1998–2009: Building capacity

ACORN's subsequent activities have included its "Living Wage" programs, voter registration, and grassroots political organization .

In 1998 ACORN helped form the Working Families Party in New York which counts increasing the minimum wage as its centerpiece issue.

A March 27, 2003 decision of the National Labor Relations Board found that ACORN attempted to thwart union organizing efforts within its own organization by laying off two workers who were attempting to organize.[ 39] The two workers, both field organizers with ACORN, began discussions with the Service Employees International Union and later sought to organize under Industrial Workers of the World in response to their $20,200 annual salary for a 54-hour work week.[ 40] The NLRB ordered the two employees be reinstated in their former jobs and ACORN cease from interrogating employees about organizing activity.[ 39] ACORN has since strengthened its ties with the Service Employees International Union, which donated $2.1 million to ACORN in 2005,[ 41] often working collaboratively on issues (including health insurance costs and the minimum wage) and sharing office space.

In 2004, Florida ACORN helped to raise Florida's minimum wage by $1.00 an hour by lobbying for a minimum wage amendment to be placed on the ballot. Over 1 million Florida employees were affected by the raise, which is adjusted annually for inflation . That year, ACORN become an international organization, opening offices in Canada , Peru , and beginning work in Dominican Republic . Since then offices have opened in Mexico and Argentina .