How can I help?

To give patients the best chance of recovery, Matchis is actively looking for as many young people as possible between the ages of 18 and 35 who are willing to register as stem cell donors — free of charge.

It’s not easy to reach this younger generation and inform them about stem cell donation. You can play an important role here! Start the conversation and ask the question: Would you consider becoming a stem cell donor?

Even if you’re older than 35, it’s still possible to register as a stem cell donor. Registered donors can remain in the database until the age of 55.

However, we do ask donors over 35 to make a one-time contribution toward the registration costs. We understand this might raise questions — paying to do something good for someone else sounds contradictory. The reason is that Matchis incurs significant costs when registering new donors, primarily for the laboratory work required to determine your tissue type. Without this tissue typing, we can’t see whether you’re a match for a patient.

Because younger donors between 18 and 35 have, medically speaking, the highest-quality stem cells — and therefore give patients the best chance of recovery — we’ve decided to dedicate most of our budget to this age group. This way, we can keep registration free for them and offer patients the best possible chance of finding a match.

We don’t want to exclude people over 35 from becoming donors (as some registries do). That’s why we ask for a one-time contribution of €35 from donors over 35 to cover part of the registration costs. If this is a reason for you not to register, we completely understand. On this page, you’ll find other ways you can help. If you’d still like to proceed with your registration, click the link below!

The stem cell donor registry fortunately grows each year with new donors signing up. However, registering a donor comes with costs. Each newly registered donor costs Matchis more than €35. Most of these costs are for tissue typing (HLA typing) performed in the laboratory.

Whether you donate a small or large amount, you can be sure that every euro helps save a life!

Through the special Sterk voor Matchis platform, you can easily raise funds for Matchis. Do you enjoy running, hiking, cycling, or taking on other challenges? You can create your own fundraising page on this website.

You can easily share this unique page via social media and WhatsApp, making it simple for friends, family, and colleagues to support you. This way, everyone will know you’re working hard to raise awareness about the importance of stem cell donation.

As a volunteer, you play an important ambassadorial role! Our goal is to register as many stem cell donors as possible and thereby increase the chances of finding a suitable match for patients with life-threatening blood diseases such as leukemia.

We urgently need your help because there’s still little awareness about stem cell donation. Depending on what you’d like to do for Matchis, we’ll support you with training, information, and materials. We only ask for a small investment of your time and effort. Travel expenses can be reimbursed.

Check below to see which volunteer opportunities are currently available!

We would greatly appreciate your help in raising awareness about stem cell donation among as many people as possible — for example, at your workplace, school, or (student) association. On this page, you’ll find ready-to-use texts and images to make this easier.