Donating plasma is a 1.5-3 hour long process which can be done 2x a week for $20-30 a visit. This results in an extra $120-240 a month in cash! The process has few risks and benefits not only the donor financially, but the recipient who will receive the plasma through medication treating disorders such as hemophilia or immune deficiency disorders and preventing rabies, measles, rubella, and Hebatitis B.
Step 1
Go to www.bloodbanker.com and search for donate-plasma-for-money center nearest you.
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*Sign up for an appointment and ask what you should bring as a first-time donor (typically it is a driver's license and a social security card).
Step 2
Prepare for your visit to donate plasma by:
drinking lots of water the day before and leading up to your donation. This will reduce your donation time and help you recover quicker after donating.
eating a well balanced meal before donating (at least 4 hours), preferably with iron and protein in it.
avoiding alcohol, caffeine and high-fat, high cholesterol foods.
pick out a good book or paperwork from school or work to fill out while waiting.
Step 3
Donate plasma! Get money! Save a life!
First you will check in, fill out paperwork and get your blood pressure and temperature taken. You also get a picture taken for your file!
Next you will submit a urine sample for testing.
Then you will get a tiny sample of blood taken from drops from your finger and your cuticle will be marked by a hi-lighter type marker under a black light to prevent you from donating at another plasma-for-money center before it is time.
You will then get a very brief physical, including inspection of eyes, ears, nose, breathing, and reflexes.
After this you will finally sit down to donate plasma. They have comfortable S-shaped beds which you lie on while donating and many tvs hooked up playing a movie. The movie they played while I was there was "The Simpsons - The movie." The actual donation takes about 40 minutes. It involves the extraction of your blood, the sorting of your red blood cells from the plasma (which is 90% water) and the return of the red blood cells to your body.
You then collect your money, typically $20-30 in cash and sign up for your next appointment.
Step 4
Take care of your body after donating plasma.
- eat a light meal and drink more fluids than usual
- avoid consuming alcohol right away (it will really mess you up)
- keep your venipuncture site clean (bandage can be removed after 2 hours)
- if fainting or dizziness occurs lie down.
Step 5
Put your plasma money in an account for whatever you want to use it for.
It is very easy to just use $30 of cash on gas, groceries, starbucks, etc. Keep it in a special vacation account, retirement account, "whatever account" or just immediately use it to pay off debt.
Step 6
Go for your next appointment to donate plasma.
*You can donate plasma 2 times a week for $30 each at my center in California. My husband and I both do this and make $480 in a 4 week month and $600 dollars in a 5 week month such as January.
*We use the money to pay off debt. But, once we are out of debt, it is going in an emergency fund and then a "house" fund.
If we continue this throughout the year, it is almost an extra $6500 worth of income just for donating plasma!
Things You'll Need
TIME (2-3 hours for the first visit, approx. 1.5 hours for returning visits)
Typically, 2 forms of identification (license/id, social security card)
transportation to donation center (bus, taxi, car, bike, feet)
Warning
Donating Plasma has very few risks unlike a lot of similar procedures. The most common risks for consistent plasma donaters include a small scar from where the veripuncture is entered and low iron levels.
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