Hello, I’m curiuos to know or in your country you getting some benifits after blood donation. For example in Lithuanian after donation you are getting: Cinema ticket, small pack juice, sparkling water and black chocolate. After 40 donations You can get a extra pension.
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We donate out of altruism.
And no, this is not a joke and I think I still have pictures where this has been asked here before.
If you donate blood at the German Red Cross, you get a little snack and something to drink and a small bag of sweets afterwards. And I donate regularly and have been to different places. We don’t get time off afterwards, nor do we get anything else normally for free.
Private services pay money, but that’s something else again.
Picture from a bag from last year.
https://imgur.com/a/e15oRdf
Country-wide:
2 days off after a donation. Used to be 1 day, got bumped to 2 during COVID days, later made permanent.
Recovery meal. Decades ago, it used to be a literal meal served on site, or possibly a voucher to a milk bar or the hospital cafeteria. Nowadays it’s usually an 8-pack of chocolate, though sometimes you’ll get stuff like a nut & raisin mix, instead.
Locally:
Many cities have a scheme where after reaching a certain amount of blood, you can use public transport for free. Typically the threshold used is 18 litres for men and 15 for women – the same as needed to get the “Distinguished Honorable Blood Donor” badge from the Polish Red Cross. Details vary – in some cities, you just put the badge in your pocket and off you go. In others, you need to take a trip to the transport authority office and get a special ticket issued.
Blood donation centres will also run their own promotional campaigns from time to time. You can get some random stuff like shirts, coffee cups, blankets – basically whatever the marketing department decided to splurge on.
I got a bottle of sparkling mineral water, a small box of sour cherry juice, and a piece of prepackaged cake (chased by a bag of IV because I fainted three times due to low blood pressure, but that’s not standard). I don’t think there’s an extra benefit that comes with repeat donations like a coffee house stamp card.
(Turkey, not Germany)
You normally get small juice and a bag of crisps each time you donate, but I think that is mostly to avoid people passing out.
Then you can get various small tokens eg a pin with a blood drop on it each time you have donated 25 times. After 100 times you get a pelican figurine… https://bloddonor.dk/for-blodbanker/pelikaner/
There is also a digital blood donor magazine.
It’s a nice gesture but I doubt that it does much to persuade people to donate.
Usually a choice of a cup of tea or coffee, or a cordial, plus a chocolate biscuit or packet of crisps.
In Norway, you get snacks and something to drink, and a small present you can choose. It varies what’s available, but it’s usually stuff like cups or wine glasses (donate several times for a set of six!) or blankets and such. Moomin cups are popular.
Most of us donate out of altruism but you also get:
Nationally: 1 day off work and a so called “meal ticket” ~€50 worth (you can only use it to buy food) and a better interest rate when purchasing state bonds
Locally: 50% discount for a month on public transport. You also get points you can use for discounts for various products/services offered by private companies
L.E. I just remembered you also get a free set of blood tests at least once a year
In Hungary, you get small rewards when you donate blood through the Hungarian Red Cross: a bottle of mineral water, chocolate, and a meal ticket worth about 2.50 €. Depending on 3rd party sponsors, you may eventually get an entry pass to a local swimming pool or a football match too. The Labor Code guarantees 4 hours of paid leave if the blood donation takes place outside your workplace.
Private institutions pay cash for blood plasma but I think it’s disgusting.
As the leading country in blood donations, we get snacks, and sometimes a goodie bag if you go through red cross.
This year there’s a special event where if you donate three times in 9 months, you win a hoodie. But outside of these events there’s only free food after donations. And for my 10th donation I received a Red Cross coffee mug.
The free food can be anything from granola bars, a bowl of soup, cold buffets to an IKEA hotdogs or cheeseburger and fries.
In France we only get a snack/drink, though sometimes I donated around noon and they fed me a whole meal afterwards. And maybe sometimes they give you the little squishy ball you have to press while pumping?
Portugal here. You get a snack before and another after donation. You also get a justification for skiping work for the day, although most blood drives are on weekends.
