The Chicago Community Trust
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1915
- HeadquartersChicago, United States
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
The Chicago Community Trust firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Chicago Community Trust
- Legal name
- The Chicago Community Trust
- Website
- https://cct.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1915
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Chicago Community Trust industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Community Foundation and Philanthropic Services
- NAICS
- Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)
- SIC
- Services-Social Services (8300)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE), Family Offices & Philanthropic Advisors (Grantmaking) (BPAGAKAD)
Keywords
Where The Chicago Community Trust is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chicago
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
The Chicago Community Trust business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Donor Advised Fund Administration: The Trust administers donor advised funds (DAFs),收取管理费并代表捐赠者进行捐赠。DAF账户允许捐赠者创建个人命名基金,然后从基金中向慈善机构拨款。
- Grantmaking from Endowment: The Trust makes grants from its endowment to nonprofit organizations addressing the region's most pressing needs, primarily serving Cook County.
- Impact Investing Program: In 2020, the Trust launched an Impact Investing Program enabling donors to recommend investments in social impact opportunities before making grants from their donor advised funds, generating social returns alongside investment gains.
- Philanthropic Services: The Trust provides personalized philanthropic advisory services to individuals, families, businesses, and professional advisors, helping structure giving plans and maximize charitable impact.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels7 records
Marketing channels10 records
The Chicago Community Trust product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Chicago Community Trust administers donor advised funds, manages an endowment for charitable grantmaking, and provides philanthropic advisory services to individuals, families, and businesses. It pools donor contributions through affinity funds and impact investing programs to support nonprofit organizations addressing the Chicago region's most pressing needs.
Product overview
The Chicago Community Trust operates as a community foundation platform offering a portfolio of philanthropic giving vehicles and programs. The core offerings include Donor Advised Funds (DAFs), the Unity Fund for urgent community needs, Press Forward Chicago for journalism support, and an Impact Investing Program. Additional giving vehicles include Charitable Remainder Trusts, Designated Funds, Supporting Organizations, and Unrestricted Funds. The Trust also manages multiple Affinity Funds (African American Legacy, Asian Giving Circle, Disabilities Fund, LGBTQ Community Fund, Nuestro Futuro, Young Leaders Fund) and provides digital services through Donor Portal and GrantCentral. These products work together as a unified philanthropy platform enabling donors to give, invest for impact, and support the Chicago region.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Unity Fund: A collaborative effort that gathers contributions from generous donors to support nonprofit organizations addressing the Chicago region's most urgent needs including emergency food, clothing, housing, healthcare, and legal services.
- Press Forward Chicago
- Resilient Chicago Fund
- Neighborhood Capital Fund
- African American Legacy
- Asian Giving Circle
- Disabilities Fund
- LGBTQ Community Fund
- Nuestro Futuro
- Young Leaders Fund
Products and services
- Donor Advised Fund (DAF)
Quantifiable outcome
- $1.4 billion+ in total grantmaking awarded by the Trust and affiliated donor advised funds
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use The Chicago Community Trust
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
The Chicago Community Trust technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
The Chicago Community Trust partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
24 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.
- Press Forward ChicagoflagshipPress Forward Chicago launched as a pooled fund for journalism based at The Chicago Community Trust seeking to create healthier communities through support of strong and sustainable news and information ecosystems. It is a local affiliate of the national Press Forward movement.
- We Rise Together: For an Equitable & Just RecoveryflagshipAn accelerator launched in October 2020 uniting partners from philanthropy, business, government, nonprofits, and communities in economic recovery to help ensure communities hit hardest by COVID-19 are not left behind. In August 2025, the initiative sunsetted and transitioned into the Neighborhood Capital Fund.
- Neighborhood Capital FundflagshipA two-year funder collaborative to get late-stage capital into community-led brick and mortar projects. This initiative helps neighborhoods build amenities and services they need that lead to thriving communities, continuing the economic momentum from We Rise Together.
- Connecting Capital and Community (3C)coreA multi-sector collaborative to build wealth in underinvested communities through homeownership. Paves a sustainable pathway to affordable homeownership and generational wealth for low-to-moderate income residents.
- Elevated ChicagocoreA partnership of organizations committed to transforming the half-mile radius around transit stations into hubs of opportunity and connection across the region's vast transit system.
- United Way of Metropolitan ChicagocorePartnered with the Trust to establish the Chicago Community COVID-19 Response Fund in March 2020, rapidly deploying resources to nonprofits across metropolitan Chicago serving individuals most impacted by the pandemic.
