Interview with Alexandra Vnuk

In the nomination of the All-Russian Competition of Professional Skills of the Blood Service «The Secret of Success is Constancy», the project «On the Pulse of Life» became the best in the development of free regular donation of blood and its components. Tell us about the project. How did this idea come about, what goals were set?

«On the pulse of life» is a comprehensive long-term project of the FMBA of Russia Blood Center, the implementation of which began in 2014. We submitted achievements for 2016-2021 to the competition. Why? Perhaps, for us, this is the brightest and most active period of work, when the project was developed. Its base are information, education and the loyalty to the institution. The project is designed to improve the quality of the institution, to raise the level of awareness of the audience, thereby introducing a number of significant changes in the portrait of the donor.

Tell us about the target audience of your project.

The project is focused on several target groups: people just planning to join the donor movement, regular donors and schoolchildren. Donation is for everyone! At the same time, depending on stage of project implementation, the emphasis is placed pointwise on each segment of the audience.

Tell us about the importance of feedback in working with donors. How to effectively organize this process?

Colleagues pay great attention to promptly answers to donors in the official resources of the institution, including social networks. The main rule of our team is to provide an answer as soon as possible. We are online in dialogue 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. An important part of the feedback is the regular survey of visitors to the institution, where everyone can evaluate the work of the Blood Center and leave their wishes and comments.

Working with social media is very important today. How was this part of the project organized? What is the best way to organize such activity in other blood service institutions?

Indeed, social media is one of the main tools for informing and engaging with donors. In order to maximize the convenience for our audience, we use a single name for the site, the hashtag and all groups in social networks and instant messengers.

Since 2015, the Donor Development Department, together with the leading specialists of the institution, has been regularly developing a detailed content plan for social media. It is compiled taking into account the requests of donors, the seasonality and the needs of the institution. The number of unique materials in just one category #KnowledgePower increased from 86 in 2016 to 268 in 2021. It should be noted that they are popular not only with our donors, but also with colleagues from other blood service institutions. Thanks to this, we increase the level of literacy and awareness of our fellow citizens about the donation procedure.

In 2021, in order to build a more effective dialogue with the audience, the Blood Center team launched a new format of work - live broadcasts with the institution's specialists. In a year and a half, we managed to hold 10 online meetings.

We love to inspire our subscribers. Therefore, the introduction of the heading #WordToDonorsCenter has become not only an opportunity to get acquainted with the “neighbor” in the donor chair, but also an effective tool of motivation.

Tell us about the educational block of the project and interaction with universities.

An important part of the project is education. We carry out comprehensive work with universities, secondary educational institutions and companies that organize or are just planning Donor Days in their office/enterprise. The staff of the Center annually conducts more than 20 lectures and online lessons for students and organizations. These events have a positive impact on the audience, help dispel the most common myths about donation and fully reveal the path of the donor.

Also in focus is the education of future donors. The specialists of the FMBA of Russia Blood Center have developed a program of excursions, in which schoolchildren, their teachers and parents, accompanied by regular donors, go all the way, from the reception desk to the donor chair. Upon request, young tourists are offered to determine the blood group in the express laboratory. The excursion program also includes visits to production units, where they talk about the further path of blood, including the fractionation stage and cryobank.

In 2020, we entered into agreements on social cooperation with two Moscow schools in order to organize in-depth training for students of specialized medical classes. So far, more than 15 joint events have been held.

Most of the work within the framework of the On the Pulse of Life project is related to the loyalty of donors. What events and activities have increased donor loyalty to the institution?

The Blood Center has done a great job in this direction. In order to check satisfaction with the quality of reception, we regularly conduct a survey of the donor contingent, which I mentioned earlier. This analytical activity allows us to respond in a timely manner to the requests of our donors and make appropriate changes, improve particular cases. Reception logistics has been corrected, an electronic queue has been introduced, the navigation system has been improved, information stands on topics of interest have been added - this is a small part of the transformations that have taken place in the institution during this time.

Since 2020, we have been implementing an internal corporate project to increase the level of donor loyalty to nurses. For a year and a half, experts note the positive dynamics in the development of interaction between medical personnel and donors, including the level of communicative competence. In order to become closer to our donors, we have launched a seasonal column, in which we talk about the medical workers of the Blood Center.

Emotions are the key to motivation of donors for a regular visit to the Blood Center. Positive emotions from coming to the institution, making a donation, the opportunity to communicate with new people and participate in events. That is why, throughout the entire period of the project, we are working to create an appropriate atmosphere.

Let's not forget about online activities. Thematic quizzes not only increase the literacy of our donors, but also ensure the development of communications with specialists. A nice bonus is a set of souvenirs for the winners and the most active participants.

Attracting business to participation in the All-Russian Loyalty Program of the Blood Service allows us to say: «Thank you!» to every regular donor.

Are you satisfied with the results of the project? How do you plan to develop it further?

It is a long term project. Analyzing the key indicators of our work every year, we see significant progress, both quantitative and qualitative.

We have formed a group of responsible regular donors. They return to us with their friends, colleagues, spouses, and some already with children who grow up before our eyes and join noble deeds from an early age.

As for the numbers, here we also have something to be proud for. The communication strategy of the Blood Center for a number of years has made it possible to significantly increase the rate of regular donors (from 60% in 2016 to 75% in 2021), halve the number of temporary withdrawals and significantly increase the loyalty index to the Center.

The team of the institution continues to listen donors, striving to bring the brightest ideas to life. I can say without hesitation that there are many ambitious plans ahead, the implementation of which is impossible without the participation of not only the specialists of the Center - professionals in their field, but also the donors themselves.

And our traditional question: what would you wish donors and those who are going to join the donor program?

Dear donors! A spark of life is in each of you. Cherish this gift and continue to share the light for the health of complete strangers. For those who have not yet decided to sit in a donor chair, I advise you to try. Good Deeds are contagious!