The Chicago Community Trust

What it reported doing in 2024

During the year, the Trust made 19,260 total grants to 8,460 organizations totaling $1,225,337,518. The Trust mobilizes grantmaking in three main ways: donor advised funds, programmatic and designated grantmaking, and collaboratives. Through donor advised funds, the Trust inspires philanthropy broadly and facilitates charitable giving by individuals, families, and organizations. During the year, donor advisors recommended grants totaling $1.1B to more than 8,000 organizations in Chicago and beyond. This program enables donors to respond to emerging needs, support a wide range of charitable causes, and sustain long-term philanthropic engagement. The Trust's programmatic and designated grantmaking is its core community impact work, supporting 460 nonprofit organizations across metropolitan Chicago with 851 grants totaling $76.1M to address critical community needs and longer-term initiatives in areas such as housing, economic opportunity and neighborhood investmentt. The Trust's collaborative grantmaking multiplies the impact of individual donors and institutional funders by pooling their funds in support of specific initiatives to stabilize and strengthen neighborhoods and communities. During the year, the Trust made 444 grants totaling $57.4M to over 294 local nonprofits through its collaborative and affinity funds. These efforts strengthened cross-sector partnerships and advanced long-term community outcomes.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 69.7%; rating input score 70
• Program expense ratio: 97.8%; rating input score 98
• Fundraising efficiency: $356.64 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Pass
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
  • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
  • Requires narrative reports: Pass
  • Conducts field audits: Fail
  • May suspend future funding: Fail
  • Requires financial reports: Fail
  • Conducts site visits: Fail
  • Requires grant agreements: Fail
  • May require repayment: Fail
• Grant itemization coverage: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 40.8%; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.61; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 95; 95th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 0.3%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 17.8% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 17.5% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings