Living by Giving: Donation and the benefits of altruism

Should Bmycharity encourage more people to become blood and organ donors?

Last night I attended an event at the RSA where Professors AC Grayling, James Neuberger and Dr Chris Rudge spoke about altruism and the triggers and barriers to organ donation (audio files of the event will be available shortly through the RSA website).  The event was chaired by Matthew Taylor, CEO of the RSA, and supported by NHS Blood and Transplant.

Some of the key points from the panel discussion were:

• 3 people die every day for want of a donated organ
• 50% of potential donors (1000 people each year) don't donate
• The most common reason for non-donation is family objection
• Smokers make up only 25% of the population, but 70% of organ donors
• NHSBT is aiming to build the organ donor register to 25 million
• Ensuring that the family of registered donors support transplant is very important

The panel explored the social, medical and philosophical implications of assumed consent and trading in organs, and two beneficiaries of organ donation shared their experiences of awaiting and then receiving organs.

After the panel discussion, I spoke to Sally Johnson, Director of Organ Donation and Transplantation at NHSBT, and her colleague Emma Harbour about the profile of blood and organ donors, and whether we may be able to help them in their objectives of increasing the size of the donor register and raising awareness so more potential donors become actual donors.  Raising general awareness is vital since it is in the immediate aftermath of death that families need to be able to confirm the wishes of the donor.

So, should we add a panel or banner to Bmycharity pages inviting people to register?  People who give time and money to charities are very likely to be disproportionately responsive to non-financial requests for altruistic action.  But we don't want to put people off donating funds, and we don't want to pressure people.

Perhaps a discreet panel pointing out that 3 lives could be saved every day if more donors were available and encouraging people to discuss their wishes with their family - what do you think?

Comments

[twitter.com/howardlake]

I would be happy for Bmycharity to promote giving blood and registering as a donor. It would complement the ethos of the site. It wouldn't look out of place.

My only concern is whether it could confuse visitors to the site. 'Donor' has a very clear meaning in the charity fundraising world in that it implies a financial gift. (I acknowledge that you can still give gifts in kind and donate items etc).

Anything that suggests that visitors don't need to give money, no matter how valuable that other 'donation' is, could detract from the prime function of your site.

In practical terms though, go for it and promote the donor register.

You could even try some A/B testing to see if it has any impact on the number of people who view it and then don't go on to make a donation - a financial donation of course :)

[Michelle Billington]

Thanks Howard - we won't lose sight of our primary purpose, which is to make it easy for people to make financial donations. Testing the relationship between the different types of giving will be essential, and our object would be to create a "both and" rather than an "either or" response.

Emma Harbour cites an example of a fundraiser who ran a marathon for Anthony Nolan and explicitly set out to recruit bone marrow donors. He recruited several people to the register AND raised more money than any other runner - so there is the possibility of a positive correlation...

[Rob Dyson]

I'd second Howard's views. Be cautious about the wording, but I think it's a great idea. I joined the register at the end of last year; prompted by their excellent TV & youtube ads. Very important, and I didn't realise until recently just how dire the situation is - and yet there I was blindly accepting that if I needed a transplant for any reason I would just 'get one'.

It *really* needs highlighting. Well done Ben.

[cherrybushell]

What came across (at the debate) was that most people totally agree with organ donation in principle, and most of us are capable of offering it. Seems to me that the barriers to getting people to sign up (to the register) are mostly because its easily avoidable, and it's seen as a distasteful subject. Promoting it on sites like bmycharity helps to 'normalise' it as a choice people will make alongside other ways of giving/supporting society, with great potential for a 'tipping point' to be created! Go for it.

[Ryan Anderton]

I regularly donate blood and am registered to donate my organs should the inevitable occur whilst I am healthy. I personally think that we all have a reasonablity to provide a chance of a better life through blood or organ donation.
Bmycharity should definately encourage this.