In Italy you have the right to a paid day off from work for every donation. You get free blood tests and a huge breakfast.
We get a note for two days off work (of course, you don’t need to use them if you don’t want to) and a care package with juices, sweets and salty snacks. Also, you can check your blood work for STD and considering how expensive those panels are in a lab, that can actually be counted as a bonus itself.
A cup of tea or a glass of squash and a biscuit
If you donate platelets you get chocolate biscuits
At 75 and 100 donations you and a guest are invited to a three course meal and get a small trophy thing
Snacks, coffee/tea/softdrinks, sometimes sandwhiches and granola bars. After 5,10,50,100,150 and 200 donations you something as a present. For 5 I think it was shiny pin and for 200th it is silver honor plate.
We just get a cup of tea, or a bottle of fizzy drink, and a biscuit and some crisps. Purely because they don’t want you fainting on the way home.
It used to be better. There were free pencils and car stickers, and there were some nice cakes afterwards too.
They still give out awards for repeat donations. You get a silver award for 10 donations, a gold one for 20, and there’s awards for 50 and 100 as well. I got the silver one, and I’m one away from the gold one for 20.
You get some juice and a snack, and a gift of choice. Could be a coffee mug, a small cooling bag, golf balls, or donate a teddy bear to the local maternity ward. You used to be able to donate an equivalent sum (I think it was roughly €6) to things like cancer research, but that option disappeared a few years ago.
In Italy is a voluntary act, there are various organizations of which you can become a member, the more known and numerous are the AVIS and the Italian Red Cross, with the FIDAS and the FRATRES being created more recently. You have only to search the local district nearest where you live, fill a questionaire, visit to the doctor and a preventive blood tests just to check the blood levels, so the usual I think is everywhere. The criteria are the usual, between 18 and 65 years old, +50 kg, healthy life style. The donations could differ in the normal type with the transfusion of blood, donation of plasma, donation of platelets etc.
Perks: in general, you are entitled to a payed day off from work if overlaps with the donation day, you have only to request a certificate, somebody use it somebody else don’t. For the rest it depends by organziation, I know that with the AVIS you have a free breakfast, usually there are apposite weekends to make a donation and the building used are schools/minor clinic that those days are free in which in some kitchens/adibite rooms you can fine other volunteers that serve you a coffe and brioche. Also during some local festivities, like the sagre, the AVIS volunteers have a day dedicated to them and the dinner served to them that day is free, I think.
Donating blood in Slovenia is not only an act of solidarity, but also a respected tradition. If you give blood, you’re entitled to a day of paid leave from work, extraordinary leave (izredni dopust). After donating, traditionaly you are treated with “kranjska klobasa” (Carniolan sausage) and juice. I still remember in the good old Yuga, tradition included a glass of beer or 2 dcl of red wine, which was considered good for your blood. Those days are gone, but the sausage and juice remain as a tasty token of appreciation.
https://iasstorage.vecer.com/data/Resources/00/00/00/00/00/00/25/27/31/20/25273120q3A809EF6C8DAD21F9E4CCEA532099303_1200.jpg
Here you get 2 extra paid days off (that employer is obliged to give you) , the one of the donation and the next day. Also a bag of goodies – sweets, juices, etc.
Italy, it’s voluntary and you don’t get money.
However, if you are an employee if automatically get a free day off. Also they offer you breakfast.
You can donate once every two months. Source: I’ve donated since I was 18
Lunch and snacks. I think it’s illegal in France to financially or otherwise compensate people for donating blood.
In the Netherlands; as a blood donor, you get a drink (like water, orange juice or tea etc.) and something sweet like a cookie after donating blood. Parking is validated, and after so many donations you get a present. Like a reusable water bottle after 10 donations.
Pretty similar for a plasma donor, the main difference is you get some drinks during donating as you are on the machine longer
In Germany: when I donate blood, I usually get some prepacked foodstuffs. When donating plasma, I get 15 euros.
