AARP Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The AARP Foundation works to support health, mental health, food systems and economic opportunity for Americans aged 50 and up.
IP TAKE: The AARP Foundation made about $80 million in grants in a recent year to organizations working to improve the lives of people over 50 living in the U.S.
A significant portion of its grantees are local chapters of the AARP organization and other national nonprofits, but the foundation has worked with other small, local organizations serving seniors as well. This funder posts RFPs for specific funding projects in August and accepts pre-applications with a due date in the mid-September. From these, the foundation selects applicants to submit full proposals, which are due in October.
This is an accessible and approachable funder, but giving is very competitive. This funder receives many requests for funding at the national level.
PROFILE: The AARP Foundation is the philanthropic arm of AARP (the American Association of Retired Persons), the well-known paid-membership group for those aged 50 and up. The foundation “supports sustainable, real-world solutions to the fundamental challenges facing low-income older adults.” Specifically, AARP is interested in funding evidence-based programs with the potential for national impact on seniors. Grantmaking spans public health, mental health, food systems, housing and work and opportunity.
Grants for Public Health
The AARP Foundation supports initiatives for the health of older people in the U.S., with recent grantmaking focusing on healthcare insurance benefits, preventative care and patient education. In Massachusetts, the foundation recently gave to Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley, which used funding for its nutrition and health education outreach programs. Other health-related grantees include the Lee Health Foundation of Florida, the Medical College of Virginia and Leading Age, a national organization that aims to “facilitate partnerships between affordable housing and health care providers.”
Grants for Mental Health
AARP’s mental health funding has recently focused on initiatives to prevent isolation and depression in older adults. The George Washington School of Nursing received funding for its pilot of an intervention in which elderly residents of the D.C. area participated in “organized conference calls to discuss topics of interest.” Other mental health grants have gone to the New York State Department of Health, Texas Health Resources Foundation and the Motion Picture Television Fund, which received funding for a program in which volunteers made daily phone calls to homebound seniors.
Grants for Food Systems
Funding for nutrition and food access has been one of AARP’s largest giving areas in recent years. Grants tend to focus on programs that bring healthy food to older people who lack access to food stores and/or have limited financial resources, as well as programs that educate older adults on nutrition and healthy eating. Grantees include the California Association of Foodbanks, Top Box Foods of Illinois, the American Heart Association and the Rhode Island Public Health Institute’s Food on the Move program.
Grants for Work and Opportunity
The AARP Foundation has worked in recent years to support organizations and initiatives that offer employment and economic opportunity to people over the age of 50 in the U.S. A signature initiative, Digital Skills Ready@50+, helps low-income adults develop digital skills that enable them to “find and secure jobs, change careers, or explore entrepreneurship.” The foundation also runs a signature Tax Aide program, which “provides in-person and virtual tax assistance to anyone, free of charge, with a focus on taxpayers who are over 50 and have low to moderate income.” Other grants in the areas of work and economic opportunity have gone to the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of the Delaware Valley, the Financial Services Innovation Center and the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute’s Intergenerational Financial Education Project.
Important Grant Details:
The AARP Foundation made about $80 million in grants in a recent year, with an average grant size of about $75,000. This funder makes grants to organizations of all sizes that serve older adults in the U.S. in its areas of grantmaking interest. Many grants go to local chapters of AARP and other large national organizations. Grantmaking is national in scope. For additional information about this funder’s work, see its searchable grants database.
The AARP Foundation’s application system consists of RFPs for specific types of funding projects, which are posted in August of each year. The deadline for preapplications is usually in mid-September. From these preapplications, the foundation selects applicants to submit full proposals, for which the deadline is in mid-October. Decisions are usually announced in December. Prospective grantseekers are advised to check the foundation’s application page periodically for updates and follow the foundation on social media. General inquiries may be submitted to the foundation via email.
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