WASHINGTON — AARP, the powerful interest group for adults 50 and older, has launched a search for a PR firm to support its public relations, public affairs and media relations efforts.

According to the RFP obtained by Holmes Report, the 38 million-member organization's “Office of Media Relations seeks a highly skilled, capable, industry-leading firm(s) to supplement our public relations, public affairs, and media relations efforts on an as-needed basis for the 2020 calendar year.” Firms may bid be for one, two or all three lines of work.

AARP has worked with agency partner FleishmanHillard for nearly two decades. An AARP spokesperson had no comment.

Agencies are being called on to support AARP on a wide range of topics, programs, publications (The Magazine reportedly has the world’s largest magazine circulation), campaigns, partnerships and initiatives, with a focus on earned media and social media, the RFP said.

Specific responsibilities span such areas as strategic planning, thought leadership, executive positioning, issue and messaging support, and media training.

According to the RFP, the deadline for submitting pitches is Nov. 4. Finalists will make presentations the week of Nov. 18.

With annual revenue of $1.65bn, AARP is among the country’s largest interest groups. In 2018, it spent roughly $8.3m on lobbying, primarily on issues affecting the elderly, according to opensecrets.org. The 61-year-old organization offers members a wide range of services, including insurance.

After operating as The American Association of Retired Persons for four decades, the group changed its name to AARP as part of a larger and ongoing effort to revitalize and reposition the brand as relevant for today’s active 50+ crowd, versus being focused primarily on aged and retired people. Last month, the organization and Getty Images launched The Disrupt Aging Collection of images, in a bid to break stereotypes of aging in the media.