Northwest Kidney Centers uses 50th anniversary celebration to fight epidemic

The winner of the Best Traditional Marketing Campaign category in PR Daily’s 2013 Nonprofit PR Awards is the world’s first out-of-hospital dialysis organization, Northwest Kidney Centers in Seattle, Wash.

Northwest Kidney Centers has taken a decisive step beyond saving the lives of kidney disease victims. It has decided it must be a leader in the fight against obesity and adult-onset diabetes in order to mitigate a 30 percent rise in kidney disease in the last decade.

Its vehicle: Northwest Kidney Centers’ 50th anniversary celebration. Northwest sponsored employee celebrations in its 15 dialysis centers, held lunch seminars and patient parties at all locations, hosted an educational lunch for kidney doctors’ office staff, put on a Nutrition & Fitness department open house, and scheduled its annual Kidney Health Fest for African-American Families, among many other activities.

Other special 50th anniversary projects included:

• A yearlong campaign to renovate its flagship building.
• A launch of its website, facesofnwkidney.org, with 50 stories of patients, donors, and supporters, with more stories added throughout the year.
• Production of a video about the history of Northwest Kidney Centers.
• The opening of its free Dialysis Museum and Gallery to the public.
• A short version of its annual report included as an insert in 50,000 copies of The Seattle Times.

The energy of these varied activities paid off handsomely:

• Media outlets published 465 news stories about Northwest Kidney Centers, including stories in Forbes, the Boston Globe, The Seattle Times Pacific NW Magazine, MSNBC.com, CBS Seattle, Yahoo Finance, and many others.
• Facebook likes grew by 20 percent.
• Twitter followers increased by 33 percent.
• Its fundraising breakfast and its Kidney Center Gala raised record amounts.
• Its capital campaign to create a kidney resource center surpassed its $1.5 million goal.

The public relations team at Northwest Kidney Centers responsible for all this includes Jane Pryor, Linda Sellers, Angie Hinh, Jen Nibley, and Marijana Pavlich. Flash Media Services provided outside media consultation.

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