American Kidney Fund
AKF fights kidney disease on all fronts, with programs supporting early detection, disease management, research, advocacy, and financial assistance. AKF works on behalf of the 1 in 7 Americans living with kidney disease, and the millions more at risk.
When you join our fight, you change lives. You help us empower people to prevent kidney disease and slow its progression. You make lifesaving health care affordable and accessible for patients. You support innovations in education for patients and professionals. You promote advances in nephrology research. You’re by our side as we fight for patient rights in Congress and the states. And, you help us give voice to the patient story.
AKF is one of the nation’s highest-rated charities, investing 96 cents of every donated dollar in patients and programs. We provide critically needed services while maintaining the highest 4-Star Charity Rating (Exceptional) for 24 consecutive years from Charity Navigator, the nation’s leading charity watchdog agency. In addition, the American Kidney Fund has an “A Plus” rating from CharityWatch, adheres to the National Health Council Standards of Excellence, and is a member of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance.
More than 815,000 Americans are living with kidney failure. Of those, more than 554,000 are on dialysis and 260,000 are living with kidney transplants. The number of people who need kidney transplants is far greater than the number of available donor organs. There are more than 90,000 Americans on the waiting list for a kidney transplant, but approximately 28,000 kidneys were transplanted in the U.S. last year.
Kidney failure devastates patients physically, emotionally, and financially. Employment rates for U.S. dialysis patients have been reported as low as 20% because of the time-consuming treatments and impacts of the illness. The typical patient AKF assists with treatment-related expenses had an annual household income of just over $25,000, yet faced out-of-pocket costs of nearly $10,000.
AKF’s financial assistance programs ensure that these patients continue to have access to their lifesaving treatments.
More broadly, AKF is working to educate the public about kidney disease and help people detect it early so they can avoid progressing to kidney failure through disease management education, award-winning public and professional health education materials, courses, webinars, and AKF’s virtual Kidney Action Week.
The American Kidney Fund provides a complete spectrum of programs and services: prevention activities, top-rated health educational resources, and direct financial assistance enabling 1 in 8 U.S. dialysis patients to access lifesaving medical care, including dialysis and transplantation. We also invest in clinical research to improve outcomes for kidney patients and we fight tirelessly on Capitol Hill for legislation and policies supporting the issues that are important to the people we serve.
Kidney disease is striking Americans at a faster rate than any other non-communicable disease. For the 1 in 7 Americans living with this serious condition, the American Kidney Fund is the trusted nonprofit that is fighting on all fronts—from prevention through transplant. Through our programs that support early detection, disease management, innovation and clinical research, advocacy, and financial assistance, AKF makes a direct, vital impact on more lives than any other kidney nonprofit by delivering support that create pathways to healthier living.
No organization provides the broad scope of vital programs that help people at every step of their journey with kidney disease. Last year, AKF provided direct financial assistance to 1 out of every 8 Americans living with kidney failure.
AKF continued to meet the needs of kidney patients in 2024:
Financial Assistance Programs:
- AKF provided direct financial assistance to more than 70,000 low-income dialysis and transplant patients. We helped nearly 58,000 patients pay their health insurance premiums so that they could access the health care they need to stay alive, including dialysis and transplant.
- 1,601 low-income dialysis patients had kidney transplants and post-transplant care with AKF’s financial support, representing roughly 6% of all kidney transplants performed in the U.S.—a scope of assistance unmatched in the nonprofit community. Each month, AKF helps more than 130 people get off dialysis by providing financial assistance that makes transplants possible.
- Through our Safety Net Program, nearly 10,000 kidney patients were able to pay for transportation to dialysis, nutritional products, emergency assistance and other expenses not covered by health insurance. AKF provided nearly $420,000 in disaster relief grants to more than 1,600 people with kidney failure who were affected by storms in Houston and Hurricanes Milton and Helene. In 2025 AKF also activated the program to assist patients impacted by the California fires and Texas flooding.
Clinical Scientist in Nephrology (CSN) Program:
For over 30 years, AKF’s CSN program has supported clinical research to improve the quality of care provided to kidney patients. To learn about the research of our fellows, please visit www.kidneyfund.org/training/clinical-scientist-in-nephrology/.
Advocacy Programs:
Together with our nationwide Advocacy Network of more than 36,000 Ambassadors, we work with Congress, the administration, federal agencies, state governments and other stakeholders to advance legislation and regulatory policies important to people with and at risk for kidney disease and their families.
State of the States: Living Donor Protection Report Card
- AKF's annual State of the States: Living Donor Protection Report Card, grades how well existing laws in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia encourage living organ donation and reduce barriers for living donors and tracks our progress in achieving these protections.
- In 2025, AKF released the fifth annual Living Donor Protection Report Card, revealing mixed progress, with six states earning an A for having five or more protections in place and 13 states receiving a D or F, with zero to little protections in place.
- Kidney Action Week: AKF held a virtual Kidney Action Week, to help people understand their risk for kidney disease and how to prevent it through webinars and online activities.
- The Hope Affair: AKF’s annual Hope Affair raised awareness for kidney disease and spotlighted extraordinary patients and friends in the community.
- Pediatric Support:AKF’s Camp Connections reached over 150 campers in 14 hospitals and 30 states in 2024. Monthly activities include art classes, bingo and trivia.
Online Resources:
Our online courses are designed to meet continuing education requirements for prescribers and allied health professionals. All courses are developed and peer reviewed by renal subject matter experts.
- More than 167,000 accredited and non-accredited professional education courses were completed by health care professionals and nearly 380,000 people learned about living well with kidney disease by viewing our free patient and caregiver webinars. To date, more than 7,000 people have received training to become kidney disease educators in their communities through our Kidney Health Coach program.
- Our patient newsletter reaches more than 56,000 dialysis and transplant patients quarterly with articles designed to inform and inspire.
We are recognized as one of the nation’s most trusted nonprofit organizations.
- We continue our longstanding record of spending 96 cents of every donated dollar on programs and services.
- In 2024, we received our 24th consecutive “Four Star” rating from Charity Navigator.
- In addition, the American Kidney Fund has an “A Plus” rating from CharityWatch, adheres to the National Health Council Standards of Excellence, and is a member of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance.