidence, reduces decision fatigue, and encourages informed conversations. Focus on the ‘check the box’ choice at the RMV in our ads to keep it simple; offer online options deeper into the process.
Implementation
The campaign launched across social media platforms to focus on video engagement among young adults and through signage in the RMVs.
Evaluation Methods and Results
The campaign garnered over 11 million impressions, 53,000 clicks to the organ donation registration page which led to a 22,621% increase in page views. Additional phases of the campaign are planned for 2026 and 2027.
Entry Number: 09