Apply for the AARP Purpose Prize Award

Award Benefits

• Each AARP Purpose Prize Winner’s founded 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization will receive $50,000.
• Winners will also have access to a number of technical assistance organizational supports and resources to help broaden their organizations’ impact.  
• Membership in the AARP Purpose Prize “class” of honorees — a peer community of learning
• Inclusion in the full AARP Purpose Prize alumni network

Application cycle dates

The annual call for applications closed on February 28, 2023. It will open again in late 2023.

Eligibility

• You are 50 or older
• You are the founder or co-founder of your organization
• Your organization is a (501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) non-profit organization with its principal place of business located in the United States in good standing in its state of origin and tax exemption under the Internal Revenue Code at the time of Applicant’s submission and throughout the Purpose Prize Contest selection process
• You started the work for which you are applying at the age of 40 or older
• You are a US citizen living in the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia
  
• You can clearly document the impact of your organization’s work
• There is a connection in your own life that drew you to the work you do
• Your organization uses innovative approaches to an existing or emerging problem
• While your work can be international in scope, it is based in the United States.

See official rules for additional details on eligibility. Have additional questions? Read our FAQs or see the Purpose Prize official rules, eligibility, odds, and prize disclosures.