We had a great turn out for the Opening Ceremonies of the Exhibit Hall tonight at ADRP in Seattle!

On behalf of the entire OmniSource Marketing / DonorGifts.com team, thanks to all who stopped by our booth–to be entered into our drawing for iPads!

If you’re not in Seattle–don’t despair!

You can enter our BloodBlog drawing for an iPad… just by reply to my other thread… “Chime In -How will you bolster your Summer Blood Supply?”

Congratulations to Lance Bandley from ARUP in Salt Lake City who won our iPad in this contest!

Chime in with your response by June 4th… and you could win an iPad (details below)…

In my 17 years of donor recruitment experience, I’ve heard some great ideas for bolstering the summer blood supply!

One client has a cool program designed to get high school and college students in-bank and into community blood drives in July.  They invest heavily in the program–because not only does it get a priceless July donation, it helps a student find a donation location that will sustain them after graduation!

Another client has High School Reunion blood drives.  They leverage the desire among students to see each other during the summer by having a fun reunion drive at the school, in July.

And then there are the myriad summertime promotions!

What is your plan for summer?  Add it as a comment to this blog post… and read other great ideas while you’re there!

On June 4th, our DonorGifts.com team of bloodbloggers will choose a winning idea to Save Summer.  And the author of that idea will win an iPad!

There aren’t many rules.  Post as often as you’d like.  Comment on other comments!  Let’s have fun with this!

UAB Medicine launched an online employee donor program in conjunction with the addition of their new, high-tech donor room in 2007 with the goal of becoming self-sufficient in supporting its own blood needs. Phase II of the UAB Touchpoints Program kicked off this month!

Increasing employee donations at UAB was simple – engaging employees with an online program that clearly communicated the need for employee donations, provided a link to schedule appointments in the new donor room and automatically tracked donations and points earned by each employee donor.

Customized features of the website made getting involved easy and fun for the employees too:

• Quick and easy registration page
• Personal profile pages where donation dates can be entered by the donor
• Points accumulate automatically each time a new donation is entered
• Reminders of when they are eligible to donate again
• Tally of how many more points/donations are needed to qualify for the grand prize
• Tab featuring photos and descriptions of gifts and how many points are needed to qualify for each online gift redemption
• Much more…

But also important is the clean web design that enhances the usability and carries the sites visitors effortlessly through the website. You can view their website by visiting www.UABTouchPoints.org.  Or call me to find out how easy it is to engage your employee donors online.

Breast cancer awareness is commonly recognized in the month of October. We all come together and show our support for those who have been affected by this disease.

One of the many ways the community shows support is by wearing pink in the form of ribbons, apparel and ball caps to name a few.

Even guys are donning their pink in support…

This October will be a perfect time to show support by having your staff wear pink t-shirts on special days or at special blood drives.

Have a special lapel pin designed for staff, volunteers and donors that they can wear the entire month.

You can also give each donor a special PINK donor gift starting October 1 through October 31 .

Design a special banner to place outside of blood centers or blood drives.

October is the perfect time to celebrate life and to show your support.

Don’t forget to THINK PINK!!!

High school donors are a great donor base to start with, but what do you do with them after high school?  Our new DonorCord program can help you motivate your young donors into giving within your community after they go off to college and beyond.  A lot of kids excel when focusing on academics, sports, and other extracurricular activities in school because it’s what makes them happy and it’s what they enjoy doing.  

Growing up in high school is a lot about “what everyone else is doing.”  Trends move so fast with this age group.  Why not use that to your advantage?  So many programs excel when the marketing is done for you.  The DonorCord program is a great way to engage students from their first donation, to over a year later when they truly feel special for what they did.  Sure, they enjoy wearing their t-shirts to the next blood drive, or they use their lanyard key chains to put their new set of car keys on, or they use the water bottle they got from their last donation during gym class. But when honoring them at graduation, in front of their classmates and all their family and friends there to see them not only walk across the stage, but also add in – “Sarah saved at least 9 lives since her first blood donation when she joined in the DonorCords Program.”  The roar from the crowd after that accomplishment in itself is an effortless way on the school’s part to acknowledge how dedicated Sarah was not only to her school, but to her community as well.

Check out www.DonorCords.com to see how we can help you initiate the DonorCord program in your school.  Everyone knows what the yellow cords mean on students at graduation, having the red cords just as recognizable at graduation will only help raise awareness to the community to find their nearest blood center.

