About DonorNearby
A community platform that connects blood donors with patients who need help, privately and locally.
Our Mission
To reduce the gap between blood donors and patients in Karnataka, especially when time is short.
Our Vision
A Karnataka where people who need blood can more easily reach willing donors in their own district.
From meme pages to emergency calls.
In 2020, Umesh and Mallikarjun were just two college kids running Kannada meme pages, building communities for fun, not purpose.
Then Covid hit.
You can't keep posting memes while people around you are dying.
So they started helping. Beds. Oxygen. Medicines. Whatever they could find. The follower network they'd built for laughs became a lifeline. Strangers became family.
When Covid ended, the calls didn't stop.
People from their pages, people from their Covid circle, kept messaging.
"Anna Blood Bekittu Emergency Ide"
A message that kept coming. Again and again.
They'd post on their pages. Forward in WhatsApp groups. Call everyone they knew. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't. That guilt of not being able to help stays with you.
In 2025 they tried district-wise WhatsApp groups. That failed too. It was too scattered, too slow, too manual.
So they said: let's just build it properly.
DonorNearby is that attempt: a structured, private, district-level coordination platform built by people who’ve felt the gap firsthand.
Umesh Galatage · Udaal Umya
Brand identity designer & co-founder, DonorNearby
Mallikarjun Patil
Co-founder, DonorNearby
How the coordination process works.
DonorNearby is a coordination network, not a blood bank or medical provider. Here is how help is organised:
Request Submitted
A patient, family member, or hospital attendee submits a blood request with the required blood group, hospital name, and district.
Coordinator Review
An authorised district coordinator verifies the request details and searches for eligible, consenting volunteer donors registered in the same district.
Private Connection
Coordinators privately contact potential volunteers. If a donor is available and willing, they donate directly at the hospital or licensed blood bank.
General Donor Eligibility Guidance
General whole-blood donor criteria in India are published by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare through e-RaktKosh and the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC). DonorNearby uses these common operational thresholds for volunteer registration:
How DonorNearby is Funded
DonorNearby is a free, non-commercial community initiative run by volunteers. We do not sell user data, run advertisements, or charge patients and donors. Platform infrastructure, such as server hosting, domain renewals, and coordination tools, is sustained through voluntary personal contributions from supporters.
Contributions are entirely voluntary and do not affect coordination priority or access to blood request assistance. Learn more about supporting our infrastructure →
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my personal information safe?▾
We take care to protect it. Your phone number and email are never shown publicly. Only authorised coordinators can see them, to match you with a request. No system is completely risk free.
How will I be contacted?▾
Our district coordinators will call or WhatsApp you. You can decline if you are unable to donate at that time.
Can I update my availability?▾
Yes. Contact us via the Contact page or WhatsApp us at +91 63604 26643 and our team will update your profile.
How often can I donate blood?▾
For whole blood in India, a gap of at least 90 days for men and 120 days for women is recommended under national guidelines. The hospital or blood bank medical team makes the final decision on donation day.
Is this a blood bank?▾
No. DonorNearby is a voluntary coordination platform. We connect willing donors with patients who need blood. The actual medical screening and donation occur at licensed clinical blood banks.
How is DonorNearby funded?▾
DonorNearby is free for everyone. We do not sell data or charge for blood coordination. Basic platform costs (hosting, domain) are supported by voluntary community contributions.
How can I contact the team?▾
You can reach us through our Contact page, by email at support@donornearby.in, or by phone and WhatsApp at +91 63604 26643. We are happy to help with questions about donor registration, request updates, or feedback.