How to increase first‐time donors' returns? The postdonation letter's content can make a difference

Abstract

Background Retention of first‐time donors is pivotal for blood collection centers. The present study built on research showing the importance of donor identity among regular donors and sought to compare the effectiveness of various communication strategies on return rate. Study Design and Methods Postal letters were sent to a large sample of first‐time whole blood donors (N = 1219) a few weeks following their first donation. Four versions of this letter were differently constructed in a way to boost the acquisition of donor identity (i.e., by including information about their ABO and Rh(D) blood group, emphasizing the salience of donor identity, offering a keyring with personalized information, or specifying the percentage of those sharing the same ABO and Rh(D) blood group). One version with no identity‐related information served as a control condition. Participants' subsequent blood donations were tracked for 5–22 months after receiving the letter. Results Survival analysis showed that the return rate was significantly higher among those who had received information about the percentage of the country's population with the same ABO and Rh(D) blood group (in comparison with the four other versions). There was no significant effect on the blood type rarity. Conclusion Blood collection centers could orient the strategy employed to communicate with first‐time donors to improve donors' retention. Arousing a sense of social identification with others with the same blood type may reveal a promising avenue.

Demographics of first‐time donors returning for donation during the pandemic: COVID‐19 convalescent plasma versus standard blood product donors

“…Future studies should continue to explore methods for engaging younger generations through existing social networks and new innovative strategies. [12][13][14]25,26 An important limitation of this study is the DRR of the first-time CCP and non-CCP donor cohorts are not entirely comparable due to the study design as illustrated in Figure 1. Specifically, first-time CCP donors returning to donate non-CCP products were not counted during the study period until after CCP collections were discontinued, which allowed a timeframe of approximately 9 months through the end of 2021.…”

“…Comparing the donor cohorts, it's interesting that there was a higher proportion of returning non‐CCP donors in the younger generations with Millennials comparable to the Boomers in this cohort, suggestive of some success with this generation. Future studies should continue to explore methods for engaging younger generations through existing social networks and new innovative strategies 12–14,25,26 …”

“…9,10 Improving donor retention has been the focus of previous studies, which have assessed donor motivation and strategies to promote donor retention in an ongoing effort to secure a stable blood supply. 11,12 Early insight into the impact of COVID-19 on blood donors and their motivation to donate has been reported from Europe, as has donor intention to return which correlated with donor satisfaction. 13,14 Yet, little is known about the likelihood that CCP donors will convert to standard donors of whole blood or apheresis products.…”

“…In the last 3 years, the national blood shortage has been exacerbated by the COVID‐19 pandemic emphasizing the critical need to recruit and retain blood donors 9,10 . Improving donor retention has been the focus of previous studies, which have assessed donor motivation and strategies to promote donor retention in an ongoing effort to secure a stable blood supply 11,12 . Early insight into the impact of COVID‐19 on blood donors and their motivation to donate has been reported from Europe, as has donor intention to return which correlated with donor satisfaction 13,14 .…”

The Impact of Digital Transformation on Blood Donation and Donor Characteristics

“…The establishment of a donor identity requires up to three donations without too long an interval in between [22][23][24]. 196 days between two donations by app users and long-term return rates are promising.…”