Nonprofit Financial Aid Programs for Living Donors
** Disclaimer: The American Society of Transplantation and its Living Donor Community of Practice workgroup neither endorse nor discourage the use of any of the following organizations.
There are nonprofit groups that help living donors with some expenses related to donation. Please talk with your living donor team about which of these programs might work best for you. Also, the program assistance and criteria may change over time, so please check with the program directly to understand their services. This list was updated February 2016.
In addition: please see the separate chapter on the National Living Donor Assistance Center travel grant; tips for fundraising; and potential sources of tax assistance in your state.
If your intended recipient has work-related insurance, we encourage you to check whether this insurance has any travel benefits/ reimbursement for potential living donors. Most often, these benefits offer reimbursement after a trip has been made; reimbursement checks are issued to the carrier of the insurance (ie: the recipient). While this may not be ideal, it may offer at least some help.
We also recommend you check with human resources at your employer, or your union representative, to find out if there is a living donation-specific paid leave benefit. You may want to check with your donor social worker about this too, since it is not uncommon for human resources representatives to be unaware of these benefits.
The following are potential sources of financial assistance.
This list will be updated as additional sources are identified – if we’ve missed one, please let us know and we will be happy to add.
American Kidney Fund
- https://www.kidneyfund.org/get-assistance/safety-net-grants
- Maximum grant is $100 per year for donors, up to 5 years post- donation.
American Living Organ Donor Fund
American Organ Transplant Association
- http://www.aotaonline.org/transportation.html
- Greyhound bus tickets for transplant recipient and companion. If donor is related to the recipient, they might cover bus ticket.
American Transplant Foundation
- https://www.southwest.com/medicalgrant/
- Offers limited donor assistance grants, through a few transplant centers
