What Tennessee Donor Services does

Tennessee Donor Services (TDS) is a nonprofit Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) founded in 1980 and headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, operating as a subsidiary of DCI Donor Services, Inc. The organization facilitates organ, eye, and tissue donation across Tennessee and Virginia, serving approximately 6 million people through a 24/7/365 operation. In 2024, TDS recorded 488 organ donors resulting in 1,371 transplants, 2,639 tissue donors, 170,000 new registry registrations, and bereavement support to over 3,600 families. Core services include organ recovery (heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, intestines), eye donation through Sierra Donor Services Eye Bank, tissue donation through DCI Donor Services Tissue Bank, and a specialized Birth Tissue Donation Program operating at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and other C-section delivery hospitals. The organization is AATB-accredited, FDA 21 CFR Part 1271 compliant, and HIPAA compliant.

TDS distributes its services through a multi-channel network including 95 Tennessee County Clerk offices, hospital partnerships with Vanderbilt, Ascension Saint Thomas, Erlanger, TriStar Skyline, and Cleveland Clinic, and the Epic MyChart digital registration pathway integrated with the National Donate Life Registry. The donor care business model is funded through donations, government funding, and community support, with services provided at no cost to donors or families. The organization operates as a designated service area monopoly, with the regulatory and distribution infrastructure protected by federal OPO designation.

Strategic priorities include the first-of-its-kind Donor Care Unit at Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital West (opened December 2023), the TDS x Meharry Medical College HBCU partnership for workforce diversification, and the #BeTheGift awareness campaign supported by the Donate Life Tennessee specialty license plate program. The organization received four Pinnacle Awards from Donate Life America at the 2024 Annual Conference, including Best of the Best recognitions in multicultural outreach and return on effort.

Name

Tennessee Donor Services

Legal name

Tennessee Donor Services

Website

https://tennesseedonor.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Tennessee Donor Services is a nonprofit Organ Procurement Organization serving 6 million people in Tennessee and Virginia, coordinating organ, eye, and tissue donation, transplantation logistics, and donor family support through hospital partnerships and a federally designated service area.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Organ and Tissue Donation Services

NAICS

Blood and Organ Banks (621991), Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Blood, Organ & Tissue Donation Organizations (BPAGACAJ)

Keywords

• Organ procurement services
• Tissue donation coordination
• Transplant support services
• Donor family support
• Nonprofit healthcare services

Headquarters

HQ city

Nashville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Donor Services Operations: As a nonprofit healthcare organization, Tennessee Donor Services operates through a combination of public donations, government funding, and community support. The organization connects lifesaving organ, eye and tissue donations to patients, with services provided at no cost to donors or their families.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Tennessee Donor Services is a nonprofit Organ Procurement Organization that recovers and coordinates deceased-donor organs, eyes, and tissues, and runs a Birth Tissue Donation Program using placentas from C-section deliveries to produce therapeutic grafts. The organization connects these gifts to transplant recipients and provides donor family aftercare, bereavement support, and donor registration services across Tennessee and Virginia. All donation and family-support services are provided free of charge to donors and their families.

Product overview

Tennessee Donor Services operates as a nonprofit Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) offering a unified suite of donation and transplantation services. The core offerings encompass organ donation (coordinating deceased donor organ recovery and transplantation), eye donation (corneal transplants via Sierra Donor Services Eye Bank), and tissue donation (skin, bone, heart valves through DCI Donor Services Tissue Bank). A specialized Birth Tissue Donation Program enables mothers to donate placental tissue during C-section deliveries. The organization also operates community-focused programs including the #BeTheGift Connections podcast, the Donate Life Tennessee license plate initiative, financial contribution options, a volunteer Ambassador Program, and comprehensive Family & Recipient Support Services including grief counseling and memorial resources. The Donate Life Tennessee registry enables resident donor registration. All services are coordinated through the parent organization DCI Donor Services, with affiliate partnerships extending to New Mexico Donor Services and Sierra Donor Services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• #BeTheGift: The organization's donor registration campaign and challenge initiative encouraging Tennessee residents to register as organ, eye, and tissue donors.
• #BeTheGift Connections
• Donate Life Tennessee

Products and services

• Organ Donation Services Facilitates deceased-donor organ donation and transplantation, recovering organs including heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, and intestines and transporting them to transplant centers for patients on transplant waiting lists.
• Eye Donation Services Facilitates cornea and eye tissue donation, helping restore sight to visually impaired individuals through corneal transplants. Operated in partnership with Sierra Donor Services Eye Bank.
• Tissue Donation Services Recovers skin, bone, heart valves, and other tissue grafts from deceased donors for use in medical procedures including burn treatment, wound care, and breast reconstruction. Operated through DCI Donor Services Tissue Bank.
• Birth Tissue Donation Program Program enabling mothers delivering via Caesarean section to donate birth tissue (placenta, amniotic membrane, chorionic membrane, umbilical cords) typically discarded. The tissue yields therapeutic grafts used to treat burns, diabetic foot ulcers, corneal disease, and other injuries, with up to 100 grafts per donation.
• Family & Recipient Support Services Comprehensive support services including donor family resources, recipient resources, grief support through the Aftercare program with Grief Coach services, donor wall memorial, donor remembrance ceremonies, and correspondence guidelines for connecting donor families with recipients.
• Donor Ambassador Program Volunteer program enabling community members to represent Tennessee Donor Services and promote organ donation awareness through speaking engagements, events, and outreach activities.

