Published by Kirby Winn on Tuesday, December 13, 2022 in News Releases
ImpactLife is responding to a substantial decrease in the rate of first-time blood donors by offering a $25 electronic gift card or donation to Feeding America for first-time donors with ImpactLife. Now through January 15, first time donors who register for blood donation with ImpactLife will receive a voucher to redeem for a $25 electronic gift card. As part of the “Good Giving” promotion, donors may choose to forego the electronic gift card and make an equivalent donation to Feeding America instead.
To schedule an appointment for donation or for questions on eligibility for blood donation, call (800) 747-5401, schedule online at www.bloodcenter.org, or via the ImpactLife mobile app (www.bloodcenter.org/app).
In 2022, ImpactLife will see on average 100 fewer first-time donors every week than in previous years. The trend began with a sharp decline in the rate of first-time donors with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Losing all of our high school and college blood drives in spring of 2020 caused a steep decrease in first-time donor rates,” said Amanda Hess, Vice President, Donor Relations and Marketing. “We are seeing some sectors of our donor base slowly return to pre-pandemic levels, but our rate of first-time donors remains low.”
Blood providers across the United States are experiencing a similar loss in first-time donors. Data analysis from Blood Centers of America GOLD Dataverse shows blood centers nationally have experienced a decline of 22% in the total number of first-time donors from 2019 to 2022.
“The overall rate of blood donation has decreased since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and that decrease persists even though many aspects of life have returned to a ‘new normal,’” said Kate Fry, Chief Executive Officer of America’s Blood Centers. “This is concerning because donors who give for the first time not only help save lives today, but they represent the future of our nation’s blood supply. We urge all who are eligible to contact their local blood center to schedule an appointment for donation.”
ImpactLife Donor Promotions
Through January 15, donors who register for whole blood donation with ImpactLife for the first time will receive a voucher to redeem for a $25 electronic gift card or donors can choose to make an equivalent value donation to Feeding America. For the week of December 12-18, returning donors will receive a voucher to redeem for a $10 electronic gift card (or equivalent donation to Feeding America). Gift card and donation values will double to $20 during the critical weeks of December 19 through January 15.
- New Whole Blood donors: choice of $25 electronic gift card or donation to Feeding America
- Returning Whole Blood donors: choice of $10 electronic gift card or donation to Feeding America
- For returning Whole Blood donors, value increases to $20 for whole blood donations during critical weeks:
- Mon 12/19/2022 - Sun 1/1/2023 (Christmas)
- Mon 1/2/2023 - Sun 1/15/2023 (New Years)
- Automated donation procedures (platelets, plasma, double red cell): choice of $25 electronic gift card or donation to Feeding America
Additional program details at www.bloodcenter.org/promotions
About Feeding America
Feeding America is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of more than 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations, and over 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs, Feeding America provided 6.6 billion meals to tens of millions of people in need last year. Click here to find a local food bank supported by Feeding America.
About ImpactLife
ImpactLife is a not-for-profit community organization providing blood services to 124 hospitals in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin, as well as resource sharing partners across the country. Services extend from southcentral Wisconsin to St. Louis, Missouri and from Danville, Illinois to Chariton, Iowa. (See a map of the ImpactLife service region.) ImpactLife operates 22 Donor Centers and holds approximately 5000 mobile blood drives annually to provide blood components needed for patient transfusions at hospitals throughout our region.
For more information, see www.bloodcenter.org and find us @impactlifeblood on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, and YouTube.
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Additional Resources:
Information for first-time blood donors from ADRP: donatingblood.org/
Blood Donor Basics (ImpactLife): www.bloodcenter.org/donate/donor/
Donor Center locator (America’s Blood Centers): americasblood.org/for-donors/find-a-blood-center/