Using direct mail to promote organ donor registration: Two campaigns and a meta-analysis.

Abstract

Two direct mail campaigns were undertaken in Rochester and Buffalo, New York, with the goal of enrolling adults aged 50-64years into the state organ and tissue donation electronic registry. Meta-analytic methods were used to summarize the body of research on the effects of direct mail marketing to promote organ donation registration. In the first study, 40000 mailers were sent to targeted adults in Rochester, New York, and varied by brochure-only, letter-only, and letter plus brochure mailing conditions. A follow-up mailer using letter-only was sent to 20000 individuals in Buffalo, New York area. In a second study, campaign results were combined with previously published direct mail campaigns in a random-effects meta-analysis. The overall registration rates were 1.6% and 4.6% for the Rochester and Buffalo campaigns, and the letter-only condition outperformed the brochure-only and letter plus brochure conditions in the Rochester area campaigns. Meta-analysis indicated a 3.3% registration rates across 15 campaigns and 329137 targeted individuals. Registration rates were higher when targeting 18-year-olds and when direct mail letters were authored by officials affiliated with state departments. Use of direct mail to promote organ donor registration is an inexpensive method to increase enrollments in state registries.