PROVIDENCE – While only 5 or 6 percent of the Rhode Island population donates blood, approximately 37 percent – or 375,000 people – are eligible to do so, Rhode Island Blood Center Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Scott Asadorian told Providence Business News.
In an effort to change those numbers, the RIBC seeks to recruit individuals for blood donations where they congregate – at work, their place of worship or in a community group – rather than ask them to donate at one of RIBC’s six donation centers around the state. As such, enrolling businesses as blood drive sponsors is key to this effort, particularly during the summer months, when donor drives at high schools and colleges are suspended.
Blood drives are scheduled three months in advance so that RIBC can meet its goals, achieve a steady blood supply and ensure staff members are available for drives and at the organization’s donation centers.
After updating its website to make it more interactive and accessible and investing in social media last year, RIBC will roll out in May or June a new donor recognition rewards program. The new program will allow donors to earn and redeem points for gift certificates, apparel, backpacks and more, said Kara LeBlanc, RIBC marketing communications manager. “We based this on donor feedback … it has various levels to [encourage] someone to donate a little bit more often, donate platelets or donate during the summertime,” she said of the rewards program.
Another new initiative – due to launch in June – that is designed to re-engage existing donors and encourage new donors is our mass-marketing campaign,” said LeBlanc.
“Help Someone Else. Become a donor.” is the slogan for the campaign, created by NAIL Communications. That campaign will feature a yet-to-be-introduced personality, someone whom Asadorian calls “very relatable to everyone in the Rhode Island community.”
Acknowledging that a mass-marketing campaign alone will not “move the needle” on donations, LeBlanc said the campaign, coupled with holding more drives in convenient locales and the new rewards program, should increase the number of donations. Asadorian said the RIBC works closely with businesses and organizations interested in hosting drives and helps them plan and implement such drives, adding, “We don’t leave them to do it themselves.
“The best way to allow someone to donate blood is to come to them,” he said. “We know that when we can go in and talk with people and educate them about the need for blood, that’s the best way to get them to consider [donating].” Billboards, TV ads and posters in the workplace don’t do it, noted Asadorian, who aims to add 125 businesses of at least 50 employees to RIBC’s roster.
Not everyone can donate blood – due to illness, low hemoglobin levels or recent travel to certain countries – but anyone can help by promoting a blood drive. “Not everyone can donate, but everyone can receive,” said LeBlanc.
The common belief that there are blood shortages is a misconception, said Asadorian. Just as companies rely on just-in-time inventory, so too does RIBC. While there may be shortages of certain blood types, he said, there’s no danger of an actual blood shortage and he want to keep it that way. “Our job … is matching supply with demand,” he said, of RIBC, which is a regional center supplying blood to hospitals in not only Rhode Island but also in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire.
For more information, visit www.ribc.org, or contact Danielle Lomba at dlomba@ribc.org or (401) 453-8385.
Nancy Kirsch is a PBN contributing writer.
