TakesAllTypes.org - Facebook App for Blood Donors

Takes All Types is a non-profit, grassroots organization that aims to create the first nationwide network for blood donation, and they have taken the innovative step of bringing their cause to Facebook. When a user adds the new Takes All Types (TAT) Facebook Application, they enter their location and their blood type, if they know it. If there is an emergency need for that blood type in a certain geographic area, TAT will notify any potential donors in its system. Users can also sign up to receive updates by phone, text message, email, RSS, or fax. On Facebook, you can display a TAT Card on your profile to show your support, become “a fan” of TAT, or share information about the organization with your friends. Even those unable or unwilling to donate blood can become members and support the cause by simply spreading the word to their online friends. Takes All Types promises to expand in the near future to other social media outlets besides Facebook, and aims to use online communication and networking to eradicate the problem of blood supply shortages across the U.S.

In their own words:
“Takes All Types is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping solve the country's emergency blood problems. Its focus is to provide a centralized Web network along with social media applications and web networking capabilities to register local blood donors via communities like Facebook and at www.takesalltypes.org. This network will help improve local blood supplies by boosting donor participation on a routine basis, and by providing an innovative means of coordinating blood collection logistics.”

This site won’t be a killer - it will help save lives (sorry, bad joke).

With all of the fairly frivolous diversions you can occupy yourself with on Facebook or elsewhere on the web, Takes All Types could catch on as a refreshing way to feel like you’re doing something positive and useful online. Simply signing up is a fairly effortless way to support a good cause, and once you actually receive a message notifying you of a current local need for your blood type, you could make a donation and know that you are making an immediate, important difference in your community.

How many people in the Facebook demographic know their blood type off the top of their head, or would go through the effort to find it?