Organ Donation Awareness Campaigns in the PR Campaigns Course

Abstract

Public relations campaigns classes are generally regarded as capstone courses for students considering PR careers because they combine classroom instruction with service learning opportunities to design campaigns for real clients. This article discusses a case study, the author's experiences in teaching a unique PR campaigns course, funded by a federal grant. Its purpose is to study the effectiveness of student-designed PR campaigns to increase organ donation registry efforts and awareness among college students. Through surveys of enrolled students, logs of signed donor cards, attendance records at campaign events, students' post-campaign reflection papers, and students' e-mails to the author, the study found that tactics such as information tabling, classroom presentations, and class members' social networks yielded the largest number of signed donor cards. The percentage of class members who signed organ donor registry cards increased significantly, from 18.5% prior to the course to 52% at its conclusion. This paper provides preliminary findings and recommendations for communication professors who anticipate teaching a similar course.