Last time I donated (admittedly over 20 years ago) I got a glass of orange juice and a slice of cake and was made to sit down and relax for 20 minutes, and that was just so I wouldn’t faint on my way out. I think they had some magazines for us to read while we relaxed.
Some soda, coffee/ tea and something to eat while waiting.
Then you can choose a price after donation. You can collect donations to get fancier prices. Also you are capped to max 1 donation/3mo
By far the most popular price is the moomin mugs which are about 2 donations each. They often have limited edition ones and the cooler motives.
You can also get Iittala wine glasses, kitchen knives, umbrellas etc. Each with its own price from 1-4 donations.
1 day off work (max 2 days per year). Used to be 2 days per donation whenever you wanted, now its only 1 day and has to be the same day as the donation. At the time of the donation you get a small pack of salty crisps and a juice. Nothing else, no other perks.
Compensation for donating blood: 0 to 25 euros (depending on where you donate) and drinks and snacks are provided (it is recommended to have something to drink and eat after donating blood).
In Hungary, chocolate, other sweets and small juices are given when donating blood. A free (or at least cheap) incentive is that you can request a text message, so that one day you wake up to the message that your blood has been used and you have saved a life. In addition, they constantly publish the available blood supply by blood type: https://www.ovsz.hu/veradas/#aktualis-verkeszlet-szint
A much bigger business is blood plasma donation, for which they pay (35-40 EUR), so entire families live (partly) off this, often not even keeping the upper limits, thus exploiting themselves. “Blood plasma can be given forty-five times a year, or every three days at the most, yet some people are still drained up to three times a day.” https://24.hu/belfold/2024/03/08/verplazma-riport-borsod-tornanadaska-het-plazmaadas/
the public healthcare system is mostly free for people who live in Portugal but for some types of appointments or visits, you might need to pay a small amount of money. This small payment is called a “taxa moderadora”
if you donate blood twice a year or more you don’t pay those, you sometimes have priority for check ups and stuff and you get free parking in hospitals and health centres. you can also get some better insurance deals i think
immediately after you get a bunch of snacks like crackers, sandwiches, juice, milk and coffee and you get the whole day off
depending where you donate you get something to eat/drink but that really change, some location offer a small buffet while other just have free vending machines.
I have donated blood fewer than 10 times at this point. They give you nothing but a snack afterwards if you go to the cafeteria which is by the entrance to the lobby. Each time you get a ticket with your details, blood type and a count of how many times you have donated.
Just googled that and for Russia it’s 2 paid days off and a “meal ticket” that can be redeemed for ≈5-15€, if you have a rare variant of blood, you can sell it for up to ~100€. After donating enough blood you become a Honorable donor of Russia and get about ~200€/year and other bonuses depending on the region, like free public transport or meds discount
Actually not bad, it’s a shame that I can’t do it for health reasons
In Germany if you donate at red cross you get a small random gift and a snack. If you donate at the hospital, you get TUC crackers, grape sugar, some drink like cola, orange juice, apple juice. After second donation you get a small expense allowance between 15-30Euros cash the more often you donate. Also you can refer friends then you get more allowance reward
Juice so you don’t pass out, a cap, T-shirt, mug or something similar with “GeBlod” (give blood) on it, to convince more people to donate.
In Istria you get free lunch and after I think 30 or 40 times you get adiotanl health insurance for free, normally you pay it 10 euro a month.
You get to eat some stuff in the donors café that is it. I’m not sure if we even get time off, I always went in my free time.
In the Netherlands (and most of Europe from what I know) it’s illegal to receive money to donate blood; it’s a safety measure (think about how many junkies would go otherwise…).
You get a little present every 10 donations, though.
I donate as often as I can at the local university hospital, since I’m a universal donor and my blood type is in high demand.
Financially, there isn’t much of a benefit, but I’m not complaining about the 25€ and a meal afterwards.
I basically do it because “it’s the right thing to do”.
