AARP Foundation

The Foundation was established by AARP in 1996 after a federal law blocked AARP and other lobbying organizations from receiving federal funds. The foundation served as a new, legally distinct vehicle to receive and administer the millions in federal funds that had previously gone directly to AARP. ²

AARP and the AARP Foundation are headquartered in the same building in Washington, D.C., and they share the same website. ²³  In 2017, AARP contributed $100 million to the foundation. The AARP Foundation also gave a $4.9 million grant to AARP for charitable work conducted on the foundation’s behalf.” ¹

A key activity of the AARP Foundation is its legal advocacy department, which frequently engages in litigation to advance its aims. It calls itself a public interest law firm “at the intersection of aging and social justice” that, while ostensibly dedicated to advancing the interests of people over 50, also promotes left-of-center economic issues. ⁴

Programs and Activities

Foundation programs are funded by grants, tax-deductible contributions, and AARP contributions. Key areas of focus are hunger, income, housing, and social isolation. ⁵ The AARP Foundation’s longest running program is its Tax-Aide program, which provides free tax preparation assistance for seniors. ⁶

In 2018, the AARP Foundation implemented new policies to force taxpayers who participate in the Tax-Aide program to hand over private taxpayer data. Under the new rules, taxpayers will be asked whether they can speak and read English, their race, gender, size of household, income and veteran and disability status. In addition, AARP will have access to full tax returns, which include addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers and other personal information. ⁷

Some Tax-Aide volunteers resigned in protest over the new data collection rules. The AARP Foundation was forced to shut down five Tax-Aide sites in Arizona after too many volunteers quit in protest over the way seniors’ data was collected and used. ⁷

In October of 2019, the foundation launched a MySavingsJar Program to help low-income older adults save for unanticipated expenses. ⁸

In addition to its own programs, the Foundation issues grants to organizations that assist seniors, including in areas such as food, housing, and social mobility. ⁹

The foundation’s tax returns for 2017 reveal that it paid the Miami Dolphins football team more than $1.4 million for “volunteer engagement.”

The foundation’s tax returns for 2017 reveal that it paid the Miami Dolphins football team more than $1.4 million for “volunteer engagement.” ¹⁰

The foundation is well-funded and among the larger nonprofits in the United States, reporting $203 million in revenue in 2022. The foundation spends over $2 million annually on direct mail fundraising expenses and presumably raises funds from hundreds of thousands or millions of individuals as well as corporate and private foundation sources. The group’s 501(c)(3) status allows it collect tax-deductible donations. ¹¹

Grantmaking

The AARP Foundation provides grants to over 100 organizations annually, with amounts ranging from $5,000 to over $1 million. The foundation’s website states that the foundation focuses on funding in stats with higher rates of senior poverty with a focus on “on achieving equitable outcomes for older adults who are struggling, with specific objectives of increasing income and earnings, securing benefits, and helping older adults gain access to refunds for which they’re eligible.” The single largest grant recipient of the AARP Foundation is the AARP, which receives payments in return for charitable work conducted by the AARP on behalf of the AARP Foundation. In 2022, the AARP Foundation transferred $4.2 million to the AARP. ^{11 12}

Other grantees of the AARP Foundation include Older Adults Technology Services, the Human Rights Campaign’s Aging People in Prison Project, Elder Law of Michigan, Father Matters, Feeding Texas, the Medicare Rights Center, and dozens of state and local food banks. ¹¹

Legal Advocacy

The AARP Foundation frequently engages in litigation to advance its aims, including on behalf of entities and individuals who are not members of the AARP. The foundation’s legal advocacy department calls itself a public interest law firm “at the intersection of aging and social justice” that, while ostensibly dedicated to advancing the interests of people over 50, also promotes left-of-center economic issues. The AARP Foundation’s senior vice president for legal advocacy is William Rivera, who served as deputy chief counsel in the Department of Health and Human Services in the Obama administration ¹³ The legal advocacy department both engages directly in litigation and filing of amicus briefs in Supreme Court cases. ⁴

The foundation states that “AARP Foundation attorneys advocate for systemic change in federal and state courts nationwide to advance the legal rights and interests of people 50 and older, particularly those who are vulnerable and have low income.” The foundation authors an annual Supreme Court review that tracks cases in issues areas including consumer protection, disabilities, employment discrimination, employee benefits, healthcare, housing, and election law. ^{4 14}

The AARP Foundation filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court to support litigation claiming that federal law forbidding discrimination based on gender also applies to sexual orientation. ¹⁵

In October 2019, the AARP Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany after its pension fund collapsed, claiming that it owed money to workers. ¹⁶

The AARP Foundation has filed a class action on behalf of Yale University employees over requirements around the school’s Health Expectation wellness program. ¹⁷ The AARP Foundation previously sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2016 in a case similar to the Yale lawsuit over rules allowing for the implementation of financial rewards in exchange for the sharing of personal health information in “voluntary” wellness programs. ¹⁷

The AARP Foundation also filed an amicus brief arguing the government can compel drug makers to disclose pharmaceutical prices. ¹⁸

In 2024, the AARP Foundation filed a class action lawsuit against Raytheon alleging age discrimination in hiring. Other cases filed in 2023 and 2024 included a challenge to Facebook’s ad targeting practice on age discrimination grounds, multiple suits against nursing home companies, and a suit against a reverse mortgage lender alleging predatory practices, among several others. ^{4 19}

Also in 2024, the AARP Foundation filed an amicus brief supporting a challenge to an election integrity law in Texas, alleging that it violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require mail-in absentee voters to put their voter ID number on their ballot application and envelope. ²⁰