By Marike Carli

On Saturday, 27 May 2023, we called on our blood donors and the public to help us curb the effect of winter by donating blood as part of our 1 Day – 10 Malls – 1000 units of blood challenge. This was the 4th time we hosted this challenge, but the 1st time we had to take on the Vodacom URC Grand Final head-to-head. Even though we had slightly fewer donors turn up on the day, we still think we won the match as we welcomed 152 new blood donors to our remarkable life-saving family. Throughout the day, 966 donors attended one of the 10 blood donation clinics, and in total, we collected 846 units of blood.

We wanted to find out from you, our blood donors, what you thought of the challenge. We sent a digital survey to 928 donors, of which 107 responded. 92% of the respondents donated blood before, and 8% were new blood donors.

We asked donors why they donated blood on that particular Saturday:

  • 58% of the donors said they donated blood because they were due,
  • 36% of them donated because they were inspired by the fact that it was a challenge and that they wanted to take part in it,
  • 29% said donating blood on a Saturday is simply more convenient,
  • 23% said they didn’t know it was part of a challenge.

We asked donors how they found out about the challenge:

  • 39% said they received communication from us – SMS, call, email
  • 28% said they heard it on the radio
  • 12% said they saw our A1 streetlamp posters
  • 10% said they saw our social media posts.

We also advertised this campaign on our website, branding material, digital display ads, and print media and had promoters at traffic lights. From our donors who heard us on the radio, 65% said that they heard us on Kfm 94.5, and 13% on Heart 104.9 FM. Other stations that mentioned us were Smile 90.4 FM, Voice of the Cape, Radio Tygerberg, RSG 100-104FM, SFM Streek Radio, Goodhope FM, Radio Zibonele, and Bokradio.

Thank you to all our valued media partners who always assist us in conveying our life-saving message – from our mouths to the publics ear – without you we wouldn’t have the same reach. We would also like to thank everyone who visited our clinics on Saturday, giving of your time, and probably some valuable rugby-time, to support us and ensuring that there is a sufficient blood supply. Just like you, we love a challenge. Till next time, we’ll try again…😊