When you are setting up blood drives, have you ever hung your banner to only find 3 minutes later that it has fallen to the ground?  Check out our 6’ tall banner stands that are easy to set up and they make your blood drive look good in less than one minute to set up.  These are a great investment for repeat use at blood drives, high schools and for in center promotions.  Completely custom graphics make this piece stand out.  United Blood Services chose to add a personal touch to their banners with a photo of a family that people can relate to.

It’s easy to store, it weighs less than 30lbs all together and you can use it over and over again.  Call me to ask how we can get your custom banners in your centers soon!

It’s that time of year to start getting out the crock pot and getting your favorite chili recipes out. A great way to get your donors excited about incentives, is to get them something they will actually use. I found a really cool soup mug and pitched them to a customer for a winter gift and the concept was taken even a step further than just the actual mug. We created a “recipe card” insert that was the Recipe of Lifesaving to add just another twist on how you can relay to your donors just how important they are. I myself, wouldn’t normally go out and buy a soup mug, but the one I have in my office is from a tradeshow I went to last year and no doubt I will put it into use – and always think of my trip to Chicago when I got it. So when your donors see the soup mug in their cabinet it will more than likely remind them of not only where they got it, but it will also make them think about the last time they donated and hopefully trigger them to call and set their next appointment.

You can add a simple insert into any gift with a short message that puts a neat twist on the gift. As we all know, most people don’t donate for the gift they receive but more for the feeling of knowing they helped someone that day.

Many high schools and colleges have decided to put a spin on their blood drive t-shirts and turn it into an “I bleed” t-shirt supporting their local school colors.  You can have the competition between 2 different schools or you can do up to as many schools as you want.  We have often found that t-shirts with specific names and schools listed on the shirts have made a huge impact when it comes time to donate.  Putting something on the t-shirt that really speaks to the donor, is guaranteed to drive the results of the blood drive higher than the last drive.  It’s a shirt that people will want to wear and it often creates a conversation when you wear it to the grocery, spirit days or just out on a walk.

Check out our website and see the different ways we have made the blood drives a lot more interesting when it comes to getting donors in the door.   Once you have the competition and have your coordinators really work to get the word out about the drive, you can then reward the winning schools/top schools with a plaque, pizza party or just a nice note saying “Thank you.”

For more design ideas please visit www.DonorGifts.com or contact your rep for more information!

Are you gearing up for High School t-shirts for the fall?  Now is the time to start thinking how you are going to motivate your High School donors to give this school year.  High School kids nowadays won’t wear anything that’s not “hip” so we have taken High School t-shirts and added something different to the back of them.

Taking your basic t-shirt design and adding The High School Blood Tour to the back and listing all the schools that participate has been a huge success.  Not only has it gotten kids more excited, but the schools love it too.  Listing all the High Schools that commit to booking blood drives on the back of the shirt has increased bookings, created a sense of “early booking” urgency with the High Schools to make sure their name doesn’t get left off the Blood Tour t-shirt and it’s given the kids something they can remember beyond High School that they, along with thousands of kids in their community saved countless lives.

Going beyond the t-shirts, we also created “tickets” to The Blood Tour by having appointment tickets at an early sign up day in the cafeteria.  It’s a great way to get kids to commit earlier and it’s a great way for your blood center to plan your blood drive better.   Imagine looking around the lunch room watching the donors compare their appointment times to give blood, much like they would compare where they are sitting for a concert!

Visit www.DonorGifts.com to see our latest High School designs.

Look at this cool marketing tool we developed for Pepsi.

I’m not sure just how blood centers will use such a thing to get blood donations—yet!  Perhaps you can help with the idea?

Grand Openings are huge events for Pepsi.  This slide will be used when Target or Walmart open a new store.  It will also be used at employee picnics.  One Pepsi bottler even plans to use it at their state fair exhibit!

The manufacturer who makes our Inflatable Blood Drops and Inflatable Blood Drop Costumes also makes products like this.

If you can think of an application, let me know!  If there’s a way it can help blood centers find donors—we will bring one into development!

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!

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.

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!