About UTN
UTN is a non-profit organization connecting whole-body donors of deceased persons with medical schools and research organizations that innovate healthcare solutions. Donors and families of donors benefit from knowing that their body donation is helping the discovery of breakthroughs in disease treatment, possibly for a disease that the donor suffered from. Additionally, whole-body donors benefit from financial burden relief, as UTN assists with the transport and cremation costs. This saves donors and donors’ families an average of $1,400. Medical students and professionals benefit from practicing, examining, and studying human cadavers for the most effective education. UTN’s partners include medical examiners, morgues, hospice providers, and funeral homes.
UTN is based in Arizona and Florida, with new offices potentially opening in the Miami area in 2024. Whole-body donation differs from organ donation in that the whole-body donor is donating their body to science and not to another person waiting for an organ or tissue.
Main Message
- UTN understands that making end-of-life decisions can be overwhelming. Donating your body, or your loved one’s body, to medical education is one of the most meaningful decisions you can make to help the lives of others now and into the future.
- UTN helps families mitigate or eliminate final expenses, reducing financial end-of-life burdens when emotional burdens are overwhelming.
- Whole-body donation provides human tissue for a variety of programs, including:
- Physician education
- Surgical training
- Device research and development
- Drug research and development
- UTN will coordinate with the local organ procurement organization to ensure that all organs and tissue are viable for transplant and take priority before transporting the donor to one of their facilities. This allows the body donation to be utilized while honoring the donor’s wishes.
- Donors can have their cremation and body transportation costs covered.
- UTN eliminates the following common end-of-life stressors:
- Receiving ashes outside of the promised time period
- Delayed death certificates, which tie up estate proceedings
- Poor communication throughout the process
- Offshore communication with unresponsive reps
- Wondering whether a loved one’s ashes are theirs
- Uncertainty around the use of donation
- UTN honors the intent of their donors by working with the most innovative and ethical medical educators around the world.
- UTN will provide you with all the information you need and guide you through their process every step of the way.
- UTN is accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB), a professional, nonprofit 501c3 scientific and educational organization.
- UTN has a code of ethics integral to its operations. You can read the UTN Way here.
Customer Pain Points
- The donor is facing end-of-life, possibly ill, and likely under emotional duress.
- The donor, or their loved ones, may not have the finances for end-of-life expenses. The donor or family may be facing financial hardship and UTN’s free cremation service is a valuable offering.
- The donor wants to know their donation is going to a good cause and a reputable organization.
- The donor and loved ones are going through an overwhelming time overall.
UTN helps donors and their loved ones with the pledge process. Hospices and funeral homes benefit from partnering with UTN because they can empower their patients and customers with an additional choice for end-of-life wishes.
While much of our messaging focuses on the concerns of the donors and their loved ones, our marketing also educates strategic partners to give them the tools to help potential donors decide to donate if they so choose.
There is a huge demand for whole-body donors, one that UTN is struggling to fill. It’s crucial to educate and partner with all appropriate organizations to create a win-win scenario for the donor, their loved ones, and medical professionals advancing the health care field.
Terms:
Pledge donor – Someone who signs up early/young (long duration from sign-up to recovery)
Pre-registered donor – Someone who has received six months or less terminal diagnosis. UTN takes them through the entire process and acceptance criteria.
At-need donor – Donors have passed and can be accepted for seven days from the date of death, depending on how they’ve been stored.
Boilerplate:
United Tissue Network (UTN) is a non-profit organization that connects whole-body donors in Arizona and Florida with reputable medical organizations to advance medical treatments. It is one of seven accredited organizations and the only true non-profit recognized by the American Association of Tissue Banks, underlining its trustworthiness in whole-body donation.
United Tissue Network compassionately guides potential donors through the decision-making process of becoming a donor. Donors know their contribution will contribute to progress in medicine and other treatments, serving as a gift to humanity long after they’re gone. UTN also partners with hospice facilities and funeral homes to educate them about how whole-body donation helps medical progress and offers financial relief to those unable to cover end-of-life costs.
For more information on partnering with United Tissue Network or whole-body donations, visit unitedtissue.org.
Top Competitors
- ScienceCare (AZ)
- MedCure (AZ)
- AGR (AZ)
- Merive (AZ)
- Shiva (AZ)
- Research For Life (AZ)
- Whole-body donation is new in Florida, so not a lot of competition yet.
- Medical schools are competitors and should not be talked about in our content
Target Audience
- HR Directors & Managers
- Corporate Recruiters
- Staffing Agency Owners
- Training & Development Managers
Editorial Style
Writing should be in an educational, informational, conversational style.
Why UTN?
Approved Messaging – Required review before any copywriting
- We are the only true non-profit, even though some competitors have a .org website
- We are one of seven accredited tissue banks worldwide.
