Inspiring Donors through Thank The Donor Program

Our hospital partners are now able to encourage an uplifting connection between their transfusion patient and the very person who donated blood to make his or her blood transfusion possible. Carter BloodCare supports your team by harnessing the power of a simple “Thank You” through the national program called Thank the Donor.

Program Overview:

Thank the Donor (TtD) is an online, recipient and donor relationship management tool that enables patients, who have received a blood transfusion, to send a special message of appreciation to their blood donor(s) in an anonymous, user-friendly format.

How the Program Works:

Carter BloodCare will deliver units - each with a green heart shaped Thank the Donor card attached. Upon issue of a unit, the hospital blood bank places the DIN sticker on a patient “Thank the Donor” pamphlet with instructions on how the transfusion recipient (or family member) can submit a message of appreciation to their donor (who remains anonymous).  Patients, or their families and friends, visit thankthedonor.org to send a note, photo and/or video to their donor using a smartphone, tablet or computer. Approved appreciations are then sent via email to the donor(s). The site’s anonymous format allows communication within the boundaries of HIPAA laws.

January 2021 UPDATE: To encourage those who have tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies or those whom have recovered from COVID-19 to donate and donate often, we are participating in a special COVID Thank the Donor® program.  This program allows convalescent plasma transfusion patients to thank donors for their generous gift.  All convalescent plasma components will arrive at your healthcare facility with a green Thank the Donor® heart-shaped tag.  We request that you do not remove this tag, even during thawing and processing.  The tag should remain on the unit during transfusion.

Our hospital relations team is ready to help with an in-service for your lab and nursing staff about this engaging program. We supply the Thank the Donor green hearts, pamphlets to be handed to your patients and a quick reference “Process Map” to serve as a reminder for your staff about how the program works.

If you have questions regarding how your hospital can launch Thank the Donor, we invite you to call us at (817) 412-5365, or email our team at hospitalrelations@carterbloodcare.org 

FAQs about Thank the Donor - by Patients

 What is Thank the Donor?

Thank the Donor is an online, free, simple service that allows a patient, friend or family member to send an anonymous appreciation message to the person who donated the blood they received.

Why did I receive an email/message?

The email/message you received is part of Carter BloodCare’s new Thank the Donor initiative. You recently donated with us and your unit(s) was transfused to a patient in a local hospital. The recipient that received your blood product wanted to send you a message of appreciation.

The email/message may have been sent on the patient’s behalf by their family or friends.

Why did I receive multiple emails/messages?

After you donated, your unit was taken to our lab for further processing. Your unit could have been separated into several different blood products and therefore could have been transfused into more than one patient. Multiple recipients sent you their personal messages of appreciation.

Can I send my recipient a message back?

Due to HIPAA and personal health information (PHI) laws, the recipient and donor cannot be disclosed to each other. The Thank the Donor website is a properly regulated channel that allows for one-way communication. This ensures the patient, or their family/friends, can only send a message to you, the donor, with no PHI being shared.

Did Carter BloodCare share my personal information and/or email address with the Thank the Donor program, the hospital or the patient?

No, Thank the Donor is an extension of Carter BloodCare, so your personal contact information is not shared with any other parties. Carter BloodCare utilizes the information located in your donor profile to share the message of appreciation with you.

The unit number, also known as donor identification number, is scanned or entered into the Thank the Donor website by the recipient, sent across to the Carter BloodCare secure database that then links the unit number with you, the donor. Neither the patient nor hospital staff can identify you by your unit number/ donor identification number. Our donor’s confidentiality is our priority, which is why the Thank the Donor site is an anonymous platform.

Why haven’t I received an appreciation yet?

A couple of factors could affect you receiving an appreciation:

Currently, only a few select area hospitals are participating in the pilot, so your unit(s) might have been used at another hospital.

Thank the Donor is based on optional participation so the patient(s) may have opted not to share.

Your unit could have been shipped to another blood center for an imminent need that does not participate in the Thank the Donor program.