Be the Match - Public Relations Campaign

“Students helping students save lives.”

Amelia Easterbrook Nora Filet Paige Ceylan

Professor: Veston Rowe

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Introduction Be The Match is a nonprofit organization operated by the National Marrow Donor Program for the past 25 years. It manages the largest and most diverse bone marrow registry in the world. Marrow transplants save the lives of thousands of patients diagnosed with leukemia or other blood diseases. Patients are connected with a donor match for a marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant through the help of the registry. Be The Match has facilitated over 68,000 marrow transplants and it is leading the way in transplant research. They continue to develop new cellular therapies to expedite the transplant process and improve treatments for post-transplant patients. Be The Match Registry is constantly working to create a more comprehensive and diverse registry with members ages 18 to 44.

As university students, we realized that we have the opportunity to reach out and inform fellow students and faculty about the basic steps it takes to become a member of the Be The Match Registry. We believe that once we are able to share with students and faculty how easy and painless it is to register, more people will want to be a part of the life-saving registry. Our outreach will cover universities and colleges in the Orange County area to contact a large and ethnically diverse population. Universities and colleges in Orange County are an ethnic melting pot.

Students from all over the world come to Orange County to receive a higher education. We understand that some people may be uncomfortable with the idea of undergoing marrow donation but we believe that once they have more information, people will be more receptive to taking the first step of becoming a registry member.

Our campaign for Be The Match is a regional push to get younger people aware, involved and registered with Be The Match. The registration process is simple and by getting our campaign out onto various campuses around Orange County, we believe that we can get a significant increase in registry members. We plan to work with universities and students to customize our registry drives to attract participation from students and faculty.

Each year, nearly 20,000 people are in need of a bone marrow transplant. That was a big factor in the decision to create a campaign for Be The Match. On average, 70% of patients in need of marrow transplants do not have a matching donor in their family, creating a need for patients to have other donors to contact. Racial diversity

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is an important part of finding a match. Patients are most likely to find a bone marrow match to someone who shares their ancestry.

When we learned that it only took a cheek swab to join the registry, we were determined to get more people connected to Be The Match. If a registry member is contacted as a match it is his/her decision if they are willing to go through more tests and possibly a medical procedure. A huge benefit about getting students on the registry is that they can remain members for a longer period of time. Registry members are removed from the registry when they are 61. The success rate of marrow donation is highest when donors are between the ages of 18 and 44. ​Be The Match campaign will inform students in Orange County what Be The Match is and how they can become a registry member. We want students to know what may be asked of them in the future and how it is their decision to become donors.

Situational Analysis Be The Match works to find transplant matches for patients diagnosed with blood diseases or leukemia. Someone is diagnosed with a blood cancer every three minutes. A diverse registry with members between the ages of 18 and 44 is needed to provide patients with the highest chance of finding a match.

Be The Match aims to increase the number of people in the registry by holding registry drives at college campuses throughout the Orange County area. With the optimal ages being between 18 and 44, this makes college students ideal candidates because they typically enter into higher education at age 18. Many people are hesitant to join the registry because they are afraid of what the registration process, and the idea of committing themselves to donating.

Although potential donors might be afraid of actually being asked to donate bone marrow, on average, 1 in 540 members of the Be The Match Registry will go on to donate. While compared to the actual donation, the process to become part of the

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registry is simple and painless. It only takes a cheek swab. Donors also have the option to opt out if they change their minds after being matched, everything is voluntary. In the end, we hope that the possibility of saving someone from life-threatening diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma, and sickle cell anemia will prompt those matched with a patient to go through with the donation of bone marrow.

Our Be The Match campaign encourages students and faculty to sign up for the Be The Match Registry by providing information about the donation process. We want to raise awareness of the lifesaving impact they can have on patients’ lives.

Secondary Research

Bone marrow donors must be genetically similar

When compared to organ transplants, bone marrow donations must be even more genetically similar to their recipients. A bone marrow transplant takes a donor’s healthy blood-forming cells and puts them into the patient's bloodstream. Without that genetic similarity, the new white blood cells will reject the transplant and attack the body. That is why race and ethnicity play a particularly important factor when matching donors with patients.

70% do not have a fully matched family member

70% of patients do not have a fully matched donor in their family, which is why their doctor will turn to Be the Match to find an unrelated donor on the registry.

24% need HLA types

African-Americans have the most need for donors, about 24 percent need. HLA (human leukocyte antigen) types which are used to match patients and donors are inherited. Some ethnic groups have more complex tissue types than others.

