Donor Alliance, the federally-designated, non-profit organ procurement organization and American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) accredited tissue bank serving Colorado and most of Wyoming, today announced its receipt of six awards from the Colorado Healthcare Communicators (CHC) 2013 Gold Leaf Awards. The annual awards program recognizes excellence in public relations, marketing and communications of local healthcare organizations and professionals.

One of three special Judges’ Choice Awards, Donor Alliance won the most prestigious award of the evening, the Grand Gold Leaf, for its multi-pronged observance campaign, entitled “Donor Alliance observes National Donate Life Month.” The integrated community, media and grassroots campaign generated more than 21 million paid impressions and over 159 million unpaid impressions encouraging residents to register as organ, eye and tissue donors throughout the month of April.

Donor Alliance also received the following honors from the 2013 CHC Gold Leaf Awards:

–          A Gold Leaf Award in the One-Time Community Relations category for its Parade of Lights initiative. Led in the Parade of Lights by individuals who have been directly impacted by organ, eye and tissue donation, Donor Alliance sponsored and coordinated a jumbo gift box balloon, which represented the life made possible through the gifts of organ, eye and tissue donors. The community relations campaign gained 678,000 spectators and generated six proactive media stories about donation.

–          A Gold Leaf Award in the Ongoing Community Relations category for the Advocates for Life Volunteer Program. Donor Alliance manages a comprehensive volunteer program comprised of more than 250 donor family members, transplant recipients, transplant candidates and others who are passionate about supporting organ and tissue donation and transplantation. In the past year the program has supported more than 150 community events and increased its volunteer retention rate by more than 10%.

–          A Gold Leaf Award in the New Media category for an infographic regarding donation and transplantation. Donor Alliance’s communications team worked with Spark Inbound Marketing to create an infographic illustrating the need for organ and tissue donation and the impact of transplantation in the area, and released it on April 2nd as part of National Donate Life Month. Since its release, portions of the infographic have been shared across the country, generating more than 250,000 unpaid impressions through Facebook shares in April alone, more than 92 times the size of Donor Alliance’s Facebook following at the time.

–          A Bronze Leaf Award in the Writing Articles/Stories category for an original byline published in the Denver Post YourHub special section. In support of the organization’s signature event, the Donor Dash, Donor Alliance and public relations firm the Fletcher Group placed a contributed editorial about the event’s keynote speaker, donor mother Kelly Lang, in the Golden YourHub edition. The article meant significant visibility for Donor Alliance’s messages with a hyper-local placement that garners high engagement in local communities.

“We take great pride and stewardship in our marketing and communications programs and are thrilled to be recognized as one of the state’s best,” said Sue Dunn, president and CEO of Donor Alliance. “Organ, eye and tissue donation is highly dependent upon the trust and compassion of the people of Colorado. Therefore it is paramount for us to maintain superior outreach and education campaigns, to ensure no lives are lost due to lack of understanding or awareness.”

Since the 1970s, CHC has honored professionals in public relations, communications and marketing through the annual Gold Leaf Awards competition. CHC is the only Colorado member organization that exclusively honors local healthcare communicators and marketing professionals. The categories include: advertising, collateral pieces, communications programs, community relations, media relations, websites, writing, new media and more.

The Colorado Healthcare Communicators’ annual Gold Leaf Awards ceremony and dinner was held Thursday, October 24, 2013 at Mile High Station in downtown Denver. A full list of winners can be found on the Colorado Healthcare Communicators website.

About Donor Alliance

Donor Alliance is the federally-designated, non-profit organ procurement organization and an American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB)-accredited tissue bank serving Colorado and most of Wyoming. As a recognized leader in facilitating the donation and recovery of transplantable organs and tissues, Donor Alliance’s mission is to save lives through organ and tissue donation and transplantation. To achieve this mission, Donor Alliance employs an effective family approach and recovery programs in more than 100 hospitals. Donor Alliance also inspires the public to register as organ and tissue donors through community partnerships, public outreach and education campaigns throughout its donation service area. For more information visit the Donor Alliance website, or the Donate Life Colorado or Donate Life Wyoming Facebook pages.

About Colorado Healthcare Communicators

The purpose of Colorado Healthcare Communicators is to serve its members by raising the standards of professional knowledge and performance; furthering professional development and interaction among healthcare communications professionals; and expanding the role of members in management. For more information, visit www.healthcarecommunicators.org.