- No cost to the family – FREE
- You don’t have to pay for cremation ($1200-5000)
- We cover two death certificates
- They can choose to receive cremated ashes back, which typically takes about 4 – 6 weeks
- We will provide a scattering plan in the Gulf of Mexico
- Donors fall into two categories: economic reasons; those who want to give back, advancement of science
- Funeral homes can charge Tissue Bank a service fee ($500-1700 depending on work/travel) – UTN reimburses Funeral Home for those fees; we pay promptly couple of weeks or credit card and get paid today
- We reimburse them for their services
- Our services are much better than the state services
- We take those with economic issues – we reimburse at full rate
Hospice Messaging
- We want to be a resource – pamphlets/contact info
- We will serve the family well
- It will be an easy process to register – online portal or by phone
- Ex Hospice of the Valley, largest in Phoenix – work with corporate and locations – partner referral
- Can provide in-service, CME programs
Funeral Home Messaging
- We want to be very clear that UTN can be used as a strategic partner to increase revenue
- No age or BMI restrictions
- Can accept up to seven days after date of death
- Donation disqualifiers are:
- HIV/AIDs
- Tuberculosis
- Hepatitis
- UTN covers all costs directly related to donation, including:
- Removal and transportation to our facility
- Permit preparation (only in AZ)
- filing 2 Death Certificates (only in AZ)
- Cremation Return ashes within 4-6 weeks
- Ship ashes anywhere in the US
- Funeral home business benefit in the following ways:
- Create packages that increase your monthly revenue
- Reduce workload and increase efficiencies
- Have more time for loved ones
- Offer more services at a competitive price
- Create a legacy for humanity
- We don’t tell funeral homes they’re lowering their fees or rates: we let them know that by partnering with UTN they’ll be able to provide financial relief to families without insurance or under financial stress
- In both Arizona and Florida, UTN arranges for local delivery of cremated remains within the continental U.S. to the funeral home after research is completed
Note: AZ is very competitive, FL is new and doesn’t have competitors but people aren’t knowledgeable so the content should be more educational
Competitive Advantages
- Non-profit org – only true non-profit in Phoenix and Florida
- Online registration process – self directed all the way to consent (have to call competitors). Can call UTN as well.
- Caring, knowledgeable staff available 24/7, 7 days a week
- All Local Arizona and Florida based Donor Services Coordinators (not offshore or outsourced)
- Here in Phoenix since 2009
- Have helped nearly 12,000 families
VOICE
- Speak to readers instead of at them using an authoritative and expert tone still staying aware that we’re often writing about sensitive topics.
- Use as few words as possible. Less is more.
- Choose plain text and avoid business or medical jargon.
- Write in a factual and objective style yet clear, immediately understandable, and reader-friendly. Use plain language and avoid jargon.
- Avoid passive voice.
- Use plain English and a professional, personable tone.
- Use a comma after the last item in a series of three or more (i.e. Oxford comma)
- Content should be direct and actionable. Do not use passive voice. Tell users what they should be doing and how it helps their business.
- Refer to the deceased as “donors.”
- Treat all articles as if they could stand alone.
STYLE
- Blogs should be 800 words. Pillar pages are 2000+ words.
- Bullets, numbered lists, subheads, etc. are encouraged to break up text for readability.
- Be succinct. Write no more than 50% of the text you would have used in a hardcopy publication.
- Write for scannability – do not require users to read long continuous blocks of text.
- The Web is an informal and immediate medium compared to print, so users appreciate a somewhat informal writing style and small amounts of humor.
- Limit the use of metaphors, particularly in headings. Users might take you literally.
- Use simple sentence structures. Convoluted writing and complex words are even harder to understand online.
- Remember that you are writing for an audience likely going through a difficult time. While every piece should be professional, be sensitive to the stresses the reader may be enduring. .
- Write in a style that is factual and objective, yet clear, immediately understandable, and reader-friendly. The tone should be expert and authoritative as well as engaging.
- Avoid using text that appears to be self-praising or contains “hype” or “fluff”. Instead, focus on results, insights, and interpreting information in a way that users will find valuable.
- Check all facts for 100% accuracy. Support assertions with citations and/or links to the information source.
- Copy should be clean with no spelling errors, missing words, typos, or formatting issues.
- PROOF & CHECK ALL COPY USING GRAMMARLY!
EDITORIAL NOTES
- Using the symbol % is fine, rather than spelling out the word percent.
- Capitalize all principal words in titles and headlines for consistency.
- Avoid zealous capitalization for simply dramatizing emphasis.
- Whenever possible, break up long paragraphs of more than four sentences into smaller paragraphs for greater readability and use bullets where appropriate.
- Spell out acronyms and abbreviations on the first mention of a piece; it is OK to use acronyms and abbreviations from that point onward or in charts and graphs on the first mention.
- Spell out numbers 1-9, then use numerals from 10. Loan maturities are an exception.
- Capitalize “White” and “Black” when referring to race.
- In healthcare-related articles, “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act” is referred to as “HIPAA” (one “P and two “As”)
- In bullets, use a period only after full sentences.
- It’s JobFit, not Jobfit. We need to define it as “or a match for the position”, “or job compatibility.” We need to define it the first time it is used in the piece.
- Please refer to skills tests rather than just tests.
- Please do not use exclamation points.
- Please keep the call to action sentence at the end to one line if possible.
- Please refer to skills tests rather than just tests.
- Please do not use exclamation points.
- Please keep the call to action sentence at the end to one line if possible.