Choose Chicago

Legal name: Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau

Overview

Mission

To drive economic growth and enhance the quality of life in Chicago by promoting the city as a premier global destination for conventions, meetings, and leisure travel.

What it reported doing in 2024

55 million domestic and international travelers visited chicago in 2024. This was an increase of 6% over 2024 levels and three times larger than the pandemic low of 16.5 million.tourism spending estimated at $20.9 billion in 2024, generated $2.8 billion in state and local taxes and supported an estimated 133,000 tourism related jobs.overnight visitors to chicago generated over $157 million in chicago hotel tax revenue.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 75% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
362704879
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Chicago, IL, US
Phone
3125678560
Rating confidence
Limited

Official website

The verdict

- This form does not report enough financial and governance detail to rate the organization. That is normal for this form and is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 12%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.86; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.48; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.6%; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.6% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 35 of 35 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $574K · 62 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $7.9M reported
  • Consistency: 11 of 11 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 annual filings from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 14 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

Leadership & pay

62 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • LYNN OSMOND (FORMER PRESIDENT AND CEO): $573,647 total reported compensation
  • DUSTIN ARNHEIM (SVP SALES AND SERVICES): $419,845 total reported compensation
  • RICH GAMBLE (INTERIM PRESIDENT AND CEO): $385,801 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.