Kent State public relations students have won the statewide Do It Now College Competition, aimed at increasing the number of organ and tissue donors in the Ohio Organ Donor Registry.

Kent State’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter received $5,000 for winning the competition.

Funded by the Second Chance Trust Fund, Donate Life Ohio, its affiliated organ procurement organizations (OPOs) and tissue and eye recovery agencies, partnered with the colleges throughout the state to significantly increase the number of registered organ and tissue donors.

For eight months, teams from 13 Ohio colleges and universities involved in the Do It Now Competition rallied to increase the number of organ donors, all in hope of decreasing the wait list for organ donation. As part of the statewide initiative, called Do It Now, each group had a specific target for the number of new registrants it was expected to sign up.

The Kent State team is projected to have added more than 12,500 new organ and tissue donors to the Ohio Donor Registry.

Collaborative Effort

The Kent State campaign was led by students of the fall 2007 PR Campaigns class and a spring 2008 team who worked on the project as an independent study. The spring team also collaborated with the Kent State chapter of the Public Relations Student Society and other students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Michele Ewing, assistant professor of Public Relations, served as the faculty adviser for the project.

“The Donate Life Ohio project provided a valuable hands-on opportunity for the students conduct research and develop and implement a public relations plan, Ewing said. “The students really embraced this cause, and learned how they could use their communication skills to make very meaningful difference.”

Judging was based on execution, results, research, plan development and presentation. The Kent State team implemented a plan comprised of a range of strategies including word-of-mouth communications, social media and donor registration event drives. The students also organized a flash mob, featuring more than 60 people freezing in place on campus for five minutes, to draw attention to the organ and tissue donation cause.

Difficult Decision

"This was an extremely difficult decision to make," said Chuck Heald, team leader, Donate Life Ohio. "All of the schools should be commended for their efforts, as each school developed unique ways to assist us in our efforts of increasing the number of people on the Ohio Donor Registry.