A lifetime ago, blood cancers such as leukemia or bone cancers were considered death sentences. Without a mass removable through surgery, how could such neoplasms be effectively treated? The heartbreaking story of the Bush family’s loss of their young daughter Robin is perhaps the most well-known example of the plight of midcentury blood cancer patients. In 1956, a new era in this branch of medicine dawned with the first bone marrow transplant that saved the life of a young New York woman with leukemia.  

Today, about 18,000 American lives, many of them children, teenagers, and young- and middle-aged adults, are saved each year through this procedure that has become largely routine. In some cases, bone marrow may be sourced from other healthy sites in a patient’s body. And in others, family members are sufficient donors. But in 70% of cases, donors must be sourced outside of the patient’s family. In recent years, the vast majority of transplants are done through peripheral blood stem cell, a process akin to a blood transfusion, making the process simpler and safer.  

A Lifesaving Bone Marrow Transplant Opens Doors for Student Research 

A decade ago, Wanda Zimmer, wife of former Cal State Fullerton College of Business and Economics marketing instructor Robert Zimmer, received a lifesaving bone marrow transplant matched through the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP). “Through the selfless gift of a stranger’s stem cells, I reclaimed my future,” says Wanda Zimmer. “I’ll be forever grateful to my donor, Aaron, and to the program that made my survival possible.”  

As a way of giving back and to make similar miracles possible for others, Robert Zimmer worked with his colleagues to create a research opportunity for Cal State Fullerton students to enhance the organization’s outreach to college students. The young adult demographic is particularly significant for bone marrow donations since the cells of younger donors tend to lead to better outcomes. Plus, ethnic diversity is needed for matching, and the diversity of today’s college campuses are an ideal source.  

How can young adults be convinced to take time off of their busy school or work schedules to selflessly make this sacrifice?  

Back in 2016, Granitz’s students discovered that the primary reason college students would want to donate bone marrow is to make a family member or friend happy while easing suffering. Roughly 63% of respondents agreed this is a highly motivating reason to donate. Student run organizations are interested in supporting these efforts due to their strong commitment to bettering society and doing good. However, student organizations may not be able to partner because, for many clubs, approval is required before any partnerships with external organizations such as NMDP can be established. 

Thanks to the research of the Cal State Fullerton students last decade, many colleges and universities across North America, including CSUF, have student-run organizations promoting bone marrow donation. This has resulted in successful outcomes for numerous patients.  

Keeping Bone Marrow Donor Outreach Relevant and Impactful  

In spring 2025, marketing students at Cal State Fullerton brought the earlier research up to date for the present, examining changes and understanding how the NMDP can better build awareness, increase student recruitment on college campuses, maintain connections after sign-up, and increase donor participation.  

The class’ findings were presented by marketing undergrads Lauren Schuerger ’26, whose father is a lymphoma survivor, and plasma donor Roslynd Baker ’25, at Friday’s class meeting.  

• Awareness remains low, especially since the organization changed their name from the more descriptive Be the Match to NMDP. Only 8% of students were aware of the new name, with 12% familiar with the old identity.  

• Non-business students, especially health sciences majors, were most likely to sign up for the registry. There is thus a need for non-technical outreach to the broader non-healthcare focused college community.  

• 70% of students who were initially unlikely to register reported they might change their decision with better information, safety assurances or financial support, implying a much larger donor base may exist if tapped effectively.  

• The biggest hinderance to donation was concern about pain (53.2%), followed by a lack of time to donate (43.8%), since being a marrow donor does require several days of recovery time.  

• Young adults between the ages of 25 and 30 were more likely to register compared to their younger peers.  

• Gender does not influence likelihood to register.  

• A strong relationship exists between students getting their health information from their university, suggesting the benefit of a robust public health communication strategy in the higher education sector.  

• Communication after being a donor would make young people more likely to donate. This might include regular updates about potential matches and their well-being. This suggests that facilitating relationships between donors and the lives they save might be a strategy not only for greater donor willingness, but perhaps also for mutually beneficial emotional and social outcomes for both. 

The students created a survey of 413 participants aged 18 to 30, 70% of whom were Cal State Fullerton students, with the remainder from other colleges and universities across Southern California. The survey was coupled with individualized interviews to uncover motivations and barriers, along with identifying best practices and strategic approaches used in the marketing industry, adapted to the benefit of NMDP. Other health care organizations and nonprofits were used as examples and benchmarks for the students’ research. Exemplifying the college’s commitment to AI-focused machine learning, Schuerger and Baker interpreted their research through Qualtrics and SPSS, widely used quantitative research technical platforms in the social sciences.  

Schuerger and Baker found that digital engagement and personalized outreach are reshaping donor behavior, with trust and transparency essential for donor willingness. The National Kidney Foundation and Gift of Life, two similar nonprofits, use community partnerships and incentives that are a model for the NMDP.  

The students provided seven recommendations for NMDP to enhance their outreach to college students:  

• Create a fun, visible and engaging college mascot that would appear on flyers and social media campaigns. Instagram Reels and TikTok are suggested as the best for outreach to Generation Z. 

• Use an influencer-focused social media campaign to increase awareness and build trust.  

• Provide more flexibility in the donor process, including informing donors one month before, thus making busy students and professional more eligible.  

• Enhance the organization’s existing mobile app to enable donors to track the journey from donating bone marrow to the lifesaving results for the patient, along with regular updates on statistics about bone marrow transplants and opportunities to give back.  

• Utilize emotional storytelling through video testimonies for social and traditional media to encourage prospective donors to take action.  

• Reach out to health and life science-oriented students through health classes and wellness events.  

• Ask professors (especially health science instructors) and staff for involvement, including discussions in class and even providing extra credit for students to attend NMDP events. 

Granitz notes that student advising projects such as this provide Business Titans with invaluable work experience that is coveted by today’s employers. “Doing live sponsored projects like this one gives them this experience,” says the Marketing Department Chair. “It also creates deeper engagement for students allowing them to enact what they learn in class and develop soft skills such as communication, critical thinking and teamwork. Finally, completing a project for an organization like NMDP creates gravity and meaning in their education. Students know that their hard work can lead to saving lives.”  

Marketing projects such as this service-learning project benefiting NMDP are recruited through TITANIAM, the Department of Marketing’s initiative connecting students, faculty, alumni and community organizations. The department is always seeking projects from community organizations, benefiting both students by giving them applied extracurricular experiences and the public. For more information or to get involved, reach out to titaniam@fullerton.edu.  

Dean Sri Sundaram, addressing the class and representatives from NMDP, noted that the project exemplified the college’s two-fold mission. “We are focused on student success as well as bettering our communities,” said the dean. “This exemplifies this commitment.”  

For More on Our Students and Their Impact  

From competitions and presentations to overcoming challenges to reach greatness, our students are inspirational even while still pursuing their degrees. For more Business Titan student stories, read more of our articles about student life.