AARP
51
4
"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: Washington, DC
Founded: 1958
Mission: AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that helps people age 50 and over have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole, ways that help people 50 and over improve their lives. Since 1958, AARP has been leading a revolution in the way people view and live life.
Tags:
retired, aging, elder, membership, benefits, research, advocacy, long-term care, insurance, medicare, social security
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
A. Barry Rand.
Addison Barry Rand is chief executive officer (CEO) of AARP, the world's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to social change and helping people 50 and over to improve the quality of their lives. Mr. Rand is a dynamic leader and change agent who brings to AARP a proven track record of leading both multibillion-dollar businesses and smaller, private equity-driven…
See full bio.
Financial Data
Overhead Ratio:
9.70%
Total Revenue:
$118,854,085
From the Nonprofit
The nonprofit has not added any comments yet. If you are a representative of this nonprofit and would like to leave a comment, please email us at
feedback@myphilanthropedia.org
with your request.
Contact Info
Address:
601 E Street, NW
Washington, DC 20049, USA
Twitter:
Story:
Doreen McGovern, an AARP member, wrote the following praise for the organization: "I like how AARP serves as an advocate to help members deal with different issues and stay informed. I also like the multitude of resources available and discounts including insurance and health care. Without AARP, many would be uninformed consumers and approach things unprotected."
Expert Reviews of AARP
Evidence of Impact Summary:
Through its outreach, the AARP has established itself as the premier foundation for seniors seeking information about long term care. They have produced high quality research and have been successful in securing legislative changes on health policy.See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
The AARP's passionate and effective leadership, high visibility, and far-reaching marketing strategies are mentioned by experts as this group's greatest strengths.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
According to experts, the AARP could improve its effectiveness by reaching out to more diverse groups such as low-income and rural communities and extending the scope of issues that the organization works on.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Strong Leadership |
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O
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AARP provides valuable information to those 50 and older and their caregivers on various issues including long term care. They are respected and provide leadership on the state and national levels for policy development and implementation. There is no stronger national advocacy organization on the national level for older individuals. They are involved in local community based projects, state projects and national agendas. | ||
A Respected National Leader |
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Medicare protection, products, social norms | ||
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N
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They are the best known group for older adults in the country. They find everyone who has turned 50. | ||
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N
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They have political clout on issues related to older adults. They make an effort to enroll minorities seniors. | ||
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They are a broad and diverse organization with a great deal of power and recognition. | ||
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O
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They have a national reach, scope and influence. | ||
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They have a strong presence nationally and in states. They have a large membership size, use a wide number of social change tools - legislative lobbying, grass roots, research, public education, and use diverse media tools. | ||
Informative and Credible Source |
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N
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The AARP Public Policy Institute produces outstanding research and policy publications that are useful to the field of aging. They also play a convening role with different constituencies across state, federal, national nonprofits and the research/practice communities. They push on changes large and small in the field of aging and can fund research studies to fill in the gaps of information for policy formulation. | ||
Effective Policy Reform |
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They have also had a major impact on health policy for older people at the national level through their publications, reports, forms, policy analysis, and legislative activities | ||
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They have had an impact on legislation. | ||
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This is an excellent advocacy organization for seniors (even people who don't realize they are "seniors"). | ||
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AARP is an immensely powerful group, and does a good job of policy analysis and did an excellent job of advocacy on health care reform. | ||
Great Research |
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They have excellent research capabilities. | ||
Leader in Transportation |
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They are a leader in transportation. | ||
Large Influence |
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AARP is clearly the giant behemoth in the room. It has a lot of influence on policymakers in Washington and at the state levels. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Effective Marketing and Communication |
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O
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They have a strong leadership through building teams of passionate professionals to work on their state and national agendas. They provide trustworthy educational materials in a variety of medias that are easily understood and are well-marketed to reach a large number of people - consumers and policy makers. | ||
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They produce excellent materials (i.e., magazines, e-mail newsletters, etc.) on relevant topics for the masses. They have the funds to influence policy through media. | ||
Strong Leadership |
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It has strong product development, marketing, and communication. | ||
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They have great leadership within the Public Policy Institute in having a RN who has practical experience as well as a well-balanced staff of technical experts in a variety of fields. | ||
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They have a stable leadership and organizational structure. They are well-funded. They have strong research and policy programs. They are an effective lobbying arm. | ||
History of Consistency |
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They have been consistently involved in advocating for the elderly and have had very excellent policy staff that have been effective in influencing federal policy. | ||
High Visibility |
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Its size and reputation have helped in its ability to be heard. | ||
Wide Reach |
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The broad membership give the organization authority as an advocacy group. AARP's efforts to serve all seniors, not just the middle class, are admirable. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
Select the boxes to display the results according to expert type.
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Foundation Professionals (F)
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Researchers and Faculty (R)
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Nonprofit Senior Staff (N)
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
More Focus on Rural and Low-Income Communities |
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O
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They could benefit from more outreach to rural communities and more collaboration on state levels with decision makers, although they have to be invited to the table. | ||
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They could focus more on the poor elderly and on nursing home issues. | ||
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They could develop better services for low income seniors and represent this group more effectively. | ||
Better Continuity of Leadership |
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With new leadership in the larger organization comes a shift in priorities that are sometimes hard to follow. | ||
More Proactive and Independent |
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N
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They are often thought of as a subsidiary of insurance companies, which has therefore reduced their independent status. State offices could take a more proactive approach in local issues. | ||
Downplay Association with Commercial Products |
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Downplay association with commercial products. | ||
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O
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AARP's commercial business (insurance, credit card, endorsements) can sometimes detract from its credibility as the voice of and for older Americans. They are also too political at times, i.e., only adopting legislative priorities that they believe can win rather than advocating principled stands and working toward them over time.. | ||
Unsure of Focus |
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They are the big gorilla. Is it an insurance company or an advocacy group or both? They are only certain divisions of the organization that play well with others, particularly the legislative branch which is very good. | ||
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I am concerned that they have lost their advocacy focus at the national level--not so at the state level. They have become primarily a business marketing to the middle class of all ages--where is the emphasis on the elderly? I mostly use the organization for the Public Policy Institute website which is superb. I have personally refused to join! | ||
Advertise More |
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They seem to risk not being as relevant to those becoming seniors. They need to highlight/advertise the great work they have done and all that they have accomplished as lobbyists and beyond. | ||
Mobilize Members More |
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If they could mobilize their members even more, they would have even greater impact. | ||
Easier to Understand Organizational Structure and Conservative in Advocacy |
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I believe they could improve by having a more easy to understand organizational structure. From the outside, it is hard to understand who does what/who to contact, etc. I also believe that they can be too conservative in their advocacy - for example, compromising on age rating in the exchange in health care reform, and not focusing on the most vulnerable, frail older adults (such as those in nursing homes). | ||
Decentralization |
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N
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Could improve further by decentralizing control of state activities. | ||
Emphasis on Advertising |
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Their advertising leads to belief that they are beneficial. | ||
Leadership
A. Barry Rand
CEO
CEO
From the Nonprofit
The nonprofit has not added any comments yet. If you are a representative of this nonprofit and would like to leave a comment, please email us at
feedback@myphilanthropedia.org
with your request.