AARP Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
520794300
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
1-800-775-6776
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Senior Centers

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$202,932,133
Expenses
$194,382,273
Assets
$727,968,863
Liabilities
$54,845,063

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

27 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CLAIRE CASEY (PRESIDENT)
  • PATRICIA D SHANNON (CFO & SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • CLAIRE CASEY (PRESIDENT): $608,408 total reported compensation
  • PATRICIA D SHANNON (CFO & SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT): $557,297 total reported compensation
  • EMILY S ALLEN (SVP - PROGRAMS): $444,174 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

AARP Foundation works to end senior poverty by helping vulnerable older adults build economic opportunity and social connectedness.

What it reported doing in 2024

Volunteer programs provide support for teams of volunteers that help older adults with low income and bring a sense of purpose back into the lives of older adult volunteers. This includes aarp foundation tax-aide, which relies on more than 28,000 volunteers nationwide to provide free tax preparation and filing assistance, especially to older adults with low to moderate income. Tax-aide volunteers are trained and IRS-certified annually and typically help taxpayers receive close to $1 billion in refunds and credits every year. Additional programs include experience corps, a community-based, program that engages highly trained volunteers over 50 as tutors and mentors to help k-3 students become better readers by the end of third grade.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 48% for direct work, and 52% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 88.4%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 78.3%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 4.2%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.75; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 2.4%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.6% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 88.4% of revenue deployed · 78.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $152.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $608K · 27 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $12.1M reported
  • Consistency: 41 of 41 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 126 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 123 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 31/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.