What Brain Donor Project does

The Brain Donor Project (BDP) is a Naples, Florida-based 501(c)-equivalent nonprofit founded in 2016 by Tish Hevel following her father Gene Armentrout's death from Lewy Body Dementia. The organization operates as a single point of contact connecting potential brain donors to the NIH NeuroBioBank, a federally funded network of brain banks at Harvard, Mt. Sinai, University of Maryland, University of Miami, and UCLA. Its core product is an online pre-registration portal (portal.braindonorproject.org) that collects donor information, matches individuals to the appropriate brain bank based on geography and disease focus, and delivers consent forms within ten business days. BDP also operates a small e-commerce merchandise shop (hats, t-shirts, totes, lanyards, posters priced $10–$25) and convenes an annual National Brain Donation Awareness Day, established by bipartisan Congressional resolution H. Res. 1069 on May 7, 2022.

BDP's go-to-market is direct-to-consumer and community-led, relying on content marketing, podcast appearances (Brain & Life, Science Friday, The Dr. Pat Show), earned media (NYT, USA Today, NPR), and partnerships with patient advocacy organizations such as the Alzheimer's Association, NAMI, AFTD, and the Restless Legs Foundation. The service is free to donors and families; all costs of brain recovery, transportation, and shipping are covered by the receiving brain banks. BDP is funded through voluntary donations, memorial contributions, and merchandise sales, and does not publicly disclose its financials.

As of June 2026, BDP had facilitated pre-registration or donation for 30,000+ people, up from 27,000+ in October 2025. Roughly two-thirds of registrants report some neurological disorder, with mental illness being the largest sub-category (25%), and 88% of those with mental illness reporting multiple diagnoses. The organization is founder-led, with Tish Hevel as CEO, and operates with 1–10 employees and a distributed-partner model rather than a traditional centralized workforce.

Name

Brain Donor Project

Legal name

The Brain Donor Project

Website

https://braindonorproject.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Brain Donor Project is a U.S. nonprofit founded in 2016 that operates an online pre-registration portal connecting potential brain donors to the NIH NeuroBioBank network. It serves individuals with neurological disorders, healthy control donors, and families, funded through donations and merchandise sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Health Advocacy (Brain Donation Facilitation)

NAICS

Blood and Organ Banks (621991)

akta.pro primary industry

Blood, Organ & Tissue Donation Organizations (BPAGACAJ)

Keywords

• Brain donation facilitation
• Nonprofit research advocacy
• Neurology research support
• Tissue donor registry
• Neuroscience awareness

Headquarters

HQ city

Naples

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: The Brain Donor Project accepts voluntary financial contributions from supporters to fund their mission of raising awareness about brain donation and simplifying the donation process.
2. Merchandise Sales: BDP sells branded merchandise including hats ($25), t-shirts ($20-$25), totes ($22), and other items to generate revenue while promoting brain donation awareness.
3. Memorial Donations: The organization accepts memorial donations made in honor of deceased individuals, directed to their P.O. Box address in Naples, FL.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Brain Donor Project is a nonprofit that serves as a single point of contact connecting prospective brain donors with brain banks in the NIH NeuroBioBank network. Through an online pre-registration portal, BDP streamlines donor registration at no cost to donors and their families, with the brain banks covering transportation, recovery, and shipping of brain tissue. The organization also raises public awareness about brain donation and sells branded merchandise to support fundraising.

