Getting By With A Little Help From Our Friends
By Deanna Bolio
Do you ever think about where the promotions for donors, such as movie tickets and T-shirts, come from? While most come from either the donor recruitment or marketing communications department, Stanford Blood Center has been fortunate enough to receive some outside help.
LifeScan has been a tremendous supporter of Stanford Blood Center since 2000. In addition to hosting five drives a year at its Milpitas office, the company has sponsored all of the promotional items given out at high schools, colleges and universities, as well as selected community blood drives. Unfortunately, LifeScan, which is part of Johnson & Johnson, will be closing its doors by the middle of this year.
Recently, high school and college donors have been benefiting from a new relationship with Chipotle. When Stanford Blood Center account manager Monica Doleshel heard that LifeScan would no longer be able to offer the movie tickets they had been sponsoring, she started to look for more affordable options.
“I was trying to find a place that might sell us vouchers at a discounted price,” Doleshel said. “After trying several places, I reached out to a contact at a local Chipotle.”
Doleshel was told that Chipotle doesn’t sell discounted vouchers, but gives them away for free to selected organizations they find deserving. She went online to apply, included a statement as to why Chipotle should grant the request, and two weeks later was accepted. Thanks to Chipotle, more than 3,000 high school and college blood donors will enjoy a free burrito lunch or dinner.