Have you always dreamed of saving lives, but didn't have the trust fund to go to medical school? Well there's another way to give the gift of life without a scalpel.
Your company, school, church or team can lend a hand, or rather arm, in the effort to save lives by hosting a blood drive fundraiser.
Doubt the benefit of a charity blood drive in your community? Well check out these hard facts from www.cancer.org:
- One out of three people will require blood or blood products (such as plasma) at one point during their lives
- Approximately half of Americans will need a blood transfusion
What about the people in your community? What are the odds in your group of family and friends? By hosting a fundraising blood drive or volunteering at one, you can help save lives and your donor contribution will take less than an hour of your time.
Simply pick up the phone and contact a local blood services organization such as the Red Cross, or a look to local hospitals and medical centers that have staff on hand who are available to assist you in setting up your blood drive in your community.
Setting up a blood drive fundraiser:
Number 1 – Work with your blood services recruiter to set up a date, time, blood drive location and a blood drive fundraising goal. Consider a day of the week that will get the most donors out (if you are doing this through your workplace, pick a weekday lunch hour so donating blood is convenient for everyone on staff).
Number 2 – When choosing the location for your blood drive, choose a location with ample space to accommodate:
- Donors
- A mobile donor coach
- Nurses and support staff
- Refreshments (drinking fountains and restrooms)
- A lounging area for post-donations
- Parking
- Movable furniture, clear for blood technicians to come in and set up
- Good lighting in a safe, clean, comfortable environment
- Access to electricity
- Blood waste and storage
- A convenient ramp or loading dock that offers accessibility for donors, blood technicians and equipment
A quick telephone meeting with your blood drive recruiter will help to make your location decision easier and give you ideas for promotion, etc.
Number 3 – Then you need to promote your event.
- Erect flyers around your workplace to advertise your charity blood drive. This way, people will be well nourished and hydrated, and expect to give blood on that date. Note that your blood drive recruiting organization will bring posters and fliers with date, time and location of the drive to post and hand out to potential donors.
- Be sure to keep your local blood services team updated on the number of donors you expect. This way they will set up a reasonable number of blood units
- In the weeks ahead of your blood drive, post donor signup sheets, and also send out email reminders the day before the drive.
- If possible, contact donors with a scheduled time to donate blood. This will cut down on high traffic times and ease any congestion for the safety of all donors
Additional tips for promoting your charity blood drive
- Appoint a charity blood drive committee to go out and talk to people about recruitment and the importance of blood donations in your community
- Reach out to the media to promote your event
- Utilize your email contact lists and social media networks to reach out to potential donors, and be sure to remind them of the drive the day before
- Post news of your blood drives in your internal office e-newsletter
- Seek out blood donor incentives and advertise these to potential donors
- Ask for a moment of time to speak about blood donation in your work cafeteria, in health and safety meetings, departmental meetings or team lunches
