 This blood center has mastered the art of using non-monetary means to build strong vendor relationships.
Few organizations have as much riding on high-quality relationships with suppliers as nonprofit LifeSource. That’s because LifeSource, the largest blood center in Illinois and one of the largest in the country, depends on a steady stream of volunteers coming through its doors throughout the year for its inventory. Since paying for blood donations is illegal in the US, LifeSource has had to master the underappreciated art of using non-monetary means to build strong “partner” relationships.
 Roxanne Tata, Vice President and COO
In a quest to figure out what makes donors feel satisfied, LifeSource invested in research. Donor surveys shed light on the importance of making the experience of giving blood a pleasant and efficient one. Surveys have also sent a loud and clear message about communication from LifeSource: only the most frequent of donors are apt to appreciate getting phone calls.
“In the past, if we were particularly low on a type of blood, we would put out an appeal, but it was always through the phone,” Tata said. “We’ve seen a trend of dissatisfaction with that among our donors, especially in the past couple of years. They don’t want the phone calls.” Soon, most donors will receive special appeals via e-mail and direct mail. They will also be able to schedule themselves online and receive their personal health history.
Highly perishable
Armed with useful survey data, LifeSource has grown its number of donor centers from 17 five years ago to 23 today. These account for 60% of the organization’s blood supply; another 40% comes from mobile operations (blood drives at place of employment or worship). Yet to expand its client base to include more than its current stable of approximately 60 area hospitals, LifeSource has more to do.
At stake in LifeSource’s efforts is the supply of a vital resource. Blood transfusions can make a difference between life and death during emergency situations, from car accidents to mass-scale disasters. What’s more, the supply is perishable. Although frozen plasma products can last as long as a year, red blood cells are good for only 42 days, and platelets keep for just five days. This means LifeSource counts on many of its regular blood donors to keep coming back throughout the year.
To date, donors have generally risen to the challenge. LifeSource collects about 250,000 donations per year and converts them into about half a million separate blood products. Nevertheless, slow times of year pose a challenge as the pace of giving slumps. Only about 700 donors give on an average day in July or August, for instance, but LifeSource needs to see about 1,500 per day to meet demand.
Executives are banking on an improved giving experience to pick up the slack in slow seasons and raise the number of annual donations to 300,000. That’s where a fusion of survey-based insights and forward-looking software stands to open the door to an even brighter future.
“We’ve looked at leveraging technology to see how we can improve the overall donation process,” Tata said. To make sure donors get the experience they want, LifeSource has invested in software platforms called e-Donor and Donor Doc. Combined, these applications address several of the organization’s key challenges.
Speed up
Challenge one: speed up the donation experience, which routinely requires about 60 minutes. The Donor Doc software will allow donors to fill out an online health history questionnaire, which asks 56 questions that regulators require to restrict potential donors who could pass along disease. Donors who use the new online resource will get in and out of a donor center in about 60 minutes.
Challenge two: reduce phone calls, either as reminders or as solicitations, to those database-listed donors who are apt to find such calls annoying. Soon, through the e-Donor software program, those who give blood only occasionally or once a year can schedule donations and get their reminders electronically. Only the most consistent donors, who may give as often as every 56 days, now receive phone calls for the simple reason that they sometimes generally regard the calls as a helpful service.
Challenge three: communicate gratitude. Although donors can’t accept any type of payment, they can reap modest benefits through a rewards program. The e-Donor software platform will keep track of points earned for donating blood and enable donors to redeem their points online for such items as LifeSource-emblazoned clothing. Donors can also donate their points back to LifeSource, which will then make a donation to various charities associated with their mission.
Putting e-Donor in place required LifeSource to make a substantial investment and tighten its belt in a few areas. For example, the 700-employee organization intentionally left about 20 positions vacant this year to keep payroll costs down. Managers also took a hard look at costs associated with storing voluminous paper archives associated with blood donation and record keeping. Discarding certain records that regulators don’t require to remain on file, and switching others to electronic formats, enabled LifeSource to put a sizeable dent in its storage costs.
By attending to its all-important base of volunteer donors, LifeSource is investing in a precious resource: good will among donors. For any business that needs to keep its clients satisfied, LifeSource is a good example of how non-monetary forms of compensation can go a long way in demonstrating appreciation.
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