Which is why patients have a better chance of finding a match with someone of the same ethnic background.

Younger donors are the most ideal Younger donors are the best for patients, we focus on registering those in the age range of 18-44. Research shows there is the most success with donations from

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people in this age range. People within this range are selected as a donor more than 95% of the time. As people get older, the chances of a complication resulting from any medical procedure increases, people over the age of 60 are at risk of increased complications during and after donation which is why we have an age cut-off for registry and donations.

Registration process is a simple cheek swab Registering to become a donor is done through a simple cheek swab, and matched with patients by their HLA (human leukocyte antigen). The chances of being matched with a patient are on average about 1 in 540. (​https://bethematch.org/news/facts-and-figures--pdf-/​)

100 college chapters nationwide Currently, Be the Match has just under 100 chapters at colleges and universities across the country.

Bibliography "Be Extraordinary. Join Our Efforts and Be the Cure!" ​Be The Match On Campus: Be The Match On Campus​. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.

"How Donors and Patients Are Matched." ​How Donors and Patients Are Matched​. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

Shay, Christopher. "Bone Marrow Transplants: When Race Is an Issue."​Time​. Time Inc., 03 June 2010.

Web. 05 Apr. 2016.

"Why Race and Ethnicity Matter." ​Why Race and Ethnicity Matter.​ N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

"Why a Donor's Age Matters." ​Age Requirements & Limits for Donating Bone Marrow​. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016

Key Audiences According to our research and situational analysis, we have focused in on one primary audience and secondary audience to reach out to with our campaign.

Primary Audience

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Undergraduate and Graduate Students in Orange County, ages 18-30 There are over 10 universities and colleges in the Orange County area. In the beginning of the campaign, we plan to focus our outreach on the largest universities in the area; Chapman University, UC Irvine, and California State University, Fullerton. These three universities have a combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment of 77,816 students. Their student bodies include an ethnically diverse population, which would be an asset to the registry. There are many on campus organizations that vie for students’ attention and donations, however, we believe the chance to save a life will be a large draw for students. We plan to connect with a student at each university that is in need of a marrow donor. We want to give a person’s face and a name to our campaign. People feel compelled to take action when they have a personal stake.

Secondary Audience University Staff and Faculty in Orange county, ages under 44 In our initial campaign outreach at Chapman, UCI and Cal State Fullerton, we would also like to include university staff and faculty. Staff and faculty on university campuses would add diversity and greater participation for the registry. Many faculty members are influencers to their students and can play a role in spreading awareness of the importance of the Be The Match Registry. Bone marrow transfusions are most successful with donors under the age of 44. However, that does not mean people over the age of 44 are excluded from donation. Be The Match allows people over the age of 40 to register if they pay the processing fee for storing their information. At the age of 40, bone marrow has begun to deteriorate and the likelihood of becoming a patient match decreases.

Key Messages To proceed with our campaign, we aim to communicate three key messages to our primary and secondary audiences.

Be the match that saves a life.

If you are a match, the initial process of joining the registry is painless, there will be discomfort in your lower back or arms for a few days following the best procedure requested by the doctor. The two ways

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to donate are peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation, which is a non-surgical medical gathering of cells similar to blood donating, and marrow donation, which is a surgical procedure. However, if you are one of the fortunate people who can help save a life, you never know what the impact of saving this specific person’s life can be.

Donors between the ages of 18 and 44 have the highest chance of being a match.

A healthy individual whose bone marrow has not begun to deteriorate is ideal when donating bone marrow. Only one in 540 actually go on to donate, resulting in doctors requesting individuals in this age range 90 percent of the time so more matches may be found.

Pain and cost free registration process.

A simple cheek swab with a cotton swab in addition to filling out a questionnaire is all that it takes to join the registry. It is important to first collect DNA in the simplest way to put into the system before contacting a potential donor to move forward. It is cost free because the demand for donors is growing everyday. The cost is typically covered by the insurance of the patient or Be The Match.

Goal Increase the number of college students and faculty members in Orange County signing up for the Be The Match Registry by helping them gain a better understanding of Be The Match and what it means to be a member on the registry.

Objectives Objective 1: Increase donor registry by 3,890 people, a combined total of student and faculty populations at Chapman University, UC Irvine, and California State University, Fullerton.

Strategy 1: Partner with on campus organizations to attract groups of people, key influencers and increase student participation.

