Donor Alliance Named Winner in 2015 Donate Life America Pinnacle Awards

Denver-based nonprofit recognized nationally for marketing and media efforts to promote organ, eye and tissue donation

Donor Alliance, the federally designated non-for-profit organization that facilitates organ and tissue donation in Colorado and most of Wyoming, announced today that it won two awards in the 2015 Donate Life America Pinnacle Awards for its efforts to raise awareness and educate residents about organ, eye and tissue donation.

Donor Alliance’s “My Hero Said Yes!” marketing campaign was recognized as the winner in the PR/Marketing category. The campaign was unveiled in 2014 as a new marketing initiative for the Donate Life Colorado and Donate Life Wyoming donor registries. The campaign told the real-life stories of local recipients of organ and tissue transplants and aimed to catch the attention of residents who had not registered as donors and reinvigorate the approximately two thirds who had. In addition to raising donor designation rates, the campaign aimed to increase the number of unique visitors and online registrants through the state registry websites.

Donor Alliance also won in the Media category, where it was recognized for its program utilizing spokesperson and Colorado baseball legend Vinny Castilla. Castilla, also one of the faces of the “My Hero Said Yes!” campaign, participated in a

Donate Life America President and CEO David Flemming and Chair of the Donate Life America Board of Directors Susan Stuart pose present Donor Alliance CEO Sue Dunn, Director of PR / Communications Andrea Smith and Multicultural Outreach Coordinator Angelica Barajas with a 2015 Pinnacle Award.

Spanish-language media tour throughout Denver during National Minority Donor Awareness Week. The tour took place right after Colorado had passed a new law regarding driver’s licenses for undocumented residents, making it a perfect time to encourage residents to say “yes” to organ, eye and tissue donation while getting their new licenses. Castilla participated in six interviews, speaking with journalists about donation and why it was especially important for Hispanic residents to register.

The 2015 Pinnacle Awards were presented at the Donate Life America Annual Meeting in New Orleans during a special Awards Gala on October 20. The Pinnacle Awards recognize programs successful in inspiring more people to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and establish donation as a cultural norm.

Donate Life America is a national non-profit organization committed to increasing the number of donated organs, eyes and tissue available to save and heal lives, while continuing to develop a culture where donation is embraced as a fundamental human responsibility.

About Donor Alliance

Donor Alliance is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to saving lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. As the organ procurement organization and accredited tissue bank for Colorado and most of Wyoming, Donor Alliance serves more than 5.8 million residents and more than 100 hospitals. The organization adheres to medical, regulatory and ethical standards: respectfully working with the families of organ and tissue donors, maintaining partnerships with hospitals, educating residents on the life-saving benefits of donation and inspiring them to sign up on the state’s donor registry. Colorado and Wyoming boast some of the highest rates of donor registration in the country, which directly translates to more lives saved through organ and tissue transplantation.

Donor Alliance is one of 58 federally designated organizations of its kind in the United States, and is also an American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) accredited tissue bank. For more information, please visit DonorAlliance.org or the Donate Life Colorado or Donate Life Wyoming Facebook pages.

About Donate Life America

Donate Life America is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit alliance of national organizations and Donate Life State Teams across the United States committed to increasing the number of donated organs, eyes and tissue available to save and heal lives. Donate Life America manages and promotes the national brand for donation, Donate Life^SM; develops and executes effective multi-media donor education programs; motivates the American public to register now as organ, eye and tissue donors; and assists Donate Life State Teams and national partners in facilitating high-performing donor registries.