Joanne MacInnes will do just about anything to get more people to register as organ donors. (Here’s proof.)
So when Joanne told me that Millennials sign up to become organ donors in smaller numbers than other generations, I was shocked. Millennials are caring, positive, and want to make a difference. What gives?
Then - did I mention she’ll do anything? - she asked me to talk about how to get more Millennials to become donors at Donate Life America’s annual meeting.
Here’s what I learned…and shared:
(1) Millennials don’t donate because it’s not the default.
Face it: people are lazy. How many people use Times New Roman as their font for Microsoft Word? Lots. That’s because people are too lazy or indifferent to change the default.
Same with organ donation, as the chart below illustrates:
[Chart source: http://wordpress.mrreid.org/2010/09/18/opt-in-or-opt-out/]
Countries in red don’t make organ donation registration the default; you have to check a box to SIGN UP to be an organ donor. Countries in green make organ donation registration the default. In these countries you have to check a box to DECLINE being an organ donor.
So, if we simply made registration the default for Millennials who are getting their drivers’ licenses, we’d have more organs being donated.
[Update: I learned after my talk at Donate Life America (DLA) that many states have higher than usual organ donor sign-ups at the DMV because of specific, effective programs they’ve implemented. That’s fine. In fact, rock on. My point is that if registration were the default, DLA could increase its sign-ups without all the time and money invested in developing those effective programs. It’s a lazy solution for a lazy nation.]
2. The wrong person is asking.
I saw this first-hand when we did a small project to help United Way of Dane County increase giving among Millennials.
United Way’s workplace contributions were going down - among Millennials for sure. Why?
Millennials don’t trust people at work (yet) or strangers from United Way, asking them to give. Millennials trust their friends and parents. If you want Millennials to give money - or donate their organs - the right person has to ask.
Bonus: this also works in reverse. If you want to reach Baby Boomers, engage their kids. McDonald’s features toys in its happy meals because they know that kids will pester their parents to take them to McDonald’s…and their parents will usually cave.
(3) The request is all wrong.
Nicholas Kristof is a New York Times columnist (bio ) who got pissed: he was trying to raise Americans’ interest about the atrocities in Darfur while New Yorkers were getting up in arms about a red-tailed hawk in Central Park.
So Kristoff plunged into the behavioral science behind it and found:
- “We intervene not because of stories of desperate circumstances but when we can be cheered up with positive stories of success and transformation.” If Donate Life America wants to attract more donors, DLA has to make donors the hero, and focus less on how many people die from lack of donation.
- Donors give to help one person, not millions, and not a cause. How are you positioning your request? Are you focused on the thousands who wake up every morning not sure if they’ll live through the day? That’s the wrong positioning. Focus on the one life that’s being helped/saved/transformed.
Remember, Millennials are the “Sunshine Generation.” They want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, and they want to make a positive impact on the world.
So if you want them to sign -up to become donors, they have to see/read/hear the story of ONE person LIKE THEM. High school assemblies in communities where a teenaged peer has either been saved by organ donation - or saved others through organ donation - are a good start. But if your community can’t tell that story, use the three tips outlined here.
Even though organ donation is a life-and-death situation, the right messaging to enroll donors is always about life: hope, positivity, being a hero.
“If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will.” - Mother Theresa
Now, go. Be a hero:
- Sign up to to save a life: http://donatelife.net/register-now/
- Nicholas Kristof’s advice for saving the world here.
- Slides from my talk are here.
- Dan Arielly did a bit about organ donation in his TED talk. Scroll this video to the 5 minute mark in this video.
