Action Tips: Organize a Blood Drive

You might be totally inspired to start a blood drive in your community! But there’s so much involved, you’ll need to plan this out.

1. Partner with a local Blood Bank. Call up a chapter of the American Red Cross, United Blood Services, or a local organization and tell them you are interested in organizing a blood drive in your community.
2. Find a place. Try a busy area in your neighborhood like a place of worship, fire station, hotel ballroom, restaurant banquet hall, mall, or the local community center.
3. Pick a date and time. Does it work for the location? Make sure to check that there are nurses and equipment available from the Blood Bank / Blood Center on that day.
4. Tell your donors that they must meet the requirements to give blood. For example, you can give blood at 17 years old or older nationwide, but only certain states allow 16 year olds to donate. Donors under 19 years of age must also meet certain height and weight requirements. If you are hosting a drive in a diverse area, think about providing volunteer translators for those that will need this instruction in another language.
5. Promote the drive. After planning all this, you will probably receive posters, brochures, and pledge cards from the blood service. Educate your team of volunteers and get to work.
   • Put up posters of your event at cafes, libraries, parks, and malls, but always remember to ask the building’s manager.
   • Let people know online with sites like Facebook or Twitter.
   • Most blood services have webpages where blood drives are posted, so make sure yours is included!
6. Schedule Appointments. People will begin contacting you on-site or on the phone. Have a method of scheduling their appointments based on how many people at a time the blood center has told you to bring in. Get the donors’ phone numbers so you can remind them shortly before the event.
7. On the day of the event Greet your volunteers and go over the schedule. Post arrows and posters telling people where to go:
   1. Donors come into the location and fill out a mini medical history.
   2. Donors meet with a nurse who checks your health and takes a blood sample.
   3. Donors go to the donation area and a registered nurse starts to collect blood with a new, sterile, disposable, and used only once needle (this process takes about 10-12 minutes).
   4. After the donation, provide donors a sitting area and provide drinks and snacks!

SOURCES: The Red Cross and United Blood Services.