A Program of the Non-Profit Medical Education Institute

You can touch the lives

of millions of people with

chronic kidney disease, and help

give them a more promising future

SPONSORSHIP PROPOSAL

Most of us don’t ever think about our kidneys. Every moment, healthy kidneys quietly filter each drop of blood to maintain homeostasis (a constant internal environment) in our bodies. However, chronic kidney disease (CKD)—driven by diabetes and high blood pressure—is an epidemic affecting 20 million Americans. The best chance of helping people with CKD is to reach them early—before their kidneys fail. Life Options, www.lifeoptions.org, can help.

Founded in 1993 by the non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI), Life Options helps more than 2.6 million people each year to live long and live well with CKD. People come to Life Options to learn about CKD, download educational materials, and find support. We offer content in Spanish, as well as a toll-free help line!

85% of Life Options’ large audience (2.212 million) is made up of people with early CKD who want to preserve their kidney function and avoid dialysis. In fact, Life Options is #1 on Google for the search term “Kidney Disease Symptoms.”

MEI invites you to become a Life Options sponsor. Connect your company with people who are proactive and motivated to manage their health and learn their treatment options. Please review this packet to see the many ways your company can benefit. Your support will put you in front of the hardest to find patients and will allow us to help an even larger audience—a win-win.

Reach People with Pre-dialysis CKD

Life Options is #1 on Google for the search term “Kidney Disease Symptoms”

2

Launched in 1995, the Life Options website is the renal community’s preferred source for innovative, evidence-based information on how to:

Slow the progression of CKD with diet, exercise, and medications

Help patients and their loved ones cope with a CKD diagnosis and plan for the future

Explain the treatment options for kidney failure

Find curated resources, links, and initiatives from other sites

Support professionals who care for people with CKD

We listen closely to patients. Every day. We respond to questions via phone and email, are active in social media, and conduct groundbreaking research. We offer HOPE and life-changing information. Our proprietary materials use motivational theory and adult learning principles, and are written at a 6th grade reading level. In fact, a new study found that Life Options was the only kidney site written at the right reading level for patients.1

By focusing the attention of the renal community on CKD rehabilitation, helping people set goals and rebuild their lives, Life Options has spurred research and changed practices. Due to our advocacy efforts, Medicare now requires self-management and options education—including transplant—for people on dialysis, and pays for certain stage 4 CKD education!

1 Lutz, E.R., Costello, K.L., Jo, M., Gilet, C.A., Hawley, J.M., Bridgman, J.C., & Song, M-K. (2014). A systematic evaluation of websites offering information on chronic kidney disease. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 41(4), 355-363.

3

The Life Options Program

The Future of Life OptionsLife Options has grown into an impressive Internet resource with a loyal following: 2.6 million visitors per year can’t be wrong! For Life Options to maintain and increase its presence, we continually look for ways to improve and grow. Future projects include:

‘My Kidney Care’ Wiki – a place for patients and professionals to review and update information related to CKD

CKD Knowledge Library – download expanded content on the causes of CKD and how to slow progression

A new education and support section for social workers & professional staff

Complete Spanish translation of all content

Website refresh and reorganization

Español

NEW

“I had so many emotions when I was told I was in stage

4 CKD. I went home and cried for days. Then I started

researching my disease…”

4

The lifetime risk of stage 3 CKD is an astonishing

59.1%, and leads to kidney failure for more than

115,000 people each year.

Where do hard-to-reach people with early CKD seek help?

Life Options!

I HAVE A KIDNEY PROBLEM58%

SOMEONE CLOSE TO MEHAS A KIDNEY PROBLEM

27%

SOMEONE CLOSE TO MEIS ON DIALYSIS OR HAS

A TRANSPLANT5%

I AM ON DIALYSIS ORHAVE A TRANSPLANT

2%

I AM A HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL

8%

Who Visits Life Options

5

BASED ON A RECENT SURVEY OF 1,000 LIFE OPTIONS USERS

Life Options offers HOPE and life-changing information

6

When you sponsor Life Options, your company will be recognized for making a direct impact on the health and quality of life for millions. MEI believes you should receive highly visible exposure for supporting such a worthy cause. The goodwill and appreciation generated by your company’s support will be felt by the entire CKD community. Sponsors will receive:

Marketing opportunities and exposure to more than 2.6 million annual site visitors, 85% of whom want to learn about how to slow CKD

Access to proactive health information-seekers

Affiliation with a highly credible website that is trusted throughout the renal community

The chance to support more evidence-based resources and attract even more visitors

Based on sponsorship level, the chance for opt-in traffic for your products and services

Choose a sponsor package to maximize your exposure, or let us tailor a package to meet your needs.

Why Sponsor?

