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The Community Blood Center is excited to introduce a new donor milestone program!

Gallon levels are a special number for blood donors—a representation of the time, commitment and potential lives saved through donating. At CBC, we understand these numbers are important to many donors. This is why the CBC team has been working to create a new program to provide donors with more accurate numbers and a simplified way of tracking donations and milestones. This new milestone recognition approach aims to standardize the milestone tracking by calculating all donation types toward a single milestone (gallon level) while still offering additional recognition for donation types that demand a bit more time and commitment from donors, such as platelet donation.

What does the new donor milestone recognition program look like?

Donors will now be able to view their milestone and total number of donations through the online donor portal. However, based on the way CBC is calculating these numbers, donors may notice a change in milestones.

How are milestones calculated?

All donation types (whole blood, platelets, RBC, plasma) are now calculated under the gallon level, with a different value added in CBC’s backend system, based on donation type. For example, all successful whole blood donations add one credit to the donor’s profile in CBC’s backend system, per each donation. The total number of credits are divided by eight to determine gallon level—as it takes eight whole blood donations to reach a gallon. A double red donation will result in two credits for each successful donation, reflecting the amount donated and time commitment. Essentially, in four donations, a donor will reach a gallon, just as usual with double red donations.

While this is consistent with past calculations for gallon levels, a new change comes with platelet donation. Platelet donations are now also added into the gallon level. Therefore, if you have donated both whole blood and platelets in the past, your gallon level has likely increased.

In short, donors are recognized with credits in our backend system after each successful donation, based on the type of donation. The total number of credits is divided by eight to determine the gallon level which appears on the online donor portal.

But wait, there’s more!

In addition to gallon level, donors can also see the total number of lifetime donations they have made on the online donor portal. The number of lifetime donations reflects total number of visits in which the donor started the blood donation process. (Visits resulting in deferral prior to donation are not accounted for in this number).

At CBC, we are excited for this new process of tracking donor milestones and continuing to celebrate the incredible commitment of donors like you. If you think there is an inconsistency with what you are seeing on the online donor portal for your total donations or gallon level, please reach out to us at (800) 280-4102 or email cbc@communityblood.org. We are happy to work with you to ensure your numbers are accurate and match your personal records.