How can I find a living donor?

1. Get ready: Learn about living donation, so you’ll be ready to answer questions. Refer to the Living Kidney Donation section to learn more information.​
2. Share your story:
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   Talk to family and friends in person. Be honest and sincere. It’s not usually the best idea to start by asking if someone might donate a kidney. Share your story, explain the facts, and give people time to understand the information. Some people outside of your immediate family may not know that your kidneys are not working well. Let them react naturally. Use the time to share your story and raise awareness.
   
   Write letters. If you don’t want to speak to family and friends in person, write them a letter or send an email sharing your story.
   
   Use technology and social media. Social media brings new ways to getting the word out. With social media, you can share your story with many people, not just your immediate family and friends.
   
   But remember that when you share information publicly, you can’t always control what people do with it. The media may want to talk to you, or there could be wrong information shared about you, and that could affect you and the ​potential donor.
3. Ask for help: A close friend or family member can be a speaker for you. This personal advocate can share your story and need for a kidney. They will also need to know about how kidney donation works so they can answer questions. Sometimes the spokesperson may also need to be ready to talk about their own reasons for not donating (e.g., they aren’t a match with you, they have a health problem).​​​​​​​
4. A potential donor can be from another province or country. Potential donors who live outside of Alberta need to contact the recipient’s local living donor program office. It also helps to have the name of the living donor program that is closest to the donor. Both programs will work together to manage the evaluation.