Having Your KIDNEY Donor Find YOU!
Click here to share this page with others
Introduction and Overview
Click here to watch - 2:48 mins.
Creating Your Team
Click here to watch - 2:16 mins.
Developing Your Story
Click here to watch - 2:49 mins.
Telling Your Story - in Person
Click here to watch - 2:03 mins.
Telling Your Story - Using Email
Click here to watch - 2:28 mins.
Telling Your Story - Social Media
Click here to watch - 2:38 mins.
Telling Your Story -Getting Creative
Click here towatch - 2:58 mins.
Donor/Recipient Compatibility
Click here to watch - 3:03 mins.
Paired Exchanges
Click here to watch - 2:00 mins.
Summary
Click here to watch - 1:50 mins.
An opening approach is to put yourself in the writer’s place...think what they need and then see if your story might fit the bill. For example: Imagine your local neighborhood paper is mostly real estate, retail or medical ads. In between those ads they look for short, upbeat local stories to keep the tone positive. With a catchy heading, your unique story about needing a kidney might well be of interest!
So to get started, take your basic story and consider the fit for each potential outlet. You may need to modify the way the story is written, and consider adding details or eliminating others.
Think what will motivate a journalist to write about you? There isn’t a set formula, but below you’ll find some helpful Aps. Once you send the idea to a writer, paper or radio Stanton it’s important to be persistent in following up. They get so many inquiries that you will rarely hear back from the writer without some prompting. That said, the payoff of getting a story written about you is worth the effort and can make the difference.
Here are some ideas about getting a story written about you:
At first, target local newspapers or radio (where more people might know you). You can advance to larger formats or TV later.
Find a journalist that writes about health or human-interest stories.
One woman I helped has had her story written in nine different local newspapers and aired on a TV station.
Have some data to share since the writer/reporter doesn’t likely know much about transplants. This can include number of people on the waiting list, number of living kidney transplants performed every year, the dangers and debilitating effects of dialysis, etc. There’s a Supporting Resource: “How to Find Kidney Transplant Data.”
Keep the journalist up to date on your progress.
Send the journalist other articles about the kidney transplant community. You can find articles by using Google Alerts. Learn how to use them in the Supporting Resources, “How To Use Google Alerts”
Attend or volunteer at local blood drives or other events.
Print flyers and a business card. Take pictures of these and show them to the journalist.
Did I mention to be persistent!
This can be a very effecAve way to get your story shared more broadly. Articles like this often stimulate conversation and you may well help yourself - and others in need too.
Please share stories written about you with me to help inspire others.
Click here for a printable version.
© 2025 Living Kidney Donors Network | A Nonprofit 501(c)3 Organization | Feedback: Harvey@HavingYourKidneyDonorFindYou.org | Privacy Policy
To share this page with an advocate or someone else, simply copy and paste some of the following information in an email, with the subject line: "My Need for a Kidney Transplant"
In the body of the email you can copy & paste one of the examples below. Of course, you can edit it as you see fit.
Example:
As you know, I’m in need of a kidney transplant and I’m pursuing a living donor.
I’ve been fortunate that I’ve found an online program that’s been very helpful. It has educated me to the transplant process and provided me direction on how to develop my campaign to let others know about my situation.
Enlisting others to help spread the word, will increase my chance of success. I’m asking if you will help me spread the word.
Please follow this link - www.havingyourdonorfindyou.org/ to go to the website and watch a short Trailer about the program. It will give you a good idea of what the program is about and how you could help. To watch more videos, you’ll need to register. Registration is free.
I’ll call you in a day or two.
Thanks.
Or:
Good to talk with you the other day and thanks for your interest in helping me spread the word about my situation.
Please click on this link - www.havingyourdonorfindyou.org/ to go to the website and watch the short Trailer about the program I mentioned. To watch more videos, you’ll need to register. Registration is free.
It’s simple to watch and will provide helpful information about living kidney donation.
I’ll call you in a few days to discuss some of the ideas they suggest.
Living Kidney Donors Network (LKDN) respects and protects the privacy of our visitors to the web site. LKDN is the sole owner of the information collected. We do not sell, share or rent any personal information to others. LKDN collects this information for the sole purpose of analyzing visitor interests, administering the site, tracking movement, and to gather limited demographic information for use and delivery of information to visitors. IP addresses are not linked to personally identifiable information. The types of personally identifiable information that may be collected include the information that you may provide, i.e. name, address, e-mail address, telephone number, and information about your interests in the LKDN. The information that you provide is stored in a database accessible only to authorized LKDN personnel.
The LKDN may use the information you provide to notify you about our programs and services and to respond to your inquiries and information you’ve requested.
There are hyperlinks throughout the LKDN web site to other sites which are not under the control of the LKDN. These links are provided as a service to our visitors and users and for your reference only. The LKDN is not responsible for the privacy practices of web sites hyperlinked or listed as resources on its site. It is your responsibility to review the privacy
LKDN undertakes to provide information in a manner that is clear to our visitors.