Recruiting Blood Donors.

ARC hits mail to bolster inventories

The American Red Cross (ARC) has increased its optimal blood inventory by 17 percent nationally, and officials said that the main reason is a new, nationwide direct mail campaign that urges current, lapsed and possible new donors to give blood.

According to Mary Carugati, senior director of donor marketing for American Red Cross Biomedical Services, the campaign was developed and mailed nationally with 27 of 36 blood regions having different "need" messages.

While more than 50 percent of ARC revenue is pegged to blood, and fundraising on the other side of the house was down for 2000, officials said the package was not a response to revenue shortfalls. "The two have nothing to do with each other," said Chris Paladino, ARC communications officer.

Paladino said revenues were down overall in fiscal 2000 because of a shortage of national and global disasters and the fundraising that accompanies such events. Nevertheless, annual giving was up 27 percent for the year.

"This was the first time in six years no hurricane touched U.S. shores," Paladino said.

The test package is a pilot project intended to bolster blood supplies, "so we don't face a crisis situation," added Paladino.

The customized DonorGram package was mailed to 400,000 targeted renewal and potential new blood donors, said Carugati, in addition to some 18-to-24-month lapsed blood donors at a cost of 29 cents per piece.

Each piece of the mailing, which ended around Thanksgiving, was personalized with the signature of the appropriate region's executive director, "with subtle, different messages based on specific donor situations," Carugati explained.

The appeal was based on the need of the given region. For example, if 400 type O donations were needed to get above optimal levels of blood inventory, the national organization gave the regional office some suggested guidelines on how many names they could submit for the mailing, which they went into their databases to select, Carugati said. Each region was given the freedom to submit as many names as it wanted.

Carugati said ARC is adopting a "proactive" approach to blood services and the new national strategy is a three-pronged process with the initial phase being the direct mail test package. The following steps include a telemarketing follow-up call making the ask again and, third, a reminder call to those donors who have made an appointment to give blood.

"It's just like the dentist or doctor's office, when they call to remind you of your appointment," said Paladino.

Carugati declined to provide data on response, citing an ARC policy. "I can say we attribute the 17 percent increase (in optimal blood inventory) specifically to this package," she said.