AARP
AARP, one of the largest membership organizations in the U.S., has engaged GivingWorks to review various parts of their operations and ensure that they align with their mission of supporting the well-being of Americans aged 50+. Over the years, GivingWorks has delivered strategic analysis and planning support on a number of key AARP programs and services:
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AARP Services Inc. (ASI), a public-interest corporation and the revenue-generating arm of AARP, accounts for a significant share of AARP’s operating budget and plays a vital role in attracting and retaining its membership. Interested in developing products and services that respond to shifting member needs and preferences and link more closely with the Association’s social impact agenda, ASI engaged GivingWorks to assess its strengths and weaknesses, identify products and services for underserved segments of the 50+ market, and propose several viable business models.
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AARP’s Office of Social Impact engaged GivingWorks to support the development of a 10-year social impact roadmap to improve employment and workplace equity, transportation and personal mobility, and housing. In each of these target areas, GivingWorks helped articulate advocacy, programming and community engagement approaches for critical long-term shifts in public policy, private investments, and community and consumer behaviors.
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To help AARP meet its goal of reaching 50 million members, GivingWorks performed qualitative and statistical analysis to create a member segmentation model based on patterns of shared interests. For each of the core member segments, GivingWorks identified the most compelling portfolio of existing offerings and highlighted emerging needs and potential new offerings.
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With declining savings rates impacting the retirement security of its target 50+ population, AARP targeted medium-sized employers, where gaps in retirement plan participation were most severe. GivingWorks helped AARP's state offices produce a concrete two-year action plan which specified the rationale for their selected intervention models, critical activities and milestones, key success measures, and resource requirements.
AARP convened multiple task forces to position itself as an “organization of choice” for Hispanic and African-American populations, and GivingWorks collaborated with AARP to develop strategic roadmaps to enhance its social impact and relevance among more diverse populations of older Americans. These strategies included membership and products; programs and advocacy; and staff development and volunteer engagement.
Bipartisan Policy Center
Helped the Board and leadership of the Bipartisan Policy Center sharply define its strategic positioning and value proposition, and appropriate governance and organizational architecture.
The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) is crafting fresh approaches to several complex and consequential policy challenges, including energy and climate change, healthcare, national security, transportation and science policy. Founded by a bipartisan group of four former US Senate Majority Leaders, BPC has attracted the participation of leading political, military, and academic figures across the political spectrum – and is uniquely poised to make principled, pragmatic and bipartisan contributions to the policy debate.
At the end of its first full year as a stand-alone organization, the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) engaged GivingWorks to help BPC’s Board and leadership to more sharply define and differentiate its strategic positioning and value proposition, issue portfolio considerations, engagement and advocacy approaches, and the requisite governance and organizational architecture. This effort also included helping BPC develop clear and coherent roles and responsibilities for key senior staff positions and the Board. Through in-depth interviews with management and Board members, GivingWorks developed a strong understanding of the evolution of current roles, gaps and redundancies in the allocation of responsibilities, and internal perspectives on the future design. GivingWorks then helped the Board and management define the governance and management architecture required to help BPC operate more effectively and efficiently. Read the brief case study...
Dispensary of Health
The Dispensary of Hope (DoH) is an innovative nonprofit organization that provides access to free prescription medications for uninsured or under-insured Americans living below 200% of the Federal Poverty Line. DoH’s unique model of sourcing medications involves collecting medical oversupply, such as excess doctors’ samples and pharma over-production, and facilitating systematic address of community health concerns, such as providing medication that reduces avoidable hospital readmission or unnecessary emergency room use. Seeking to expand its partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, DoH engaged GivingWorks to help articulate its compelling value proposition to potential partners. GivingWorks developed a range of DoH-pharma partnership models, and assessed the relative pros, cons, and risks of each. GivingWorks also developed a presentation to aid DoH in making a compelling business case to pharmaceutical companies.
Today DoH has partnered with 3 leading pharmaceutical suppliers, including Merck, and has now built a network of over 1,300 physicians, who, combined with manufacturers working with DoH, have donated $150m in medication. DoH delivers a 20:1 value on investment and has been honored for its achievements by the Financial Times’ Social Innovation Awards, which lauded its influential approach to supply chain management, as well as the Catholic Health Association of the United States.
National Commission on Energy Policy
Helped the National Commission on Energy Policy articulate its next round of issue priorities and the appropriate organizational architecture.
The National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP), a bipartisan group of the nation’s preeminent energy experts and stakeholders representing the highest ranks of industry, government, academia, labor, consumer and environmental protection. Following an election cycle and with the U.S. facing a deepening economic crisis, NCEP needed to reevaluate its strategic focus and ramp up its efforts to meet the changing political and economic context. Having successfully developed strategic frameworks and refined the organizational structure for NCEP’s umbrella organization, the Bipartisan Policy Center, GivingWorks was engaged to help NCEP purposefully chart the next phase of the Commission during this critical moment, including thinking through a new agenda and a revitalized role for its Commissioners.
GivingWorks conducted a series of substantive interviews with NCEP’s Commissioners and staff and conducted additional independent research on the new political and economic landscape for energy issues. We distilled these insights and systematically compared the value and fit for NCEP to engage on a range of the nation’s most salient energy policy questions. We also recommended structure and practices that would make optimal use of the complementary strengths and resources of the Commissioners and the NCEP staff. GivingWorks’ findings and presentations served as key inputs to the Commission as it reset its priorities and expectations.
Center for Interfaith Action/Religions for Peace
GivingWorks supported the Center for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty (CIFA) – a US-based nonprofit founded by philanthropist Edward Scott who had previously founded the Center for Global Development. CIFA was tasked to address the development potential of the faith sector. Our consulting support included helping CIFA to articulate a multiyear engagement plan, including for the CIFA-affiliated national interfaith coordinating bodies in select developing countries. Later, The Center for Interfaith Action on Global Poverty (CIFA) convened a task force of 83 leaders from the faith, academic, philanthropic and public sectors to form the Global Initiative for Faith, Health, and Development (GIFHD).
GivingWorks was engaged to formulate the strategic framework for action, including recommendations for scaling up the health and development impact of the faith-based community. The GivingWorks team conducted extensive consultations and prepared the report for CIFA. Many Faiths, Common Action: Increasing the Impact of the Faith Sector on Health and Development was launched at the White House and the Washington National Cathedral. USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah and future Administrator Gayle Smith lauded the report and applauded its rationale and recommendations for increased public sector engagement with the faith community. (CIFA eventually merged with Religions for Peace).