Northeast, Midwest prove most generous.

• Position: Organ Donation

Most Americans will say that donating to worthy causes is a good thing, and many will put their time and money where their mouths are and volunteer or pony up--or both-except when it comes to donating blood and tissue. Kieran J. Healy, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, maintains that, while people in this country still think it is a worthy issue, when the time comes to do it, many back away. In addition, rates of donor procurement vary radically across the country.

Organ donation is a highly structured business that relies on more than just finding qualified donors. Prior to Federal legislation in 1984, organs were the property of the surgeons who harvested them. The law says that organs are gifts and a public good that cannot be sold. The result has been the creation of a national network of laboratories and hospitals where transplants are performed. There also are more than 60 organ procurement organizations (OPOs) that find potential donors, secure consent from the next of kin, and distribute the harvested organs to patients on waiting lists.

In order for an OPO to be successful, Healy indicates that it has to be logistically effective. This requires resources, scope, and persistence. In a study of 61 OPOs around the country, these three factors combined to improve the procurement rate by 20%. OPOs that are larger and better-funded and -staffed generally find it easier to generate opportunities...