applications for field-building projects in ending senior poverty – Aug 4

Posted by AARP Foundation on July 18, 2023

AARP Foundation invites applications for field-building projects

The charitable affiliate of AARP, AARP Foundation, works to end senior poverty by helping people over 50 build economic opportunity.

The foundation invites applications for field-building projects that advance economic opportunity and financial stability for older adults on a systemic level. The foundation aims to fund organizations exploring systems-level change, assessing the effectiveness of existing interventions, and answering questions about how to best serve older adults with low income. The foundation’s estimated total program funding for this opportunity is up to $1 million, and historically, opportunities have ranged between $50,000 and $150,000 per year for up to two years.

Questions posed by the foundation include: How (or to what extent) are public benefits changing the financial health of older adults with low income? What outreach strategies for various programs are most effective for older adults? What are the reasons for participant “drop-off” during program implementation? For instance, what happens when somebody is reached, shows interest in applying for benefits, or participates in a workforce program but does not continue?

Other potential topics aligned with this opportunity include: identifying improvements in the collection and sharing of data across organizations or systems about older adult populations; addressing systems that create conditions in which senior poverty takes hold and proposing solutions to improve or disrupt these systems; and furthering solutions that lift seniors out of poverty—for example, the evaluation of an intervention addressing senior poverty.

AARP Foundation will prioritize applications that serve populations disproportionately affected by systemic barriers, racial and ethnic disparities, and other biases in programs and policies. Additionally, it will give priority to applications that serve older adults in 22 U.S. states and territories: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Puerto Rico.

Pre-applications are due August 4, 2023, and upon review, selected applicants will be invited to submit a full application on September 8, 2023.

For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the AARP Foundation website.

Deadline: August 4, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. ET (Pre-applications)