9 of the Top 10 Visited Pages on Life Options are About Pre-DIalysis CKDApril 2015 - March 2016

Unique Pageviews

Average Time on Page

3,565,090% of Total:

100.00% (3,565,090)

00:03:43Average for View:

1. Kidney Disease Info | Risk Factors 1,744,993 (48.95%) 00:04:39

2. Info Insuficiencia Renal | 10 Síntomas 768,243 (21.55%) 00:06:00

3. Kidney Disease Info | 10 Symptoms 329,894 (9.25%) 00:02:13

4. Kidney Disease Info | Common Lab Values 235,017 (6.59%) 00:04:08

5.Info Insuficiencia Renal Preguntas frecuentemente realizadas

132,350 (3.71%) 00:02:55

6. Kidney Disease Info | FAQ 106,694 (2.99%) 00:02:16

7.Info Insuficiencia Renal Pruebas de laboratorio normales

61,262 (1.72%) 00:05:15

8. Info Insuficiencia Renal | ¿Qué se puede hacer? 36,915 (1.04%) 00:02:15

9. Life Options Home Page 21,745 (0.61%) 00:01:19

10. Kidney Disease Info | 1 in 9 Adults 21,712 (0.61%) 00:03:03

Go to this reportLife Options -­ http://www.lifeoptions.org

Life Options

Jul 1, 2013 -­ Jun 30, 2014Pages

Page Title

Rows 1 -­ 10 of 317

Explorer

PageviewsUniquePageviews

Avg. Time onPage Entrances

Bounce Rate% Exit

Page Value

2,408,280% of Total:

100.00%

(2,408,280)

2,139,613% of Total:

100.00%

(2,139,613)

00:03:31Site Avg:

00:03:31

(0.00%)

1,704,800% of Total:

100.00%

(1,704,800)

78.97%Site Avg:

78.97%

(0.00%)

70.79%Site Avg:

70.79%

(0.00%)

$0.00% of Total:

0.00% ($0.00)

1.Kidney Disease Info | Risk Factors |

Life Options924,293 (38.38%) 840,156 (39.27%) 00:04:27 826,891 (48.50%) 77.42% 76.90% $0.00 (0.00%)

2.Info Insuficiencia Renal | 10 Síntomas

| Life Options564,248 (23.43%) 499,944 (23.37%) 00:05:51 496,478 (29.12%) 78.47% 78.47% $0.00 (0.00%)

3.Kidney Disease Info | 10 Symptoms |

Life Options283,342 (11.77%) 254,382 (11.89%) 00:02:07 96,499 (5.66%) 79.11% 61.22% $0.00 (0.00%)

4.Kidney Disease Info | Common Lab

Values | Life Options181,511 (7.54%) 165,682 (7.74%) 00:03:56 153,103 (8.98%) 90.96% 84.97% $0.00 (0.00%)

5.

Info Insuficiencia Renal | Preguntas

frecuentemente realizadas | Life

Options

127,248 (5.28%) 111,065 (5.19%) 00:02:46 25,751 (1.51%) 78.88% 49.89% $0.00 (0.00%)

6.Kidney Disease Info | FAQ | Life

Options69,400 (2.88%) 60,364 (2.82%) 00:02:01 10,309 (0.60%) 75.25% 53.43% $0.00 (0.00%)

7.Info Insuficiencia Renal | Pruebas de

laboratorio normales | Life Options45,112 (1.87%) 40,582 (1.90%) 00:04:52 38,803 (2.28%) 88.73% 85.46% $0.00 (0.00%)

8.Info Insuficiencia Renal | ¿Qué se

puede hacer? | Life Options42,268 (1.76%) 34,737 (1.62%) 00:02:16 6,577 (0.39%) 75.75% 44.48% $0.00 (0.00%)

9. Life Options 27,374 (1.14%) 22,033 (1.03%) 00:01:17 14,789 (0.87%) 60.27% 53.51% $0.00 (0.00%)

10.Kidney Disease Info | 1 in 9 Adults |

Life Options18,449 (0.77%) 16,104 (0.75%) 00:02:43 7,435 (0.44%) 78.47% 51.39% $0.00 (0.00%)

+ Add Segment

Pageviews

October 2013 January 2014 April 2014

6,0006,000

12,00012,000

© 2014 Google

All Sessions

100.00%

Google Page RankingsRankings for patient-friendly search terms are very high. Life Options is the #1 link for kidney disease symptoms, and on page 1 for:

Kidney disease

Kidney disease info

Kidney problems

Slow kidney disease

Kidney disease risk factors

Kidney disease treatment

Kidney lab tests

People Visit Life Options to Learn How to Manage & Slow CKD

7

MEI believes you should receive highly visible exposure for supporting such a worthy cause!

