Goodwill and compassion for mankind inspires countless people to give blood every year.

Then there’s the promise of scoring choice NFL playoff tickets, which kicks donations into another stratosphere.

Community Blood Center of the Carolinas learned that two years ago. And the group expects to see the same positive result this month when it offers another ticket lottery for blood donors.

Anyone who donates blood or platelets at one of the nonprofit’s blood centers or mobile blood drives from now through Jan. 14 will be entered into a raffle to win two Carolina Panthers playoff tickets. They will be good for the team’s divisional round matchup at 1 p.m. Jan. 17, against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.

The tickets are on the 50 yard line, on Row 12 on the home side of Bank of America Stadium.

Two years ago, before the Panthers’ first playoff game, a benefactor offered Community Blood Center of the Carolinas two topnotch tickets to raffle off. As word spread about the promotion, blood donations went through the roof, said CBCC spokeswoman Kelly Singleton.

“People were lining up out the door at our centers, trying to get in and donate and have a chance to win those tickets,” she said.

No such ticket donation materialized last year or this year. So the nonprofit found someone with two great tickets who was willing to sell them at a reasonable price, and bought them to enable another raffle.

“It came out of our marketing budget,” Singleton said.

Though she declined to share the purchase price, Singleton said the cost will be well worth the blood donations it inspires.

“Our donors are everything to us, because we can’t get blood donations and provide them to hospitals without them,” she said. “So it’s nothing to us to do this. It’s just a small thing we can give back for our donors.”

Community Blood Center serves as the primary blood supply for 27 regional hospitals, serving 19 North Carolina and three South Carolina counties. The nonprofit focuses exclusively on gathering red blood cells, platelets and plasma from volunteer donors to save local lives specifically in the Carolinas.

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or on Twitter @GazetteMike.

What you must do: Donate blood or platelets at a blood center or blood drive operated by Community Blood Center of the Carolinas through Jan. 14.

What you get: Entry into a raffle for two 50-yard-line, lower-level tickets for the Carolina Panthers’ Jan. 17 Divisional Round playoff game against an undetermined opponent.

How to register: To schedule a blood donation appointment at one of CBCC’s centers or mobile blood drives, call 704-972-4700 or visit www.cbcc.us.

Where’s the local CBCC center? 2524 E. Franklin Blvd, Gastonia