and reached out to collections after hearing about the success of increasing cooperation between recruitment and collections at several blood centers.
5. Create Brand Identity/Image I hope you have taken advantage of the opportunity to participate in a webinar. I have on several occasions and I have always come away with new information and new ideas to use. Additionally, ADRP created the Mentor-Protégé program last year, to provide one-on-one development for new recruiters, with an outstanding first year. We know we are a unique organization and we also know all the great things ADRP does. But communicating that to others in the industry is the purpose of the next strategic goal, which is to create a brand identity or image. Like any organization, ADRP must be deliberate in its marketing of itself. There are many blood banking organizations but none that are solely focused on donor recruitment and retention. ADRP has taken advantage of this situation to uniquely position itself in the industry. We have sought and created strategic alliances with other likeminded groups, such as ISBT, for example. Our vendor partners see the unique value ADRP provides and have partnered with us to achieve our shared core mission of improving the world’s blood supply. This strategic goal also addresses how we communicate with our members. If we are not talking and, more importantly, listening to you, then we are not doing our jobs and we will not be successful. Much like we have to employ multiple strategies and means to communicate with our donors, ADRP uses multiple strategies to communicate with its members. Email, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are all methods employed by ADRP to get the message out. But we need to hear from you, too. The opportunity to reply to blog postings and ask questions through the members-only section of the website are there for you to tell us what is going on at your center. What are your challenges? What are your successes? If you are not currently connected through these avenues, I strongly encourage you to do so, and let the communication flow. It was through this goal that we first saw the opportunity
6. Advocate in the Field of Donor Recruitment The last strategic goal, to advocate in the field of donor recruitment, has been our most challenging. It is dependent on the achievement of all the preceding goals. One of its sub-goals is to raise the profile of recruitment in our organizations, and I believe we are making progress in this area. I am pleased to announce a new way to raise awareness of recruitment at our organizations – International Donor Recruitment Professionals Day! We are all aware of Lab Week and Blood Collectors Week as ways to recognize the important work of individuals in these areas, but the board of directors thought it was time to also acknowledge and recognize the importance of donor recruiters and collestors with their own day. Therefore, we are establishing the third Wednesday of September as International Donor Recruitment Professionals Day! Look for more information regarding this date, the first one being September 19, 2012, as International Donor Recruitment Professionals Day! Another sub-goal for advocating in the field is to issue position statements on topics related to recruitment. At the AABB conference in San Diego last year I had the opportunity to convene an advisory group made up of senior executives from several blood banking organizations to address two issues that had been raised by several of our members. The first issue had to do with multiple organizations competing for blood drives, and the second regarded media appeals in markets served by multiple blood organizations.
Page 18 / the Drop - ADRP’s Quarterly Newsletter Summer 2012