Quantifiable outcome

• One organ donor can save up to 8 lives
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• DCI Donor ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTennessee Donor Services is part of DCI Donor Services, a nonprofit organ procurement organization network. TDS collaborates with affiliate OPOs New Mexico Donor Services and Sierra Donor Services, as well as DCI Donor Services Tissue Bank and Sierra Donor Services Eye Bank.
• Meharry Medical CollegeflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerTDS partnered with Meharry Medical College to launch the TDS-Meharry Medical Student Research Experience, a first-of-its-kind program exposing students of color at an HBCU to donation and transplantation fields. The partnership aims to diversify the organ donation workforce and increase Black registered donors.
• Epic/MyChartcoreTechnology or IntegrationDonate Life America and Epic connected MyChart to the National Donate Life Registry, enabling over 250,000 organ donor registrations in the first year. More than 220 organizations representing 1,300 hospitals have enabled this feature.
• Donate Life AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational nonprofit organization managing the National Donate Life Registry, partnering with OPOs including TDS for organ donor registration and awareness campaigns.
• Donate Life TennesseecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerJoint initiative for organ donation awareness and registration in Tennessee, including the #BeTheGift Challenge and Donate Life Tennessee license plate program.
• Vanderbilt University Medical CenterflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSix-year partnership for birth tissue donation program. VUMC and TDS celebrate the partnership's impact on saving and healing lives through donation.
• Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital WestflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative Donor Care Unit opened at Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital West, Tennessee's first-of-its-kind donor care facility.
• Erlanger HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnnual partnership for Donor Remembrance Ceremony to honor organ donors. Erlanger had 50 organ donors recognized in 2023.
• Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland SecuritycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorState agency partnership to promote donor registration through driver's license services and state identification.
• Tennessee County ClerkscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership with all 95 Tennessee County Clerk offices to promote donor registration and support educational programming. County Clerks distribute Donate Life Tennessee specialty license plates.
• New Mexico Donor ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliate OPO under DCI Donor Services network, collaborating on organ procurement and tissue banking services.
• Sierra Donor ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliate OPO under DCI Donor Services network, including Sierra Donor Services Eye Bank for eye donation coordination.
• Eye Bank Association of AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational organization TDS participates with to promote cornea donation and transplantation during Eye Donation Month.
• Cleveland ClinicminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPromoted MyChart organ donor registration pathway and became national leader with over 12,800 total registrations through MyChart.
• Food CityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership to secure booth at Bristol Motor Speedway NASCAR Cup event for donation awareness outreach to 18,500 employees and race fans.
• Faith-Based CommunitiesminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership with religious organizations for National Donor Sabbath observances to increase awareness about organ donation among faith communities.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Donor Alliance: Federally designated OPO serving Colorado and Wyoming with organ and tissue recovery services, comparable in scope, hospital partnership model, and community outreach approach to TDS.
• OneLegacy: The largest U.S. OPO serving the greater Los Angeles area, performing organ, eye, and tissue procurement with the same federally designated OPO business model as Tennessee Donor Services.
• Gift of Life Michigan: Michigan's designated OPO for organ, eye, and tissue donation, comparable in mission, funding model (donations and hospital contracts), and family-aftercare services to Tennessee Donor Services.
• LifeLink Foundation: Nonprofit OPO serving Georgia and parts of Florida and Puerto Rico with organ and tissue recovery — a comparable nonprofit OPO of similar scale operating in an adjacent southeastern geography.
• Mid-America Transplant: Nonprofit OPO serving eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and northeastern Arkansas, recognized nationally for OPO performance and community education — a direct operational peer to TDS.
• New Mexico Donor Services: Affiliate OPO under the same DCI Donor Services parent network as Tennessee Donor Services, performing the same organ, eye, and tissue procurement mission in a different state service area.
• Sierra Donor Services: Affiliate OPO under DCI Donor Services that also operates the Sierra Donor Services Eye Bank — the partner eye bank through which TDS processes corneal donations, making it a directly comparable OPO and a key operating partner.

Broad incumbents

• LifeNet Health: Large nonprofit tissue banking and organ procurement organization with a national footprint — overlaps with TDS's tissue and birth tissue recovery lines and operates at a broader geographic and product scale.
• MTF Biologics: National nonprofit tissue bank and graft processor, comparable to DCI Donor Services Tissue Bank in the tissue-graft supply and processing function that underpins TDS's tissue recovery operations.

Others

• Donate Life America: National 501(c)(3) that manages the National Donate Life Registry and sets national donation-awareness strategy; TDS is a partner and constituent OPO within Donate Life America's national framework, particularly through the MyChart integration and Pinnacle Awards program.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/donatelifetennessee
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tennessee-donor-services-organ-bank
• Instagraminstagram.com/tndonorservices
• TikToktiktok.com/@dcidonorservices

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Tennessee Donor Services