Expanding the military blood donor pool through non-donor recruitment

The United States Armed Services Blood Program (ASBP) oversees blood collection for the US Department of War but faces recurring shortages. Donor motivations have been examined; the barriers and incentives affecting military non-donors have not.

A survey was conducted of 390 US military-affiliated non-donors served by two Air Force base donor centers. Participants rated 15 barriers and 13 incentives on 5-point Likert scales and gave open-text responses. Cronbach's alpha, principal component analysis, and analysis of variance assessed reliability, structure, and demographic differences; open text was coded with a multi-label codebook.

Barriers grouped into access/information, fear/low priority, and readiness/eligibility factors. Highest rated barriers were preferring other ways to contribute (mean 2.95), low priority (2.88), eligibility concerns (2.88), and lack of notification (2.85). Fear of needles (2.39) and distrust (2.11) rated the lowest. Incentives grouped into tangible/time-based rewards, informational appeals, and recognition. Additional leave (4.22) and gift cards (3.86) rated the highest. Reliability was high (α = 0.86-0.89). Barriers and responsiveness to tangible rewards declined with years of service and age and were higher among enlisted personnel (η² = 0.01-0.10); informational appeals showed no demographic differences. Sixty-four percent were likely to donate. Sixteen percent of open-text responses described being turned away because the respondent's blood type was not being collected.

Military non-donors are disengaged and uninformed rather than fearful. Time-based incentives, eligibility clarity, drive notification, and a pathway for non-group-O volunteers are practical strategies to expand the ASBP donor pool.