Donating plasma – a quick way to raise money

A couple of weeks ago, GetRichSlowly posted a controversial list of ways to raise money quickly if you’re fairly desperate for it. Some of the methods were not available to a lot of people (i.e. you can’t sell investments if you don’t have any) and others were things you should only ever do if you have no better choices, like getting a payday loan. This inspired FrugalWench [blog since deleted] to post a more down-to-earth list of quick money raisers. Both lists are worth reading; you just need to apply your common sense instead of assuming every item is a good idea for your particular financial situation.

But there’s one thing both lists left off: you can “donate” plasma and get paid up to about $50 a week for about 4 hours of your time. Plasma is a component of your blood that’s used in both transfusions to people with various disorders and in medical research. Having it drawn is more complicated than having blood drawn, and it takes up to two hours – that’s a big part of why they pay you to do it. The payments range from $15 to $30 per visit, and you can donate up to twice a week.

Not only are you helping yourself to up to $240 more per month, you’re doing something that will save lives directly and aid in research that will save even more lives.

If you decide to do this, there are a few things you should know:

• Researchers recommend regular donors be on a healthy diet with plenty of protein to replenish their lost plasma.
• Facilities limit how often you can donate. Twice a week should be fine for a healthy person, but you should take a month off every couple of months. The Red Cross won’t let you donate more than 12 times a year, so don’t start thinking of this as a replacement for a job or whatever has put you in the situation where you need money fast.
• If you’re in less than perfect health or have been turned down for donating blood, don’t assume you can’t donate plasma. The requirements are different.

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Posted in Frugal on September 16, 2008