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Tactic 1: Have scheduled times for certain organizations (Greek life, Chicano Club, Black Student Union, Relay for Life, etc) to register and learn more about how they can help Be The Match. Create a streamlined process that allows their members and other students to register quickly and efficiently. Provide community service hours to these organizations as well as promote the charitable work they are doing on social media pages and email chains.

Tactic 2: Host a Be The Match Registry contest with on campus organizations. The Organization that gets the most people to join the registry will be titled top on campus supporter of Be The Match. Work with on campus news organizations to promote the contest and the winner.

Strategy 2: Work with universities to spread awareness about registration events on campus.

Tactic 1: Hold a registration table on main campus and in residence life areas.

Having a table near the dormitories will allow students who are returning from class to take the time to register. Have students that register write their name or the name of the person they are honoring on a card that is placed on a poster. The poster and cards will travel to each campus and show the impact students are making for Be The Match.

Tactic 2: Have universities write about registration drives in their newsletters and on their social media sites. Be The Match will share how many students registered at the events on each campus, promoting the philanthropic work of the universities.

Strategy 3: Affiliate Be The Match Registry drives with students on campus who are in need of a marrow transplant.

Tactic 1: Contact local hospitals, clubs, and university social media pages to find a student at each university in need of a marrow transplant. Get their permission to host a Be

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The Match registry drive at their university in their honor. Find out if they are interested in participating at the drive.

Tactic 2: Share the story of the student who is planning on undergoing a transplant on university social media pages and university news sites. Include link to the Be The Match website in the text so students can learn more about the organization.

Promote the upcoming drives through the student representing Be The Match.

Objective 2: Raise awareness of Be The Match by gaining a minimum of 2,049 followers across all social media accounts.

Strategy 1: Maintain active social media accounts (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook) to reinforce Be The Match information.

Tactic 1: Follow the university’s main social media accounts and follow current students to bring traffic toward Be The Match accounts, in addition to posting relevant content regularly.

Tactic 2: Create a Facebook account to publicize upcoming drives with organization information and invite students to attend through event invitations.

Strategy 2: Display promotional materials by tabling on and near college campuses with ‘free’ materials (wristbands, water bottles, pens, etc.) available​.

Tactic 1: Give an incentive to ‘like’ Be The Match on Facebook in return for a ‘free’ item displayed on the table. Students enjoy receiving free things for minimal effort, and walking around with a water bottle or writing in class with a pen is free advertising.

Strategy 3: Maintain interactions with the student bodies through mass emails and influential on-campus organizations that encourage social media interaction.

Tactic 1:

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Communicate with Student Government at the schools, and ask to have information sent out to the student body about Be The Match, which includes ways to see social media platforms in the weeks leading up to the drive.

Tactic 2: Communicate and potentially work with on-campus organizations (Greek life organizations, Ambassador programs, miscellaneous clubs) to promote Be The Match information on their social media platforms and lead audience to main profile, in addition to co-host the drives. Through this process, they would have the opportunity to have their volunteer time count toward community service hour requirements.

Tactic 3: Receive approval from on-campus organizations (Greek life organizations, Ambassador programs, miscellaneous clubs) to attend chapter meetings to discuss what Be The Match is and encourage members to view our social media platforms for more information.

Objective 3: Hold three registration drives on three different college campuses within three months.

Strategy #1: Contact colleges in the Orange County area about organizing registration drives for Be the Match.

Tactic 1: Open communication with the President or Dean of Students at Chapman University, University of California Irvine, and Cal State Fullerton about hosting a drive on campus.

Tactic 2: Place flyers around residence halls, and other school buildings to spread awareness prior to the registration drives. Play loud, popular music at the registration table to attract more attention and draw people in.

Strategy #2: Reach out to faculty interested in volunteering at the drives or spreading awareness to their classes.

Tactic 1:

E-mail professors promotional materials, such as flyers with information about the process of registering to potentially donate, and ask if they would be willing to pass on the information to their classes. Many people know someone or have been

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personally impacted by cancer, and there is no greater way to help others than the chance to save a life.

Evaluation

To measure the success of our campaign, we are going to compare the number of students that joined the Be The Match Registry in the Orange County area before and after our campaign. We hope to see an increase in young adults registering from the areas we target with our Be The Match campaign. We will also compare the registration rates of adults in the Orange County area because we want faculty to be a part of registering outreach.

Timeline We aim to host our first marrow registry drive on Chapman University’s campus within the next month. This provides us with enough time to develop relationships with different on-campus organizations and communicate with the university to gain their support. A fundamental part of our campaign is getting students involved in the preparation and tabling for our registry. Our goal is to host a drive on a different campus each month.