Everyone loves Flip-Flops, and if they don’t it’s probably because they have ugly toes.  Customized flip-flops have quickly become one of my favorite donor gifts.  They’re fun, cost effective and something that donors will really use. 

Each pair of flip-flops has a message de-bossed on the soles and the blood center’s personalization imprint on the foot bed and straps. Sayings like “donate blood” or “give blood” have been standard, but the best completely customized flip-flops done to date were created for The Blood Center in New Orleans, LA.  These will be used to celebrate the Saints football season kick-off in August. The “Who Dat” flip-flops are sure to be a huge hit for those donors who are all about the Black and Gold. 

Have you considered trying something a little different to thank for your donors? Using customized flip flops is taking a cool step in the right direction.

I Bleed Maroon and White….what a cool way to promote school spirit and the community blood supply at the same time.  Coordinating your donor recognition item in the school’s colors is a simple way for the school to take ownership and have pride in their blood drives.

Recently a blood center used simple stadium cups with the “I Bleed” theme at each of their sixteen college’s blood drives. Each blood drive had  a cup imprinted in their school’s colors, and the donors loved leaving the drive with something imprinted just for their school! This turned out to be a great inexpensive way for donors to show their school pride and the pride of being part of a life-saving team.

To me, lapel pins are like mini awards or trophies.

When you see people wearing them and you ask them about it, they are always ready to let you know exactly what they did to get it.

Working as a donor recruiter and now as a donor recognition consultant, I’ve learned that blood donors are no different.

I was visiting a blood center a few years ago and when I arrived, there was a volunteer there to sign me in.

As I was signing the guest register, I noticed the many lapel pin on this gentleman’s lanyard.

After I finished signing in, I had to ask him about his collection of pins. As his eyes widened he was excited to proudly tell me how he got “all” his pins.

I’m so glad that  I arrived early for my appointment.

Donors take pride in their achievements and reaching those key milestones.

Whether it’s recognizing gallon donors, holiday heroes or automated donors, lapel pins are highly versatile, professional looking, easy to create and a very economical and affordable donor gift.

For more information or to create a custom lapel pin for your donors, please contact me at 1-800-536-1235 or email me.

I have a friend who recruits over 1000 donors a month. And she still finds the time to send each a handwritten thank you note. Her secret? She does it in meetings. And while waiting for meetings to begin.

Perhaps she knows author Wayne Dyer’s secret. Throughout his literature, Dr. Dyer shares how showing gratitude positively changes the lives of three or more people.

First, when I choose to be grateful, it changes my energy. Simply put, I’m more likable. I like myself more. And others like me more, too!

Second, the recipient of my gratitude is positively changed. And thirdly, points out Dyer, even those who observe gratitude between two other people feel better.

Writing thank you cards, therefore, is about more than an exchange of ink, paper and postage. It’s about an exchange of human connection. Of good energy!

In my pocket, I carry a small smooth stone. It’s called a gratitude rock. Each time I feel it, I take a moment to remember two or three people or things for which I’m grateful.

In Donor Recruitment, you’re the ambassador in your community who is the emissary of the patients you serve. Go forth expressing their gratitude. It will change you for the better. It will change your donors and chairpeople for the better. It will change even the casual observer for the better!

Without question, the primary factor motivating most donor recruiters is both internal and personal.

It’s a passionate belief in saving lives!

That said, never underestimate the power of productivity incentives. Big companies use sales incentives for a simple reason–they work!

One popular sales incentive used by our clients Pepsi and Corona to motivate both their own sales force as well as retail managers and restaurant servers is consumer electronics.

The pictured Flip Camera is the hottest sales incentive we are currently providing Pepsi and Corona.

When I mention spending hundreds of dollars on incentives to recruitment directors, they understandably question the ROI. The key to ensuring the return is in how and where you position the incentive.

Most managers agree that there is a budget or plan number which it is expected that recruiters or salespeople meet. If you’re not on budget, in theory you’re not earning the money you are already being paid.

Incentives help drive about 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 of your people to truly step it up. Ideally, an incentive is used to recognize 120% or more of budget or plan. In outcomes budgeting, the concept is that just one or two top-performers consistently delivering extra outcomes serves to compensate for several recruiters who might come in just short of plan.

Plus, there will be those who strive for the incentive, yet don’t win it. In their case, your blood center has banked hundreds of extra units of product, with no expectation that you award an incentive, since the recruiter came up short.

Without fail, spending several hundred dollars per month for one or two exceptional people has a big pay off! Just set the bar high enough to be challenging, yet still attainable!