Post by wilkinsma2 on Oct 9, 2014 17:48:40 GMT -5
The American Red Cross is a non-profit organization that mainly focuses on blood donations and disaster relief efforts. They provide health and safety services and international services as well. Since it was founded in 1881, it has been one of the main organizations that provide national health services that have saved many lives. Many people of all ages can donate blood. The Red Cross actually emphasizes that blood donations from high school and college blood drives make up 20 percent of donations during the school year. The Red Cross Website has many stories from donors about their experiences with donating and how it impacted them. After you donate blood, the Red Cross will let you know how many lives you saved and also give you your blood type. Knowing this can really impact a donor a make them want to keep donating.
The Red Cross has also been working on the Ebola outbreak which seems to be spreading at a rapid rate. The organization has been able to travel to West Africa to provide clothing, hygiene supplies, bottled water, snacks, and other comfort items to support families who have been isolated. They were able to do this because of a whopping donation of $2.8 million from the Paul G. Alien foundation. The organization is also teaching trainees everything they need to know about equipment and safety.
A reason why the Red Cross is so successful with fundraising is probably because it has just been around for so long. Everybody knows about the Red Cross because it is one of those organizations that are one of a kind. On Twitter, they have a following of 1.5 million people. This is obviously a great following to have especially for a non-profit organization. Their Twitter consists of them thanking people for donating and health tips. Just like Gloria Huang and Sarah Milston said, all social media should be is a tool to learn more about the organization, not to donate. They both explained that social media is only one tool in the tool box when it comes to fundraising. Building relationships has been the main tip for both Sarah and Gloria. It also was a tip from Paull Young with Charity Water. The Red Cross definitely does a fine job of building relationships by keeping in contact with donors after they donate and showing them how their donation impacted other people in need. The Red Cross has only been successful with their fundraising strategies and do not seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.
Sources:
www.redcross.org/news/article/The-Importance-of-Student-Blood-Donors
www.redcross.org/news/article/Red-Cross-Opens-New-Clinic-to-Fight-Ebola-in-Sierra-Leone