8

Annual Sponsor Packages & BenefitsVISIONARY

$40KCHAMPION

$30KADVOCATE

$20K

Your logo (size based on level) links to a corporate landing page from the most-visited CKD pages * See chart on page 7 for most-visited pages on Life Options. Approximate number of page views:

* Top 10 pages3,565,000

* Pages 2-101,820,000

* Pages 3-91,051,000

Play a pivotal role in promoting education and empowering people with CKD

Raise awareness of your products or services

Sponsorship credit for new Spanish material translations

Your company listed as a Life Options webinar sponsor

Copies of MEI’s award-winning Help, I Need Dialysis! book ($15 value) donated to patients in your name 200 150 100

Contact form on your landing page makes it easier for patients to contact you

Opt-in email form for visitors to request information about your company’s products/services

Your logo on Life Options promotional giveaways

Your logo on the MEI/Life Options exhibit booth (minimum of 4 displays per year)

Your company listed as a sponsor for page devoted to Life Options Help-Line

Your company’s name listed in Life Options press releases and other PR outreach activities

PDF versions of our award-winning CKD booklets customized for your company

Sponsor recognition with your logo on downloadable documents

Your company featured in a 1-minute auto-play video on the CKD intro page (You provide video)

A pop-up file download message: “This document brought to you by YOUR company”

9

MEI has been providing award winning education for more than two decades.

10

About the Medical Education InstituteThe Medical Education Institute is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping people with chronic diseases learn to manage and improve their health. To fulfill our mission, we:

Conduct health behavior research to better understand the patient experience and interactions with their healthcare teams.

Create educational materials—based on adult education principles—to empower patients to manage their health.

Distribute these educational resources at little or no cost.

Work with policy-makers and providers to create patient-friendly, rehab-friendly policy.

The MEI team includes experienced researchers, writers, designers, social workers, and patient education experts with decades of experience in healthcare communications. Our programs include:

Kidney School kidneyschool.org Online dialysis education with 16 tailored, interactive modules

homedialysis.org

Celebrating its 10th Anniversary, this site is devoted to educating patients about the benefits of home dialysis

My Life, My Dialysis Choice mydialysischoice.org A decision aid to help patients select the right dialysis option for their lifestyles while they wait for a transplant, or if they can’t have one.

VA eKidneyClinic ckd.vacloud.us A virtual CKD navigator to help veterans learn the VA system of care to protect their kidneys, funded by an Innovation Award from the U.S. Veterans Administration

MEI’S AWARDS INCLUDE:

2015 National Health Information Award – CKD Education Booklets

2014 Aesculapius Award for Excellence – My Life, My Dialysis Choice

2014 Gold Web Health Award – My Life, My Dialysis Choice

2013 National Health Information Award – Help, I Need Dialysis!

2012 Bronze Web Health Award – Let’s Talk About...Dialysis Options

2011 Gold Web Health Award – Let’s Talk About...Fistulas

2011 Aesculapius Award of Excellence – Home Dialysis Central

2011 Silver Web Health Award – Kidney School

2010 Aesculapius Award of Excellence – Kidney School

2008 National Health Information Award – Your Life, Your Choice DVD

2007 Aesculapius Award of Excellence – Home Dialysis Central

2004 World Wide Web Health Award – Home Dialysis Central

2003 Golden Web Award – Home Dialysis Central

2003 National Health Information Award – Life Options

2002–2003 Golden Web Award – Life Options

2002 Golden Nephron Award – Life Options

2001–2002 Golden Web Award – Life Options

2001 HealingWell.com Editor’s Choice Award – Life Options

1997 NN&I Quality of Life Award – Life Options

11

.org

Please contact us—20 million Americans are counting on you!

Annual* Sponsorship Agreement

Visionary $40,000 Champion $30,000 Advocate $20,000

Payment Options: Check (payable to Medical Education Institute) enclosed

Please invoice (use contact info below) Payment plans are available

Company Name: ______________________________________________________________

Billing Address: _______________________________________________________________

Billing Contact (please print): _____________________________________________________

Billing E-mail: ______________________________ Billing Phone: _____________________

Sponsor Benefits Contact (please print): ___________________________________________

Sponsor E-mail: ____________________________ Sponsor Phone: ___________________

Signature _______________________________________________Date: _______________Your signature signifies agreement to become a sponsor of Life Options at the level indicated.

*Sponsorship of Life Options is for one year (12 months from time of agreement).

Please send this contract to: Medical Education Institute, Inc. | 414 D’Onofrio Drive, Ste 200, Madison, WI 53719 Email: rpoehnelt@meiresearch.org | Fax: 608-833-8366

For more information, please contact: Rob Poehnelt, MEI Marketing Communications Manager rpoehnelt@meiresearch.org | (608) 833-8033