Through the help of volunteerism, Midwest Transplants mission has helped to save 75,818 lives in 2018 alone.
Midwest Transplant Network is on a mission to save lives by honoring the gift of organ and tissue donation with dignity and compassion. The nonprofit Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) has been saving lives in Kansas and western Missouri since 1973. Midwest Transplant Network has seen tremendous growth since its inception and now provides organ procurement, laboratory testing, and surgical tissue recovery services to the community.
Midwest Transplant Network values quality and has ranked in the top quartile nationally among other OPO’s measured by the HRSA Organ Donation and Transplantation Collaborative.
The impact that Midwest Transplant Network made last year in the community is astronomical. In 2018, the nonprofit had 271 organ donors, resulting in 818 lives saved. The organization also received tissue and cornea donations from 1,675 resulting in an estimated 100,000 lives healed. Based on these metrics, it is easy to see why Midwest Transplant Network is ranked one of the top OPO’s in the country.
Even with a strong impact and reach in the community, the need for transplants and donors continues to grow. With nearly 2000 people in Missouri and 500 people in Kansas waiting on an organ transplant, there has never been a more important time for Midwest Transplant Network to reach its goals and fulfill its mission.
“Our mission is to save the lives of those waiting for an organ, eye, or tissue transplant through the gift of donation. We can reach our mission by collaborating with hospital and community partners to facilitate donation in the state of Kansas and western Missouri,” said Megan Maciel, Community Engagement Coordinator for Midwest Transplant Network.
Volunteer Support is Crucial
Midwest Transplant Network would not be able to achieve its mission without the support and dedication of volunteers (Ambassadors). Currently, the nonprofit utilizes around 50 Ambassadors to reach its goals and expects this number to continue to grow strategically.
Most of Midwest Transplant Network’s Ambassadors have a strong connection to donation and have been personally impacted by the organization’s mission. These Ambassadors fill several strategic roles, including sharing their personal stories at event fairs and assisting in administrative tasks.
“Most of our Ambassadors have a connection to donation. Either their loved one is a donor recipient or they are a donor recipient themselves. Receiving a gift of life has influenced them to save lives too,” said Megan
Strategic Tool to Revamp Volunteer Program
Before implementing VolunteerHub volunteer management software, Midwest Transplant Network used an Access database to track volunteer data. As technology has changed, the manual system became less and less efficient to maintain. Maintaining the database was cumbersome and required too much time to store and update information.
The way that Midwest Transplant Network recruited volunteers had also changed, requiring them to look for a new tool to complement their new strategic direction. In the past, Midwest Transplant Network used personal phone calls to recruit all volunteers. Another process that required a substantial time commitment and was outdated. Over the last few years, the nonprofit has moved toward a web-based communication and registration strategy to make the recruitment process easier for supporters.
This new strategy is what led Midwest Transplant Network to explore volunteer management solutions.
“We wanted to make information easily accessible for our volunteers at all times. I believe that this is our supporter's volunteer program and VolunteerHub is helping us to empower them to have ownership,” said Megan
“We knew that we needed to bring our volunteer management process into the 21st century, and VolunteerHub is giving us the tool set we need to communicate volunteer opportunities to today’s audience. We wanted to work smarter, not harder,” said Megan
Features Creating Engagement
Midwest Transplant Network looked at several volunteer management solutions before choosing VolunteerHub. The ability to create opportunity landing pages that could be customized to fit their brand pushed VolunteerHub’s solution to the top of their list. The organization wanted a solution that would flow and appear to be an extension of its website, while providing recruitment and registration features that would appeal to its supporters. VolunteerHub was the solution that met their criteria.
Midwest Transplant Network has used VolunteerHub to improve its program in several strategic ways. First, the tool is very easy to access and understand, making volunteer training and process easier. Second, the reporting features of VolunteerHub make it simple to view data and identify trends in real time. The reporting features have also eliminated the barriers and errors that Midwest Transplant Network had due to manual data input.
“Being able to get real-time data about events and volunteers is one of my favorite features of VolunteerHub,” said Megan
Third, the self-registration and group feature in VolunteerHub is saving the organization a lot of time. Volunteers can go directly to the organization's website and register for opportunities that they find valuable. Midwest Transplant Network no longer needs to call and vet opportunities against its supporter list.
“Time saved is one of the primary ROI indicators that our organization looks at when selecting a solution and VolunteerHub is exceeding our expectations,” said Megan
Finally, the communication features of VolunteerHub have improved the nonprofit’s ability to reach supporters quickly and efficiently. The automatic reminder capabilities have had an impact on retention as well. Midwest Transplant Network has found that volunteers appreciate and acknowledge the communication improvements they have made, since implementing VolunteerHub’s solution.
Focus on Saving Lives
VolunteerHub is helping Midwest Transplant Network focus on the ultimate mission of saving people’s lives and less time investing manual management hours into their volunteer program. The future for Midwest Transplant Network, its volunteer program, and the people the organization reaches every day through its mission looks bright.
If you would like to learn more about Midwest Transplant Network and its current volunteer opportunities, please visit their website.
If you are a nonprofit ready to transform your volunteer program and management strategy, VolunteerHub may be the volunteer management solution your organization needs!
