Organ donation is the ultimate gift a human can give, but only half of Americans register to become a donor despite 95% believing in its importance. To counter this, Second Chances was created to reward an organ donor’s generosity. The way it works: Police officers give donors—indicated as such on their driver's licenses—a “Second Chance Ticket” (A warning instead of an actual ticket) on account of the donor giving someone else a second chance on life. This program motivated others to become donors, and it’s motivating police across the world to save more lives by adopting Second Chances.

In spite of having the greatest number of licensed drivers in the country, California also has the lowest percentage of registered organ donors. This is particularly strange since 95% of Americans support the idea of organ donation, but less than half actually register to receive the “pink dot” on their driver’s license that indicates they are a donor. This is the catch-22 of organ donation in a nutshell: It’s something that enjoys nearly universal support in theory, but people aren’t really active or vocal on its behalf unless they themselves are personally touched by it somehow. As such, we felt we had to find a way to get personal and convey meaningful gratitude on an individual level to the organ donors who never ask for a “thanks,” but certainly deserve one.

People proudly display differently colored buttons, ribbons, and pins to show their support for various causes, but organ donation is different since the only identifiable sign of support is a tiny pink dot on the front of one’s driver’s license. This doesn’t seem sufficient since that one pink dot has the capacity to save up to eight separate lives for every willing donor, and — with over 114,000 people waiting for an organ transplant — the need for donors is critical. Through Second Chances, we saw an opportunity to bring that tiny pink dot out of hiding as a thank-you to those who have registered to donate while simultaneously encouraging others to do the same.

To motivate more people to become organ donors, we chose drivers licenses as our key engagement vehicle since 95% of organ donor registrations are made while applying for or renewing one’s driver’s license. Our strategy was to take a universal moment of anxiety: Getting pulled over for a traffic infraction (“License and registration, please”), and transform it into a moment of acknowledgment and gratitude. By utilizing our police partners as both the facilitators and promoters of the Second Chances program, we earned media attention among the general population that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. Additionally, we developed a Second Chances toolkit so other police forces could adopt the program and spread our message through the best practices of our pilot program.

With two days to kick off National Organ Donation Awareness Month, we wanted to mimic what one feels when they learn that they need an organ transplant by taking a dreaded situation that no one wants, no one expects, and that results in tremendous relief by getting through it okay: Being pulled over by the cops. We used that relatably stressful moment as an opportunity to give drivers with the pink dot on their licenses a “Second Chance Ticket”—a warning instead of a fine—since they themselves gave someone a second chance at life. Initially working with three police departments, drivers committing minor infractions were pulled over, and—instead of being ticketed—had a 1-on-1 encounter with a police officer in which they were personally thanked. Additionally, a toolkit was made available on secondchancesdonor.org for police everywhere to implement the Second Chances program and support this great cause.

- In the month the campaign launched, California registered 110,609 new donors— a 38% increase from the year prior.

- More than 3,000,000 free impressions.

- Other police departments adopted the program for their own use. As of today, Beverly Hills, Anaheim, and New York State are taking steps to join the original pilot cities and make this an annually reoccurring program.

There is a dire need for organ donors with over 114,000 people desperately waiting for the transplants that would give them a second chance to live. For each person who does register as an organ donor, they are potentially helping eight people in need. In spite of having the greatest number of licensed drivers in the country, California also has the lowest percentage of registered organ donors. To get more people to become registered organ donors, we had to find a way to make the selfless act of registering felt on a personal level since most donors never receive a thank-you from their transplant recipients.