South Africa has one of the worst organ donation rates in the world. Only 0.3% of the population is registered organ donors. There’s an average of 6-8 years waiting period for transplant matches to be made and only 2% of those waiting, ever receive the life-saving-surgery they need.

The South African Organ Donor Foundation receives no government funding, relying on donations/fundraising to operate and communicate with the public.

Normal charity-support-driving tactics have made no significant impact on registration rates whatsoever. We needed to make a personal impression on each South African if we were going to see any change.

With a total media budget of zero, the campaign came to life between 7 October 2014 - 12 December 2014 using:

• A personal online video invitation to Jenna Lowe’s 21st birthday party.

• A microsite: www.getme.to21.com developed specifically for the campaign.

• An simplified online form to make organ donation registration quick and easy.

• A campaign hashtag: #GetMeTo21.

• Celebrity social media support for the cause.

Traditional media support (please see media ecosystem and campaign calendar below) beginning 8 October 2014 – 12 December 2014:

• 12 radio interviews

• 16 print/press articles

• 29 articles/blogs

• 3 TV interviews

The most important result of all occurred on the 10th of December 2014, when Jenna Lowe received the new lungs she had been waiting for. Although the campaign was scheduled to run for the entire fourth quarter of 2014, on the 12th of December 2014 (when South African heard about Jenna’s transplant) the first phase of “Get Me To 21” came to an end.

Over night, there were more than 1000 registrations. In just over 2 months, there was a 287% growth in the year-on-year registration rate and to date, more than 20 000 new organ donors have been added to the list.

The campaign made such an impact that a nation-wide conversation began, generating more Twitter impressions than Twitter users, and 27 times more unique visitor traffic to the website than ever seen by the Organ Donor Foundation before. The campaign flooded traditional media channels as well (12 radio interviews, 16 print/press articles, 29 articles/blogs, 3 TV interviews) earning a total of R17 million in traditional media.