Children's Organ Transplant Association

What Children's Organ Transplant Association does

Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in April 1986 and headquartered at 2501 West COTA Drive in Bloomington, Indiana. The organization provides fundraising assistance and family support services at no cost to families with children and young adults facing life-saving organ or tissue transplants. Services are free to families and are designed to remain available for the lifetime of the patient, covering transplant-related expenses including medications ($6,000-$8,000/month), insurance co-pays and premiums, travel, lodging, meals, parking, and household bills during periods when parents cannot work.

COTA operates a unified platform that combines patient-facing campaign websites built on WordPress, a family expense submission portal (COTA Family Portal at cotacp.wpengine.com), a professional referral tool (COTA Connect), a Transplant Expense Estimator, and a searchable Find-a-Family directory. Supporting programs include structured volunteer training (Campaign, Outreach, and Website Coordinators), a condition-specific Resources Library, the Miracle Maker Celebration donor recognition program, and the Leonard Kleinman Legacy Society planned giving program. The technology stack is conventional (WordPress, DonorPerfect for donation processing) with no proprietary AI or algorithmic components disclosed.

The business model is donation-driven: COTA generates revenue through charitable contributions from individuals, corporations, and community organizations, and 100% of donations made in honor of a patient are allocated to that patient's transplant-related expenses. The go-to-market is community-led, acquiring families through referrals from transplant social workers at hospitals, then training volunteer teams who run grassroots fundraising campaigns. COTA is led by President Rick Lofgren, governed by a Board of Directors that includes family representation, and holds BBB accreditation, a Charity Navigator 4-star rating, and the GuideStar Platinum Seal of Transparency.

Name

Children's Organ Transplant Association

Legal name

Children's Organ Transplant Association, Inc.

Website

http://cota.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1986 in Bloomington, Indiana, that mobilizes volunteer-led fundraising at no cost to U.S. families whose children or young adults need life-saving organ or tissue transplants, providing lifetime support for transplant-related expenses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Health Services — Pediatric Transplant Fundraising Assistance

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGACAJ

Blood, Organ & Tissue Donation Organizations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Health & Medical Nonprofits

Keywords

• Pediatric transplant fundraising
• Medical expense assistance
• Volunteer fundraising support
• Transplant family services
• Nonprofit health fundraising

Headquarters

HQ city

Bloomington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual and Corporate Donations: COTA generates revenue entirely through charitable donations from individuals, corporations, and community organizations. 100% of each contribution made to COTA in honor of a patient is allocated to assist with transplant-related expenses. COTA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and all contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

COTA supports families of children and young adults needing life-saving organ or tissue transplants by training community volunteers who run family-led fundraising campaigns, providing each patient a free branded fundraising website, and reimbursing transplant-related expenses (medications, insurance co-pays, travel, lodging, meals, and household bills) for a lifetime. COTA also operates the COTA Family Portal for expense submission, COTA Connect for professional patient referrals, a Transplant Expense Estimator, and a searchable Find a Family directory, with all services delivered free to families.

