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Blood drives

Host a blood drive

SANBS aims to collect an average of 3000 units of blood every day nationally. It is through planned, sustainable blood drives at companies, organisations and institutions that we are able to achieve this collection target.

What are the benefits of hosting a blood drive?

  • Blood drives gives donors the opportunity to become involved in making a difference to others in a convenient way.
  • SANBS offers education for your staff on safe lifestyles and requirements to qualify to be a blood donor. An added benefit for your organisation is that the Donor Educator covers important information such as sexually transmitted diseases.
  • Blood drives are used by many companies as a Corporate Social Investment activity to show that they are actively involved in impacting on the lives of South Africans.
  • Each blood donation contributes significantly to the country’s health care system.
  • Blood drives can be used as team building exercises where departments or branches compete to see who donates the most blood, which could ultimately boost staff morale.

Things to consider when hosting a blood drive

  • A target goal (number of donors) and a plan to meet that goal.
  • A suitable and accessible venue.
  • Time to meet with your SANBS Public Relations Practitioner (PRP) to evaluate the blood drive and discuss scheduling future drives, challenges and/or suggestions.

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Procedure

Once you have dealt with the basic criteria, the life-saving work begins…

  • The first step in arranging a blood drive is to contact the relevant SANBS PRP in your area. If you do not know who this is, please contact the SANBS call centre on 0800 11 9031.
  • The PRP will take you through the process and a meeting will be planned to discuss the process going forward.
  • Please note that SANBS works on a 6 to 8 week planning schedule. For this reason blood drives must be booked at least 6 weeks in advance.

Size of venue 

  • The size of the venue depends very much on the number of people expected at the blood drive. The minimum venue size for a two-bed blood drive is 5m x 5m or 25m2.
  • Should there not be a suitable venue available; the PRP will assist with suggestions on the best way forward.
  • Any additional logistics required relating to the venue (e.g. marquee or gazebo erection) can be arranged with the PRP.

Number of donors required 

  • There’s a minimum number of donors required to make a blood drive viable.
  • The blood drive must be able to sustain the target set for a minimum of four blood drives in a year as committed donors are considered safe donors.