Product overview

The Brain Donor Project is a non-profit organization that serves as a single point of contact connecting potential brain donors with brain banks in the NIH NeuroBioBank network. The core product is the Online Pre-Registration Portal, which facilitates donor intake and matching to appropriate brain banks. The organization also operates a Merchandise Shop selling branded items to support fundraising, and promotes National Brain Donation Awareness Day as an annual awareness initiative. The organization does not charge donors or families for the brain donation process—all costs are covered by the brain banks.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Online Pre-Registration Portal Web-based self-service form that allows prospective brain donors or their proxies to register and submit contact and diagnostic information. BDP uses the submitted data to determine which of the five NIH NeuroBioBank brain banks is most appropriate for each donor.
• Brain Donor Project Merchandise Shop E-commerce shop selling branded merchandise such as hats, t-shirts, tote bags, lanyards, and posters to generate revenue and promote brain donation awareness; supplements the organization's donation-based funding.
• National Brain Donation Awareness Day (May 7th) Annual national awareness initiative, designated by congressional resolution, that promotes public understanding of the need for brain donation to advance neuroscience research and supports BDP's recruitment mission.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30,000 people have donated or started the brain donation process through The Brain Donor Project as of June 2026
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• American Brain CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 March 2022BDP partnered with the American Brain Coalition to deliver a Congressional briefing to the Congressional Neuroscience Caucus advocating for the establishment of National Brain Donation Awareness Day. The briefing featured Dr. Walter Koroshetz (Director of NINDS) and Dr. John Ngai (Director of NIH's BRAIN Initiative).
• NIH NeuroBioBankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Brain Donor Project serves as a single point of contact for the NIH NeuroBioBank - the network of brain banks of the National Institutes of Health. BDP connects potential donors to the appropriate brain bank within the network, which includes Harvard, Mt. Sinai in New York, University of Maryland, University of Miami in Florida, and UCLA in southern California. The NeuroBioBank was created to provide researchers worldwide with the precious tissue they need to advance brain science.
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerBDP attended NAMI's annual meeting (NAMICon) to discuss the critical role of brain donation in advancing mental health research. Mental illness is the largest category of diagnoses reported by BDP pre-registrants.
• Restless Legs FoundationminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBDP shared a presentation about brain donation with approximately 85 members of the Restless Legs Foundation community to raise awareness about the need for brain tissue in neurological research.
• Alzheimer's AssociationminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBDP has collaborated with the Alzheimer's Association on brain donation awareness efforts to support research into Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
• Black Men in BioTechminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBDP partners with Black Men in BioTech founder Patroski Lawson on podcasts and outreach to discuss the importance of diversity in neuroscience research and brain donation.
• Gunny's WarriorsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBDP collaborates with Gunny's Warriors, an organization supporting veterans with head trauma, on podcasts and awareness about brain donation importance for military-related brain injuries.
• Semper Fi & America's FundminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBDP partnered with Semper Fi & America's Fund Visiting Nurse Program to discuss brain donation with service members dealing with long-term medical issues from military service.
• Dementia Action AllianceminorGTM or Marketing PartnerBDP collaborated with Dementia Action Alliance on video content explaining why organ donation does not include brain donation and how to donate your brain.
• Association for Frontotemporal Lobe Degeneration (AFTD)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerBDP participated in AFTD webinar on 'Perspectives in FTD Research: Brain Donation - Who, What, When and Why' to educate about brain donation importance for FTD research.
• Science Friday (NPR)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerTish Hevel appeared on Science Friday for a live Q&A and radio broadcast that inspired over 1,000 listeners to pledge their brains to scientific research.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Donate Life America: National nonprofit focused on organ, eye, and tissue donation registration and awareness. Directly comparable to BDP as a donation-facilitation and awareness nonprofit targeting individual donors through education and self-service registration, though at a much broader anatomical scope.
• National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI): Nonprofit that recovers, preserves, and distributes human tissues and organs for biomedical research. Directly comparable as a non-profit intermediary connecting donors to research institutions, with an analogous mission of supplying researchers with hard-to-obtain human tissue.

Others

• Cure Alzheimer's Fund: Nonprofit focused exclusively on funding Alzheimer's disease research. Operates in an adjacent part of the brain-research value chain — research funding rather than tissue supply — and is a natural partner ecosystem participant for BDP.

Broad incumbents

• American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB): Professional standards-setting body for the tissue-banking industry. Comparable as an established organization operating in the tissue/brain-bank ecosystem that BDP feeds into, though operating in a regulatory and standards role rather than donor outreach.
• National Kidney Foundation: Large national health nonprofit with a long-standing organ-donation awareness and patient-support mission. Comparable as a large-scale nonprofit using education and awareness to drive donor registrations for research and transplantation, though with a different organ focus.
• Alzheimer's Association: Largest national nonprofit for Alzheimer's disease that also funds brain donation awareness through its own Brain Donation for Research program. Comparable as a health nonprofit raising awareness of brain donation for research, but with a much broader mission, larger staff, and disease-specific scope.

Emerging players

• Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD): Disease-specific nonprofit that co-hosts brain-donation webinars with BDP and promotes brain donation within the FTD community. Comparable as a health nonprofit channeling donors toward brain-donation for research, but with a narrower disease focus.
• American Brain Coalition: Coalition of neurological and psychiatric patient advocacy and professional organizations. BDP is a member and co-led the Congressional briefing establishing National Brain Donation Awareness Day with ABC. Comparable as a partner organization in the brain-health advocacy ecosystem.
• Huntington's Disease Society of America: Disease-specific nonprofit that runs its own brain-donation programs for Huntington's disease research. Comparable as a health nonprofit facilitating brain donation for neuroscience research within a specific disease community, partnering with brain banks directly.

Regional players

• EBRAINS: European research infrastructure for brain science that aggregates brain-research data and tools. Comparable in mission of advancing brain science, but operates as a non-regional player in Europe rather than directly competing in donor outreach in the U.S.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/braindonorproj
• Facebookfacebook.com/braindonorproject
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brain-donor-project
• Instagraminstagram.com/braindonorproject

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Brain Donor Project