Product overview

COTA is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing fundraising assistance and family support for children and young adults needing life-saving transplants. The organization operates a unified platform combining patient-facing campaign websites built on WordPress, a family expense management portal, professional referral tools, and volunteer coordination resources. Core offerings include individual branded fundraising campaign websites for each patient, the COTA Family Portal for expense submission, COTA Connect for professional referrals, the Transplant Expense Estimator, and a searchable Find a Family directory. Supporting services include volunteer training programs, a resources library covering specific transplant conditions, planned giving (Leonard Kleinman Legacy Society), and donor recognition (Miracle Maker Celebration). All services are provided at no cost to families, with funds available for a lifetime of transplant-related expenses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• COTA Family Fundraising Assistance Program Free, lifetime fundraising and financial-support program for U.S. families with a child or young adult needing an organ or tissue transplant, covering lifetime transplant-related expenses.
• COTA Campaign Websites Individual branded fundraising websites built for each COTA patient, featuring blog updates, event listings, photo galleries, and online donation processing via DonorPerfect.
• COTA Family Portal Online portal for COTA families to submit transplant-related expenses for reimbursement, track donations, and manage their campaign accounts.
• COTA Connect Patient referral portal enabling transplant professionals to submit new patient referrals to COTA, capturing patient information, transplant type, and professional contact details.
• Transplant Expense Estimator Tool helping families and transplant professionals estimate transplant-related expenses including surgery, medications, travel, lodging, and ongoing care costs.
• Find a Family Directory Searchable directory of COTA patient campaigns allowing donors to find and contribute to specific families based on transplant type, location, and fundraising goals.
• COTA Volunteer Training & Resources Program Structured training program for volunteer Campaign, Outreach, and Website Coordinators, with downloadable fundraising templates, budget worksheets, letterhead, business cards, and appreciation certificates.
• Miracle Maker Celebration Recognition program for major donors who contribute significantly to COTA campaigns, providing ongoing donor engagement and stewardship.
• Leonard Kleinman Legacy Society Planned giving program allowing donors to include COTA in their estate plans, supporting long-term transplant family assistance.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than $160 million raised for transplant-related expenses over 40 years
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Help Hope Live: Help Hope Live (formerly NTAF) is a direct peer that helps patients raise funds for transplants and other catastrophic medical costs through community-based fundraising. It uses an almost identical model to COTA: volunteer-led fundraising campaigns, no-cost services for families, and funds held in dedicated accounts to pay medical expenses.
• National Foundation for Transplants: NFT is a direct peer providing fundraising assistance for transplant patients of all ages. It is highly comparable to COTA in mission and model, though it serves a broader age range rather than focusing exclusively on children and young adults.

Emerging players

• Children's Liver Association for Support Services: CLASS is a disease-specific peer supporting families affected by pediatric liver disease and transplants. It overlaps with COTA in serving pediatric transplant families but focuses on a single organ system (liver), making it a narrower, disease-specialized peer.
• Children's Heart Foundation: Children's Heart Foundation funds congenital heart defect research and supports affected families. While its primary mission is research rather than direct family fundraising, it serves a patient population that overlaps with COTA's pediatric heart transplant families.

Broad incumbents

• American Transplant Foundation: American Transplant Foundation operates broadly across the transplant ecosystem, including patient financial assistance and living donor support. It overlaps with COTA's transplant financial support mission but at a broader industry level rather than COTA's pediatric specialty focus.
• American Kidney Fund: American Kidney Fund is a major national nonprofit providing financial assistance to kidney patients, including children. While not exclusively pediatric or transplant-focused, it serves a substantial overlap of COTA's patient population and provides similar financial assistance programming.
• National Kidney Foundation: National Kidney Foundation is the largest U.S. kidney disease nonprofit, providing patient services, advocacy, and limited financial assistance. It serves an overlapping patient population with COTA but operates at a broader disease-awareness level rather than family-level fundraising.
• American Liver Foundation: American Liver Foundation is a national liver disease nonprofit providing patient education, research funding, and limited support services. It overlaps with COTA's pediatric liver transplant patient population but does not focus on direct family-level fundraising.
• GoFundMe: GoFundMe is the dominant general-purpose crowdfunding platform and competes with COTA as an alternative channel for transplant-related fundraising. While it serves a vastly broader set of causes, medical fundraising (including transplants) represents a meaningful share of its volume and represents a competitive alternative for families.

Others

• Donor Alliance: Donor Alliance is an organ procurement organization facilitating organ and tissue donation. It operates in the broader transplant ecosystem alongside COTA, and while its mission (donor logistics) differs from COTA's (family fundraising), the two organizations frequently interact at the patient-family level.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/COTAFans
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cota_org
• Instagraminstagram.com/cota_org
• Xx.com/cota_org

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Children's Organ Transplant Association