Abstract
BACKGROUND: Social connections are crucial in blood donation, with positive social influences providing valuable information and serving as motivation to donate. Australian Red Cross Lifeblood's group donation program, Lifeblood Teams, leverages social connections by enabling donors to donate together and/or contribute to their team's donation tally. One-third of annual donations are from Team donors, yet predictors and outcomes of a positive team experience remain unexplored. This study investigated how connectedness and perceived benefits to being in a team influence team satisfaction, team identity, and advocacy for others to join a team and whether these relationships differ for novice and experienced donors. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Team registrants (n = 646) completed a survey on their team donation experiences linked to donor records. The survey investigated themes of motivations, rewards, and social factors to understand why donors join and continue donating with teams. RESULTS: Feeling connected to team members and perceiving a greater number of benefits were positively related to higher team satisfaction, in turn leading to a stronger team identity and increased advocacy for others to join a team. The relationship between satisfaction with their team and advocating for others to join a team was stronger for novice than for experienced donors. DISCUSSION: Blood collection agencies should promote team benefits and facilitate strengthening social ties within donation teams to ensure satisfying group donation experiences that lead to stronger team identities and increased advocacy for joining donation teams.