Deadline: 31-Mar-21
Nominations are now open for the AARP Purpose Prize, it is a national award in the United States that celebrates people 50 and older who are using their life experience to make a difference. Through the Purpose Prize award, AARP celebrates the creativity, innovation, and inspiration that life experience brings.
Through this important annual award, AARP seeks to create a world in which it is the norm for people age 50 and over to leverage their life’s wisdom and lived experience to find a new purpose, make a difference, and be valued for their innovative ideas. Up to five Winners who have founded a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) non-profit organization will win $50,000 for their organization to honor the Winner’s achievements. They will also have access to a number of technical assistance supports and resources to help broaden their organizations’ impact.
Areas
- Civic engagement and community development (helping people be active participants in building and strengthening their communities)
- Environmental issues (combatting the challenges facing the planet)
- Children and youth (helping kids and young people reach their full potential, in school settings and elsewhere)
- Arts and culture (using art and culture as tools to engage communities in positive change)
- Peace and security rights (establishing or preserving justice and equality by peaceful means)
- Homelessness (addressing the needs of homeless populations)
- Veterans (providing services for veterans, advocating for veterans’ rights, empowering veterans)
- Animal protection (ensuring animal welfare, promoting animal companionship with vulnerable populations)
Award Information
While there can only be a maximum of five (5) Purpose Prize Contest Winners each year, AARP recognizes that there are many strong Applicants whose work contributes to improving local and global communities. Therefore, AARP will invite a select group of Finalists to be “Fellows.” The Fellows will help round out each year’s “class.” AARP Purpose Prize Fellows will receive:
- Participation in a 1-year AARP Purpose Prize peer cohort;
- Attendance at the AARP Purpose Prize Award Event; (in-person or virtual)
- Access to internal AARP and external resources to support their work;
- Media engagements via AARP facilitation and/or delivery channels; and
- an award of $10,000 for their Founded Non-Profit organizations.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants must be US citizens living in the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia, who are at least fifty (50) years old as of the date of entry and who started the work for which they are applying for at the age of forty (40) or older. ??There must also be a connection between the Applicant’s own life and their work.
- Applicants must have founded 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 (“Founded Non-profit”).
For more information, visit https://purposeprize.aarp.org/