Ireland used to give pints of Guinness but not any more, now they have bars of chocolate, biscuits and cans of pepsi/orange soda and maybe crisps but I’m not sure
North Macedonia. Completely voluntary. Usually if insured you pay ~10% of medical bills, rest is covered. If you donate 10 times you pay nothing for all of your life. Day off of work
In Poland, you get chocolate for donating blood, but most importantly, you get time off work. That’s the main reason why we have so much blood that we export it
Croatia
1 day off at work, some companies offer 2.
Sometimes you can use them whenever you want, sometimes on the donation day only. Usually the former.
Snacks afterwards, usually a sandwich, a soft drink and a sweet, sometimes a real meal, sometimes a food coupon for a specific restaurant. It depends who organises the donation.
Often they also give different gifts such as t-shirts, shampoos, etc.
After 25 donations for women and 35 for men the donors get free public transport in 2 of our biggest cities (Zagreb and Split), and also free additional healthcare (it’s around 10€ a month normally).
And of course, the blood gets tested for some diseases so if there’s a problem they notify you.
And after a number of donations (I don’t know how many, would need to check, some round numbers probably) they organise a ceremony to give some ordens to regular donors, sometimes even with the president.
All of our blood is from our donors, we don’t import any.
A day off work on the day of the donation. You also get waived from participation in the medical system, for the next 6 months. After 10 donations, the waiver is permanent.
I’ve also heard that blood donors are prioritized if blood is needed for their treatment, but haven’t verified it.
Red Cross is in charge of the donations, and they usually give a small gift bag, along with free library membership, tickets to the zoo, or the likes.
Commercial donations are forbidden.
It’s voluntary. When your stuff is drawn, you can pick something to drink and some food (bread with cheese and other stuff) with couple of snacks. https://www.sanquin.nl/en/become-a-donor/what-happens-after-i-register
Scotland. We get a biscuit and a carton of juice, but that’s just to give you a bump in sugar after donating.
We donate for others benefit, not our own.
It depends. I the US you can get a pint of beer and $20 gift card. Or some tote, blanket, t-shirt, etc instead of beer.
You get a meal and a drink on site and you legally get one day off work (very strongly enforced). Other benefits are for multiple donations and depend on local municipalities or cities. There are things like discounts or free medical insurance, parking or public transport, drivers insurance, etc. Also, if some organization is sponsoring the blood donation drive you will often get a gift from them (tickets to a game or a show if sports club or tgeatre is organizer, small things like pens, key chains etc.
I believe a free snack, paid leave from work and tax deduction. Plus some benefits from health insurance companies.
Denmark. Something to drink, maybe a biscuit.
You get a pin occasionally for how many times you’ve donated; something like 10, 50, 100.
In Sweden you get a snack, drink and can choose a gift (like wineglass, book or something).
But in my opinion the biggest gift is that they have connected the blood you donate and the hospital system so that you get a text message when your blood is scanned and used. It kinda lifts your day when you get a message during the evening or when at work saying that you blood was used to save someone, usually months after it was donated.
In Portugal you get an exemption from paying moderating fees in access to the public health service.
For example, if a blood donor goes to the emergency (public health service) doesn’t have to pay the usual 25€ of fees.
I live in Norway
There is always free soda/drink, chocolate, lefse, and so on, to make sure the donors keep their blood pressure and blood sugar up.
You also get a stamp every time you donate, and you can exchange the stamps for “prizes”. Different prizes cost different amount of stamps. The prizes are things like coffee mugs, towels, kitchen utensils, and so on.
In Finland we get a cup of coffee and a sandwich afterwards.
In my home town (Turku) you can also get 2hours of parking paid for, if you come by car.
That is enough, atleast for me 🙂
I get notified via an app every time I can donate again, and I just walk in after work.
I have never even thought of any “benefits” would be neccessary.
Fun not fun fact: I am not able to donate blood in Europe as I was born in the UK in the late 80s! Apparently for security reasons those born during the mad cow disease years are not able to donate blood. It was a fun fact to learn after I queued to donate blood in Italy
a old cold sandwhich and tea or coffee, that’s it. Tho they do offer free cab rides to and from the blood bank so thats pretty much the best part about it.