What Makes Non-Directed Living Kidney Donors Tick? Actionable Items to Increase Non-Directed Live Organ Donation

Non-directed donors (NDDs), individuals who donate their organs with no intended recipient, in the United States increased 90-fold from 1999 to 2019. There is a paucity of studies investigating the motivations of NDDs. The objective of our study is to identify actionable items to increase NDDs.

A survey of kidney NDDs at CUIMC from 2009 to 2021 was conducted. The survey was conducted via Qualtrics.

Seventy individuals met the study criteria. Forty-seven (67.1%) individuals completed the survey. A total of 98% of respondents reported participating in other altruistic activities prior to donation. A total of 70% donors identified as religious, and 57% reported religion/spirituality positively affected the decision to donate. The three most common factors that got respondents interested in NDD included: (1) hearing about an individual in need of a transplant, (2) knowing someone who had donated an organ, and (3) as a next step in altruistic behavior. A total of 85% said that donating a kidney met or exceeded expectations. A total of 44% and 31% of NDDs were interested in being either liver or uterus NDDs, respectively.

We identified six potential action items: (1) Identify pools of receptive individuals who participated in other altruistic behaviors and/or identify as religious. (2) Outreach to individuals who came forward as directed donors, but whose intended recipient was successfully transplanted with a kidney from another donor. (3) Promote stories of those who need organ transplants or whose lives have been changed by transplantation. (4) Promote NDDs as resources for potential NDDs. (5) Educate interested kidney NDDs about liver and uterus transplant programs. (6) Decrease financial barriers to donation.