Blood donation rates have risen 25 percent among high-income countries, but centers have seen a steep decline in new volunteers. Centers across the world are trying to figure out how to raise awareness about the importance of giving. So, Sweden looked to social media to solve its issue, crafting a system that texts donors, telling them when their blood has been used to help another.
The notification system has already been quite effective in spreading a positive message about giving blood. Donors have tweeted images of the SMS messages they’ve received. It starts with a simple “thank you” after donation and then gets pretty personal when a follow-up notification says your blood has been used to help another.
Indeed, Lottie Furugård, a communications manager at Stockholm’s blood center, expressed in an interview with The Independent that this new system has created an “important channel for us to reach our donors.”
“But above all,” Karolina Blom Wiberg, a communications manager, said “we believe it makes our donors come back to us, and donate again.”
The program is less of a pester than the usual constant-call tactic most donors are all too familiar with. Sweden’s notification method, though, feels more heartfelt. It puts the experience into perspective, creating a more personal connection with the act of giving. Also, it must make some people feel like super heroes — the power of giving. The biggest challenge for these donation centers, Blom Wiberg said, is to “make the public and especially the blood donators understand just how important their contribution is.”
source: http://www.geek.com/
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