How to Market a Blood Drive Event

Hosting a blood drive offers many benefits. These events allow blood banks to gather donations, share information in the local community about blood donation needs, and conveniently reach new and existing donors. Since a bloodmobile comes to donors during these events, it is easy for willing donors to hop on board, donate blood, and return to their daily activities.

If you are looking to host a blood drive at your workplace, school, charity, or other organization, there are a few things you can do to help make the event a success. To start with, you will need to effectively market the event to ensure the highest amount of participation possible. Try out a few of the following ideas to successfully market your next blood drive event.

#1: Start with Community Outreach

When you are marketing a blood drive, the first place to start is by reaching out to the community. The goal is to make sure that as many people as possible are aware of the blood drive, as only a percentage of people will want to donate blood.

For example, if you are hosting the blood drive at your workplace, make sure you take the time to share information about the event with other businesses that share your office park.

Or, if you are hosting a blood drive at a community center, make sure you share information with neighboring businesses and community leaders.

As you do so, be sure to have materials on hand to leave behind. Flyers and posters with event information can help get the word out.

#2: Leave Posters at Local Establishments

Another effective way to spread the news about your upcoming blood drive is to leave posters around town. Stop by coffee shops, restaurants, bars, and other retailers in the area. Ask the manager if you can tape up some posters and share information about the upcoming event.

You can even partner with nearby establishments to share coupons with donors, providing a benefit to both parties.

#3: Consider Offering Gifts to Donors

In many cases, during a blood drive, donors will receive a small gift as a token of thanks for their donation. Gift cards, t-shirts, mugs, and other small items make great post-donation gifts.

Be sure to advertise these gifts to help encourage more people to show up at your event.

You can also consider hosting food trucks, music, or other fun ideas to make the event more enticing.

#4: Provide Education About Donation Requirements

In many cases, adults who are willing to donate blood aren’t sure whether or not they are eligible to donate blood. This can deter them from attending your event.

Not only that, but many regulations have changed over time, leading people to falsely believe that they are ineligible to donate.

The best way to combat this is to provide information about the donation requirements. You can quickly highlight the basics on posters and fliers, including the following:

• You must be at least 16 years of age in most states
• You must be in good health and feel well
• You must weigh at least 110 pounds
• You can donate every 56 days

Consider also adding a QR code to your fliers and posters that leads interested donors to a webpage where they can read up on the details of donating blood.

During the event, you can help educate those who are interested in potentially donating by providing a more detailed list of donation requirements.

The more knowledge people have about the requirements and process, the greater chance you have at getting donors to show up.

#5: Use Social Media

Social media is a great tool for spreading information about your event. If you are hosting an event at a local business, create a Facebook event for the blood drive and share it across social media.

If you have a marketing budget for the event, consider using a portion of it to boost the event to social media users in the area.

You can also ask local businesses to help cross-promote it by sharing information about the event on their social media pages.

#6: Emphasize the Comfort and Convenience of Donating

Donating blood can be a scary concept, particularly for new donors. In fact, according to data gathered by Ohio State University, many people are worried about fainting before and after donating blood.

Help alleviate the fears around donating blood by emphasizing the safety, comfort, and convenience of donating at a blood drive.

One of the best parts about hosting a blood drive at a business, school, or other establishment is that it makes it much easier for someone interested in donating to quickly do so. Rather than driving to a blood bank or hospital to donate, a donor can sign up, donate right then and there, and be back to their normal day-to-day life in no time.

Focus your marketing materials around how quick the process is and how convenient it is to donate at a blood drive. Let people know approximately how long it takes to sign up, donate, and be back to shopping, work, or other activities.

By showcasing how convenient it is to donate at a blood drive, you can help increase the number of people who take advantage of the event.

Talk to Summit Bodyworks about Your Bloodmobile

Blood drives are an effective formula for increasing the number of lifesaving donations your community receives each month. By driving a bloodmobile to an office park, shopping center, school, or another establishment, you can increase the number of people who take the time out of their busy day to donate.

If your community needs a bloodmobile, our team is here to help. We can work with you to choose the perfect bloodmobile for your clinic’s specific needs. Check out one of our recent customer builds designed for St. Mary’s. 

Interested in learning more? Reach out to the team at Summit Bodyworks today.

Established in Colorado, Summit Bodyworks is on the forefront of innovation and customer service for vehicle manufacturing and upfitting. Whether you’re looking for all-electric, hybrid, or gas-powered options, Summit Bodyworks is your one-stop-shop for design, manufacturing, and upfitting of trucks, vans, specialty vehicles, and fleets.