Division A - Public Relations Programs
Category 9 - Special Events
Boots and Badges Blood Drive Competition
Suncoast Communities Blood Bank
Golden Image Award
Judges' Award
Research/Situation Analysis:
Suncoast Communities Blood Bank is a not-for-profit community supported
blood bank that has been serving hospitals in Sarasota, Charlotte and
DeSoto Counties for 58 years. The Blood Bank supplies blood to the
hospitals 24/7, 365 days a year. The blood supply is at its highest
level of collection during the winter months when seasonal residents
and high school students are actively involved. However, the summer
months pose a problem when those seasonal residents return north and
the high schools, who contribute 9% of the total supply, are on break.
In addition, many regular local donors take vacation at this time. This
temporary loss of donors historically leaves the Blood Bank desperate
for blood donations. In an effort to increase donations and continue
steady service to the hospitals, the Blood Bank searched for an
appealing way to attract an additional 200 or more people to donate
blood at this time of year. Research was conducted on the internet to
learn what other blood banks around the country do. It was noted that
several hold successful “Guns-N-Hoses blood challenges” to increase
their supplies. The “Guns-N-Hoses Blood Challenges” consist of
competitions between law enforcement agencies and fire departments.
Summer of 2006 was a ripe time for our Blood Bank to implement a
similar concept to ignite the competitive spirit of “first responders.”
It was determined that the competition would take place in July 2006
with the name of “Boots and Badges”. Our key audience was directly
intended to reach law enforcement and fire department personnel and
their supporters.
Objectives: 1) To generate 200 or more units or
“pints” of blood during July from Sarasota County law enforcement and
fire department personnel and their supporters. Just one blood donation
can help save up to 3 lives.
2) To secure 100% participation by May/June 2006 of 17 agencies invited to compete
3) To gain local media coverage by 3 media outlets (radio, print, TV) during July to help with publicity
Implementation:
Law enforcement agencies and fire departments in the area were
identified and invited to participate through letters. To attract
interest they were enticed by the thought of competition against each
other and by winning a large trophy. A kick-off event was planned for
June 29th at the Blood Bank with officials from the agencies invited to
show their support by starting the competition with a blood donation.
14 people participated during the kick-off event to donate blood.
Subsequently, blood drives were set up for the agencies. Email updates
and news releases were sent to the teams and the media on a weekly
basis to keep the participants informed of their progress. A large
traveling trophy and t-shirts were customized for the event. A
celebration event was held on August 18th with each participating
agency official on hand to watch the trophy pass to the winner.
Evaluation: The 1st Annual Boots and Badges Blood
Drive Competition was a success. 1)The first program objective was
satisfactorily met considering this was a first time event. 8 out of 17
agencies participated in the event resulting in 47% collaboration.
While this was 53% short of goal the outcome was positive and resulted
in a tremendous interest proven by the number of blood donations
collected and the amount of participation from the agencies. This
helped set the stage and benchmark for future “Boots and Badges” events
2) The goal to collect blood donations from 250 people during the one
month time frame exceeded all expectations, resulting in 266 donors;
the number including 130 donors who had never given blood before the
event. 9 blood drives were scheduled from participating agencies. 3) It
was hoped that a total of 3 local media outlets (one TV station, radio
station and newspaper) would cover the event. In all, the results for
the media coverage exceeded our objective. 1 TV story, 1 radio
interview and 7 news articles were achieved. The program was also so
well received by participants that they mention the excitement to come
with a second annual event. The Blood Bank is currently in the process
of making the event much larger for 2007 by incorporating a major
corporate sponsor, media sponsor, more agency participation and
extending the time frame from July to September.
Budget: The budget for the event was minimal with
trophy and engraving ($137.50), Food ($96.98), T-Shirts ($487.50 or
$1.95 per shirt. 250 ordered) and event Supplies/decoration ($31.48),
totaling $753.46.