Donations are regularly required to expand the global services of The Blood Care Foundation; these are gratefully received, as they help to ensure the Foundation's network of Blood Banks and Regional Supply Points can be steadily increased, without compromising their quality.

However, when the Trustees established the Foundation, it was realised that there would be basic costs, which would be independent of any donations received. Examples of such expenses are the maintenance of blood banks and RSPs to the highest standards of quality, and the ongoing provision of training to all the members of the staff of the Foundation.

To avoid placing the quality of the Charity's services at risk, the Trustees decided to charge a fee for membership, set at a level sufficient to ensure the basic structure of the Foundation was sound, but sufficiently low not to deter potential individuals and organisations from taking out membership.

Donations are essential if the Foundation is to meet many of the requests it receives for help. The Trustees would be pleased to publicly acknowledge the generosity of donors by, for example, associating their name with a particular blood bank or RSP. Alternatively, their name could appear in the Charity's documentation if they were to assume responsibility for the annual costs of its Clinical Management and Quality Assurance Management functions. Donations of this nature would enable the Foundation's services to be increased throughout the world, without incurring any sacrifice of quality.