PLATINUM2024

Wish of a Lifetime

We believe that everyone should be able to age with hope and joy.

aka Wish of a Lifetime (WOL) from AARP   |   Denver, CO   |  www.wishofalifetime.org

Mission

Wish of a Lifetime from AARP (WOL) seeks to empower recipients to fulfill their hopes and dreams while reconnecting with the people and places that define them. WOL focuses on life-changing wishes for adults aged 65 and older that reconnect them with their communities, passions, and people they love, and help them to live more vibrant and purposeful lives.

Ruling year info

2008

Executive Director

Tom Wagenlander

Main address

303 E 17th Ave Ste 850

Denver, CO 80203 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

26-2123649

NTEE code info

Human Services - Multipurpose and Other N.E.C. (P99)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2022, 2021 and 2021.
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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Many older adults lack the resources and capabilities to successfully navigate the psychosocial complexities of aging due to economic factors, healthcare challenges, technology barriers, social inequality, and isolation. This can result in older adults becoming disconnected from the people, places, and events that shape their lives, leading to despair and an inability to age with joy.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Wish Fulfillment Program

Wish of a Lifetime's grantmaking program is unique. No other organizations provide tailored wish experiences to older adults at WOL's scale and replicability. Older adults can be referred to WOL through our online submission form. The referral process is simple so as not to deter people from referring older adults for a wish. Once an application is submitted, WOL staff review the wish to ensure it meets our criteria. If the wish meets the grantmaking criteria, staff will then contact the nominator and the wish applicant to conduct an interview to learn more about the possible wish. Our wish specialists quickly create friendly rapport with our wish recipients, and they are responsible for helping older adults: uncover unresolved issues; design a way to achieve closure and freedom; create the wish; fulfill the wish; and relish the future with joy.

Population(s) Served
Seniors
Economically disadvantaged people

Where we work

Affiliations & memberships

AARP 2020

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Net promoter score

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Seniors, Older adults, Veterans, Low-income people

Related Program

Wish Fulfillment Program

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Number of volunteers

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

By orchestrating individualized, purpose-driven wish experiences for older adults, we eliminate impediments to aging with hope and joy. Through wish granting, older adults experience life-changing impacts by realizing unfulfilled dreams and improving overall well-being when aging. We believe that everyone should age with hope and joy, and therefore, we must be able to grant a wish to every older adult who needs one and inspire others to do the same. By the end of 2026, Wish of a Lifetime will achieve the following:

1. Execute 850+ personalized wish experiences for older adults (65-plus), emphasizing Priority Audiences (75% of wishes), connecting generations (50% of wishes intergenerational), significantly enhancing overall well-being, and eliminating obstacles to aging with hope and joy as evidenced by research-backed data.

2. Consumer journeys for key audiences, including donors, volunteers, and wish participants, drive effective storytelling, promotion, and network expansion to 200,000+, with active donors representing at least 10% of the network and individual giving representing at least 51% of total support.

3. Be a community-propelled organization defined by 450 mutually beneficial programmatic and promotional relationships that benefit fundraising and deliver 6,700 volunteer activations.

1. Increase & Deepen Impact: Orchestrate individualized, purpose-driven, life-changing wish experiences for older adults (65-plus) that help them realize unfulfilled dreams, improve overall well-being, and eliminate impediments to aging with hope and joy.

2. Grow and Strengthen Network: Increase WOLs community of supporters, volunteers, and donors through compelling storytelling and promotion of WOL programs and services to critical audiences across local and national communication channels.

3. Engage & Activate Community: Empower volunteers, donors, and community organizations to deliver activations and expand WOLs nationwide local presence.

WOL has a strong team of staff, volunteers, and leaders who are executing the following tactics:

-Strengthen Priority Audience wish recipient outreach.
-Revise wish-granting process to better understand the needs of our beneficiaries, improve storytelling, and align with the Theory of Change.
-Increase pre-, peri- and post-wish volunteer and third-party engagement, emphasizing intergenerational participation.
-Develop and execute consumer journey maps for key audiences across WOL ecosystem.
-Master skills and capabilities of existing and emerging marketing technology resources.
-Execute nationwide integrated campaigns to drive visibility and awareness.
-Employ organizational pipeline to recruit supporter network, and manage volunteer network via Field structure.
-Utilize volunteer consumer journey to establish engagement pathways, provide support, and strengthen volunteer leaders and teams.
-Increase WOLs breadth through community activations that benefit WOLs programs, beneficiaries, and national presence.

WOL has developed its 2024-2026 strategic plan, established 2024 goals, and has begun implementing action items associated with each of the tactics referenced above.



How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We share the feedback we received with the people we serve

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback

Financials

Wish of a Lifetime
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Wish of a Lifetime

Board of directors
as of 05/13/2024
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Jeremy Bloom

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Integrate

Eric Hirshberg

Lockton Companies

Jeremy Bloom

Integrate

Eric Chess

University of Denver

Scott Frisch

AARP

Laurie Thomas

Consonus Healthcare

Michelle Armstrong

Ares Charitable Foundation

Eliot Hamlisch

Amtrak

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 4/24/2024
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Multi-Racial/Multi-Ethnic (2+ races/ethnicities)
Gender identity
Male, Not transgender
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or Straight

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

Transgender Identity

Sexual orientation

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 04/10/2024

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.