Bridget Warneka

BACKGROUND According to LifeCenter, there are currently 3,392 people waiting for an organ transplant in Ohio alone. Nationally, there are over 100,000 people needing a vital transplant. Approximately 20 people die each day waiting for a transplant BACKGROUND While 90% of Americans approve of organ donations as a life saving practice, fewer than half of Ohioans are registered. One organ donation can save eight lives. TARGETS Audience Cleveland State Students who ride the RTA Goal 31,414 students registered to be organ donors RTA RIDERS The target audience will be students who ride the RTA. During the first few weeks of the semester, students can sign up at the Registrars office or in the interlink for a sticker that will allow them to ride the buses and trains. While signing up to receive the stickers, members of the H.Y.P.E. team will be near by promoting the benefits of organ donations. They will have forms on hand for students to fill out to register themselves as organ donors in the state of Ohio. For students who do not live in Ohio, H.Y.P.E. team members will have computers for students to register online through their state. WHY H.Y.P.E? The Helping You Through Peer Education (H.Y.P.E.) team consists of students trained in communication and responding skills, leadership, intervention strategies, and help seeking skills. Typically this team is involved in providing mental health, drug, alcohol, and general health education. Since organ donation falls under the category of health, I figured it would be best to use this team as they are already used to talking about difficult topics and can be persuasive towards students. INCENTIVE In order to get more students involved with this campaign, I would like to propose that students will receive gift cards on a first-come first-serve basis. With the $5,000.00 budget, I would like to buy 300 $10 gift cards that will be purchased from restaurants and coffee shops near campus including Chipotle, Joe Maxx, Starbucks, and Chilis. DO IT NOW DAY As well as having students sign up for donation while receiving their RTA pass, an event called “Do It Now Day” will be held in the student center. This day will happen during the fourth week of the semester, after the RTA popup table is no longer in the interlink. Two speakers, both of whom have received organ donations, will present at the event to tell their story. The presenters will both be paid $500 to present for about an hour. $700 will be used to for a snack bar. Through Cleveland State’s catering website, I estimated that this price could provide light Hors d’Oeuvres for around 200 students. While 200 students may not sit and listen to the speakers, I believe that this would accommodate the flow of students that will pop in and out of the event as DO IT NOW DAY they travel through the area to get to classes. Along with the two presenters and the snack bar, the H.Y.P.E. team will be present with an information table. The remaining $250 will be utilized to print pamphlets for students to take, as well as printing the forms students will fill to register as organ donors. COMMUNICATION CHANNELS Events, organ donor statistics and a tally of the number of new students who have signed up to donate will be promoted through @DoItNowCSU on Instagram and Twitter. Through these communication channels I would like to address some concerns students may have including: • Concerns that the emergency room will not treat you as well if you are an organ donor • Concerns that a student may not be healthy enough or young enough to be an organ donor • Concerns regarding religious restrictions from organ donations EVALUATION An evaluation will be taken after Do It Now Day to see if the event was successful. By that day, most students will have their RTA passes so I will be able to get a final count of how many students registered to be organ donors. I will count the number of physical copies that were signed before taking them to the DMV. I will have the H.Y.P.E. team members keep track of the number of students who signed up online. They can do so by swiping the student’s ID, similar to how ID’s are swiped in order to be granted access to Campus Activities Board events.