Twilight Fans are lining up, not to buy the next installment in the Twilight Saga or take a picture with celebrity cardboard cutouts, but to donate blood. Yesterday in Redlands California, over 100 units of blood were donated by Twilight Fans who received Twilight themed paraphernalia and movie tickets for their donations. One parent donated so his 15 year old daughter could get a t-shirt that read “You don’t have to be BITTEN to give blood.” The t-shirt also had fang marks near the collar. The Twilight shirts worked: donor attendance for normal blood drives in the community usually brings in 40 donors, the Twilight Drive generated 200.
I, like many other Americans, are turned off at the idea of giving blood for money or prizes. It is supposed to be a personal thing: “Give Blood Give Life”, not “Give Blood Get Money”. Every 2 seconds a person will need blood and just one donation can save three lives; isn’t that enough reason to donate? With the blood shortages that occur every year (typically in the summer and holiday season), good will no longer appears to be a strong enough incentive to attract donors.
In the US, getting paid for donating blood is illegal. While you cannot get cash for blood at non-profit blood collecting organizations like the American Red Cross, you can receive other forms of “non-cash incentives”. In fact, a study conducted in 2008 found that these non-cash incentives (often in the form of gift cards), increased donor attendance by 13%. You can also sell your blood (or parts of it) to for profit agencies and research laboratories for upwards of $200 -talk about giving a whole new meaning to the words ‘Blood Bank’!
I think that offering prizes or monetary rewards to blood donors alienates those donors who do it for free. For me, those Twilight Fans aren’t in line to donate blood, they’re in line to get advanced tickets to the Eclipse premier and fang-marked t-shirts.
But what do you think? Should hospitals and non profits use any tactic necessary to fill the blood shortages? Is handing out Twilight paraphernalia more acceptable than handing out cash? Are Twilight themed blood drives the smartest marketing ploy ever?
[Disclaimer: I am ineligible to donate blood and will probably be ineligible to donate the rest of my life and therefore will never be able to offer any perspective as a blood donor]
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I personally believe giving away non-cash incentives to increase blood donations is morally just, and perhaps should even be more promoted in the future. Everyday, thousands of people require the use of donated blood. Do to the blood’s nature, it can only be used within a specific time frame before it goes bad, so it is almost a certainty that there will always be a high demand for donors. I don’t think the reason for donating really matters. Whether you’re donating because you want the satisfaction of helping people, or if you’re only donating because of a marketing gimmick, the end result is still the same. People’s lives are being saved, and this should be the most important consideration. People who have already been donating regularly should be appreciative, not bitter, of the influx of new donators.
But I think it should be stressed that cash incentives should NOT be used, whether it be for a blood bank, a research lab, or wherever. Having cash incentives can be dangerous for peoples’ health. There will always be those people who try to bend the rules, and donate more than they should in order to make some easy money, and for that reason I believe getting paid for giving blood, in any situation, should be illegal.
I agree with Charles. Having some sort of incentive, aside from monetary ones, would be very effective. It is kind of sad that our generation requires incentives to do something that is supposed to be out of the goodness of our hearts; however, if it works to save more lives, then the only negative aspect is a slight decline in morality of the human race. Basically, the ultimate goal of saving lives is still going to be intact no matter the initial intention.
I think that, from the perspective of the blood drive organizations, it is both just and beneficial to promote the donation of blood through numerous types of incentives. These groups shouldn’t be limited to non-incentive methods of procuring donations because the benefits of extra blood donations is too great. Also, promotion through the use of such incentives will certainly increase awareness of the subject. Those who may be ignorant of the statistics could learn about such things upon their first time donating. However, I do agree that monetary compensation for blood should not happen, for reasons stated above.
I think this issue has more to do with the perspective of the blood donors, themselves. While incentives such as those in the article are not necessarily unjust on their own, I believe that people should take it upon themselves to realize the importance and benefit of donating blood, and to look beyond the promotions and incentives.
I understand that there’s a shortage and lives saved are what counts but non-cash incentives is such a broad term. Gift cards count as non-cash incentive. I’d just feel uneasy about this type of donation. It’s no longer philanthropy. It’s no longer about giving blood and saving lives. It’s now about getting twilight paraphernalia. The people donating aren’t even aware of the consequences and benefits of donating. Not everyone can donate blood so it’s not about getting the most bodies through the door. It’s about getting people who historically can donate to come back again. And to come back for just movie tickets or a t shirt with fang marks demeans the whole process. Also what message does this send to those who donate without incentives? Where do you draw the line on non-cash incentives? It’s easy to get carried away with non-cash incentives and start raffling off big ticket items such as cars just to get people to donate. In this case it’s not really donating anymore if it’s for prizes.
Monetary incentives, for safety purposes, should be kept away from. This includes cash-equivalents such as gift cards. However, I think that other incentives that target specific markets are very effective and continue to attract blood donors.
Those who say that it’s supposed to be about giving blood and saving lives are exactly right. So why should it be a bad idea to draw in more donations and more blood? If it’s about saving lives, then we should be able to accept the fact that some people need a little more motivations. After all, donating blood takes away time from busy peoples lives, in addition to increasing fatigue.
Why do people volunteer? I believe it’s to get into college and/or to receive acknowledgment for one’s actions. I know many people would disagree, however, I think that universities and other organizations incentivize volunteering in order to mobilize people to do good. I see no difference in what these blood banks are doing.
From an individual perspective, I am readily willing to admit that if movie tickets or t-shirt were offered near me, I would donate without hesitation. I have donated in the past, however it was either convenient or to receive points for a competition. If being motivated by a gift of some sort makes me immoral or a bad person, then I am one of the worst; however, I don’t think it does.
I think that this form of motivation can be evolved into something amazing. If places like the American Red Cross can market the donation of blood in the right way, it could revolutionize the process. It could effectively eliminate blood shortages, and for what? A movie ticket and a t-shirt? I’d say three lives are worth much more than just that.
Slippery Slope. Although I believe that donating blood should come from one’s heart, the use of non cash incentives is highly effective. But regardless of why one donates blood the result is still the same. Donating blood saves lives. Does the value of a shirt outweigh the value of a life? If i, or a family member were hypovolemic and dying, I would greatly appreciate a bag or two of O-neg regardless of the reason why someone donated the blood. STAT!
Slipper Slope. Although I believe that donating blood should come from the heart, the use of non-cash incentives are highly effective and should continued to be use. I also believe that cash incentives would invite a lot of unusable blood. But regardless of why one donates blood, in the end the result is still the same. Donating blood saves lives. If I, or a loved one was hypovolemic and dying, I would not question the morality of why one donated the blood as long as it was spun and tested.
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