National Donate Life Month 2020 Resources and Implementation Ideas

Edited March 24, 2020 to reflect Donate Life America’s National Donate Life Month COVID-19 Response, included below.

With the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and the incredible speed at which things are changing around us, Donate Life America is encouraging the public and the donation and transplantation community to cancel all in-person events for National Donate Life Month (April). Our priority is the safety and health of both the public and professional Donate Life communities. In accordance with the guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), we ask that everyone take this action to help slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). 

Donate Life America will be taking an online approach for April Donate Life Month observances. Please join us on Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter and DonateLife.net  to help us honor donors, recipients, and their families and caregivers. We will also be recognizing the clinical teams continuing their dedicated work during this time to help honor the gift of donation and save the lives of those waiting for a second chance at life. 

For National Donate Life Month (NDLM) 2020, Donate Life America was inspired by the springtime scene of a Garden of Life. A garden and the insects within it serve as symbols of hope, courage and transformed life — themes repeatedly found within the donation and transplantation journey.

The Donate Life garden depicts an ecosystem of plants, insects, and other components working together to form an interconnected living system. Similarly, we each have the potential to nurture and enrich our communities through organ, eye and tissue donation.

This NDLM, we ask you to be a part of this lifesaving and healing garden by registering as an organ, eye and tissue donor; becoming educated about living donation; and championing the Donate Life cause.

Log on to DLACommunity.net and click “Outreach and Materials” on the top navigational bar to access the "National Donate Life Month" landing page with images, order forms and downloadable files.

Please send your public community to DonateLife.net/ndlm for graphics and printable files.

Press Materials Localizable Press Release – General information that can be easily modified to relate to your state. Donation & Transplantation Statistics – National data, can combine with local stats for distribution. Donation & Transplantation FAQs – Handout with the answers to commonly asked questions. Stories of Hope – Stories with images for newsletters, websites, other print and digital channels.

Printed Materials & Printable PDFs (also available in Spanish)

Posters* – 12” x 18” Customize with your logo and state registry information. Provide posters to your partners and hospitals to hang within halls, offices. Provided to volunteers and members of the public to place in their windows or

on their front door to show their support for the Donate Life cause. Consider framing and starting a collection for years to come.

Print Ads – 8.5” x 11” This PDF can be individually printed on an at-home printer. Localizable PDF version may be customized at the bottom. Use digitally in e-newsletters and other local digital publications. Print at home and display in your window or on your front door. Submit to community organizations or places of worship for inclusion in their e-newsletters.

Notecards* – Fold to 5” x 7”, with envelopes

Customize the outside with your logo, URL and message. Ask your volunteers to write thank you notes to your DMVs, donor hospitals and transplant

programs. Send thank you notes to your community partners and volunteers.

Blank Note Squares – 8.5” x 11”, formatted to print 4 per sheet. Customize the white area with your own printed or handwritten special message. Send to donor hospitals, transplant programs, volunteers or families to use to create a “garden”

collage on a wall, fridge, etc. Blank space could contain names of “heroes” in their donation and transplantation journey; things they are thankful for, made possible by donation; or friends who they have registered their decision to be a donor. There are many ways to use these to create a display of hope, remembrance and gratitude.

Infographic Handouts – 8.5” x 11” Share with your volunteers, to share digitally with friends and colleagues, or in e-newsletters.

Coloring Sheet – 8.5” x 11” Use this as an at-home activity with children and family. Share with patients to color and help decorate a hospital wall with the finished pieces of art.

Yard Sign artwork – add dimensions Create a traveling “garden” of signs to remember those that donated or died waiting, or to call

attention to the need by featuring those waiting in your local area. Web Banners and Social Media Graphics (also available in Spanish)

Web Banners, with or without DonateLife.net – 300 x 250, 728 x 90 and 1000 x 288 pixels Post on your website and/or share with your community. Incorporate into email signatures.

Social Media Graphics – for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat Post and share with your online community and add the hashtag #DonateLifeMonth. To access Facebook Frames, you can find them within the "Add Frame" option when you update

your profile picture (search for “National Donate Life Month”).

Television Monitor Graphics – 800 x 600, 1920 x 920,1920 x 1080 pixels Ask your hospitals and corporate partners to display the image on their screens.

Custom graphics should be ordered through DLA, using the Custom Graphics Order Form on DLACommunity.net.

Virtual and At-Home Campaign Ideas Host a Facebook LIVE event. Possible topics/themes include:

o “Coffee chat” to discuss facts, stats and other informationo A blue & green baking demonstrationo Guided meditation in a gardeno Virtual tour of a donor memorial gardeno A guided drawing or coloring class (could utilize the NDLM coloring sheet)

Start a local Donate Life Rocks! campaign, encouraging people to paint Donate Life blue & green rocks to decorate their own gardens or hide for others to “spy” during neighborhood walks. Ask them to post photos on social media, tagging your organization and/or Donate Life America.

Start a local Donate Life Chalk Message campaign, encouraging people to write and draw Donate Life blue & green messages and designs outside of their homes, in driveways, etc. Ask them to post photos on social media, tagging your organization and/or Donate Life America.

Ask followers to write virtual “thank you” or “thinking of you” notes for their local transplant programs, donation and transplantation professionals, and/or patients waiting.

Start a local Donate Life Bakes! campaign, encourage people to bake and decorate a Donate Life blue and green or garden-themed cake or cupcakes. Ask them to post photos on social media, tagging your organization and/or Donate Life America.