The purpose of this program is to increase the safety and availability of Tanzanias blood supply through the recruitment and retention of eligible blood donors. To achieve this, the University of Minnesota will focus on four strategic objectives: establishing national policies and guidelines for all blood donor recruitment and collection practices throughout Tanzania and Zanzibar, with a focus on promotion of voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation; reinforcing and building capacity of blood donor mobilization leadership, staff, and volunteers through training and mentorship to establish a sustainable cadre of capable blood donor recruiters; compiling and analyzing donor and non-donor demographic and epidemiologic statistics to define population groups to target the safest potential blood donors; and establishing strong public-private partnerships with organizations to host blood drives, as well as linkages for counseling and delivery of test results.

The project covers eight zones in Tanzania and Zanzibar. The target population is limited to eligible Tanzanian adults between the ages of 18-64. The purpose of the initial trainings and guidance preparation highlighted in the objectives is to create practices and policies that will facilitate greater effectiveness and efficiency in the area of blood donation. Cost-reduction is built into this program since there will be an increasingly reduced need for external technical expertise, as policy changes occur and donor recruitment processes become successful, which is also a central component of the transition strategy. Monitoring and evaluation plans include measuring the number of activities planned, individuals trained and competencies gained, as well as units of blood collected and voluntary donors recruited.

Specific program objectives and approaches currently being applied in the areas of policy development and blood collection include the preparation and implementation of a donor recruitment production planning process. This item is being collaboratively developed by the University of Minnesota (UMN) and NBTS, and seeks to streamline the process of blood collection in the interest of promoting donor retention, production planning based on achievable goals, and increased transparency and communication between key stakeholders. The second objective is to develop and support a program to increase blood donations from new donor groups not associated with schools or universities. Thirdly, UMN plans to help update and implement NBTS' public relations and communications program in an effort to improve marketing strategies and heighten the organization's name recognition throughout Tanzania. The fourth objective is to conduct a knowledge, attitudes, and behavior survey on motivational factors affecting blood donation, in which the results will then be analyzed and presented to NBTS and CDC leadership to determine if and how existing recruitment and retention methods may be altered to better address donor concerns. The fifth objective is to conduct an assessment of current transmissible disease testing data to support/reject the concept that family replacement donors are less safe than voluntary blood donors. Additionally, UMN will compile and analyze key data/statistics to assist the NBTS in operational decision-making. The sixth objective is to assist NBTS in implementing a donor recruitment texting program in collaboration with Phones for Health. Finally, UMN plans to support the establishment of blood donor clubs for youth and blood donor community groups for adults, including Club 25 which is an international youth-oriented global social club for young people committed to saving lives by regularly donating blood.

UMN will monitor and evaluate the progress of its objectives by measuring the number of proposed activities that are conducted in each of the programs eight zones. Specifically, success of the production planning process will be measured by comparing projected statistics to the number of actual units collected during each of the scheduled blood drives. UMN will measure the effect of the program to expand donor sites beyond schools and universities by conducting an assessment of potential blood donation sponsors, including community groups, religious organizations, businesses, etc. in each zone. The sites will then be compiled into a list to be used in zonal outreach and recruitment efforts.

Success of the program will be determined by the number of new non-school and university sponsors acquired in each zone. Outcomes of the new communication program will be measured by the number of media activities conducted. The measure of the KAP survey will involve the production of a comprehensive report including key findings and recommendations. Similarly, the assessment of infectious disease transmission in family replacement donors as well as the evaluation of key operational data/statistics will also conclude in the production of two final reports and recommendations. Effectiveness of the Phones for Health programming will be measured by the number of donors that are recruited via text messaging. Finally, donor club activities will be evaluated based on the number of members and repeat donors.