The San Diego Blood Bank (SDBB) is asking residents to make a difference in the lives of others by donating blood more frequently, as part of a new donor loyalty program.
The program, which launched Aug. 1, targets anyone in the community who is eligible to donate blood: individuals who are at least 17 years old, in good health and at least 110 pounds.
“The idea behind it was that we realized that we needed to build our donor loyalty and we needed to start to see donors more frequently,” said Mary Walter-Brown, marketing manager for the San Diego Blood Bank.
She explained that research found that 61 percent of the blood bank’s donors only give blood once a year.
“The perception in their minds is that that is all that is necessary to maintain the communities blood supply,” Walter-Brown continued, “and clearly that is not the case.”
While the blood bank appreciates the community’s response to disasters and emergency blood shortages, they struggle to maintain a consistent blood supply, which is their overall goal, she explained.
“If our donors would simply donate one more time we wouldn’t have a blood shortage in our community,” Walter-Brown said.
While the “Make a Difference in Life” program does encourage previous donors to give at least one more time every year, they also want to encourage people who have never donated before to join.
New donors will reach Life Level One after their first donation. Life Level One members will have access to My SDBB, a secure, online benefit that keeps track of your donations, eligibility dates (when you can donate again) and health information.
They will also have access to their family blood plan and their own wellness profile. The plan is 100 percent supplemental coverage to your health insurance for all standard blood services for the member and their immediate family. Services include all basic blood components: red cells, platelet concentrates, plasma and cryoprecipitate, as well as routine costs for autologous donations, in which a person donates blood for themselves to be used in an upcoming surgery, and directed donations, in which a person donates blood to be used by a family member or friend in an upcoming surgery.
The wellness profile also gives the member access to their total cholesterol, blood pressure, pulse and blood type.
“We’re finding that the cholesterol testing has really been the number one motivator,” Walter-Brown said. “About a week after they donate, if they join the program, they can go online and track their cholesterol, blood pressure and pulse and those have been really popular benefits.”
Members who reach Life Level Two then have access to the SDBB online store, where they can redeem points they have earned by donating blood. Most of the donation types (whole blood, platelet, plasma or combination platelet/plasma/red cells) are worth 100 points per donation. Double red cell donations are worth 200 points, due to the fact that the process takes longer, and there is a longer wait period until the donor is eligible again, Walter-Brown explained.
“Most of our rewards and recognitions [in the past] were for gallon donors, that’s eight pints of blood,” Walter-Brown said, “and for the average person who donates only one time or maybe never has donated, that just seems like an unattainable goal.”
There are many factors that go into establishing a person’s eligibility to donate, which can be found on the blood bank’s Web site. But Walter-Brown insists the best course of action is to come down and talk to a nurse.
“We really don’t want people self-deferring themselves, thinking, ‘Oh, I have this or that, I probably shouldn’t go donate,'” she said. “It fluctuates a great deal; we really recommend that people just come down and talk to a nurse to determine their eligibility.”
While this program is still fresh and new, the SDBB hopes that it will last.
“We really hope that this will become the fabric of the blood bank,” Walter-Brown said. “It’s going to be incorporated into our group programs and corporate and organizational blood drives at high school, colleges and churches.”
For more information, call 1-800-4MY-SDBB or visit www.sandiegobloodbank.org.