AARP Community Challenge Impact Stories

Grantees have delivered a range of positive results and outcomes following the award of an AARP Community Challenge grant. Since the grant debuted in 2017:

New Funding is Being Leveraged

45% of grantees have demonstrated that their AARP Community Challenge project helped them leverage additional funds and support from public, private and philanthropic partners and funders, including:

• Proving a concept that leads the private or public sector to invest additional funds directly into the project, or surrounding area, to expand it
  
  
• Testing an idea that leads to the public sector replicating the project or investing municipal funding into replicating the project
  
  
• Funding a discrete portion of an effort in which several of other funders have contributed over a period of time

Barriers Are Overcome

81% of grantees have demonstrated that their project helped them advance change and overcome policy barriers, including:

• Giving an organization the data, information and feedback needed to successfully advocate for a policy change within local government, including everything from a Complete Streets ordinance, to a streamlined permitting process for tactical urbanism projects
  
  
• Demonstrating the validity or need for changes and improvements to a specific area of the community — such as through updated master plans or a community redirecting resources to address an existing issue
  
  
• Showing the community a “first of its kind” change that helps lead to replication or additional energy

Greater Engagement is Achieved

100% of grantees have demonstrated that the grant led to greater awareness, community engagement, and new partners, including:

• Leading to an increased awareness of the larger effort
  
  
• Increasing engagement (users, volunteers, etc.) with a larger effort and/or organization
  
  
• Bringing new partners to the larger effort