Choose Chicago
Legal name: Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 362704879
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Chicago, IL, US
- Phone
- 3125678560
- Rating confidence
- Limited
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $44,143,890
- Expenses
- $38,854,719
- Assets
- $33,258,331
- Liabilities
- $15,897,033
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
62 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- RICH GAMBLE (INTERIM PRESIDENT AND CEO)
- LYNN OSMOND (FORMER PRESIDENT AND CEO)
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: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
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.
The verdict
- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This 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 31; 31st 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 filing years 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 18/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 30/100.