- Financial Health NetworkcoreConducted the Financial Health Pulse survey measuring financial health of Cook County residents, providing comprehensive data on disparities in how individuals spend, save, borrow, and plan.
- Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New SchoolcoreCommissioned to produce the Color of Wealth in Chicago report, the first-of-its-kind study examining wealth by race, ethnicity and other key drivers in the Chicago metropolitan area.
- Connecting Capital and CommunitycorePartner working with JPMorganChase and Chicago Community Trust on affordable housing initiatives on Chicago's South and West Sides.
- Chicago Housing AuthoritycorePartner in affordable housing initiatives, including the Edith Spurlock Sampson Apartments project which transformed an existing development into 405 affordable rental homes for seniors.
- Inherent HomesminorPartner providing below-market mortgage rates of 3.5% through programs designed to expand homeownership opportunities in underserved neighborhoods.
- Neighborhood Housing Services of ChicagominorPartner offering below-market mortgage rates through programs designed to expand homeownership opportunities in underserved neighborhoods.
- Benefit ChicagominorA collaboration aiming to mobilize $100 million in impact investments for nonprofits and social enterprises working throughout the Chicago region.
- Bridges to Brighter FuturescoreA partnership with Kinship Foundation aiming to create equitable, affordable access to quality jobs and continued career development through the Transfer Innovation Impact Model.
- Chicagoland Workforce Funder AlliancecoreCollaboration with employers and other workforce stakeholders to increase employment, earnings, and economic mobility for underprepared workers in the Chicago region.
- Arts Work FundminorStrengthens the management and operations of small arts and cultural organizations in Chicago and Cook County.
- Food:Land:OpportunityminorA multi-year initiative to create a resilient local food economy that protects and conserves land and other natural resources while promoting market innovation.
- Fresh TasteminorAn initiative by thirteen Chicago-region foundations working together to relocalize the Chicago foodshed and improve equity of access to good food.
- Fund for Equitable Business GrowthcoreHelps underrepresented business owners in Chicago succeed by funding systems and support to help entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses.
- Illinois Immigration Funder Collaborative (IFC)corePrioritizes community defense and strengthening, multilingual legal assistance, and support to help organizations serve and organize immigrants.
- Illinois Justice ProjectminorEngages in criminal justice reform efforts to make communities safer and reduce recidivism among youths and adults.
- Resilient Chicago FundcoreA collaborative philanthropic initiative supporting nonprofits and government agencies to meet communities' needs for food, shelter, safety and healthcare while building a stronger social safety net.
- Partnership for Safe & Peaceful CommunitiescoreIdentifies and supports community-led, evidence-based solutions to addressing gun violence. The Chicago Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities provides grants to neighborhood-based nonprofit groups.
- Chicago and Cook County Flexible Housing Pool (FHP)coreAn innovative housing approach connecting people experiencing homelessness to stable housing, tenancy support, and healthcare, reducing use of emergency services, hospitalizations, and incarceration.
Scale indicators13 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
The Chicago Community Trust competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- The Boston Foundation: Greater Boston's community foundation operating a similar endowment-plus-affinity-fund model, with comparable grantmaking, DAF administration, and racial-equity focus.
- The New York Community Trust: One of the largest US community foundations serving the New York metropolitan region, offering donor advised funds, discretionary grantmaking, and impact initiatives analogous to CCT's structure and product mix.
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation: Large California community foundation focused on DAF administration and place-based grantmaking, with a similar revenue mix anchored by donor advised fund fees and investment returns.
- Central Indiana Community Foundation: Indianapolis-based community foundation operating pooled funds, DAFs, and equity-focused initiatives akin to CCT, and serving as the parent of the Indianapolis Foundation and The Indianapolis Public Schools Foundation.
- Greater Houston Community Foundation: Community foundation serving a major metropolitan region with DAF administration, competitive grant cycles, and disaster-response pooled funds comparable to CCT's offering.
- Cleveland Foundation: The first US community foundation (1914) and structurally the closest historical and operational analog to The Chicago Community Trust, with a comparable endowment, donor advised fund programs, and place-based focus on Greater Cleveland.
- San Francisco Foundation: Bay Area community foundation pursuing place-based grantmaking and donor services with a comparable scale and racial-equity strategic emphasis.
Emerging players
- National Philanthropic Trust: Independent national sponsor of donor advised funds and provider of philanthropy research, an adjacent competitor and complement to CCT's DAF program.
Broad incumbents
- Fidelity Charitable: The largest US sponsor of donor advised funds by assets, offering a similar DAF product to CCT's but at national scale and as part of broader Fidelity's financial services platform.
- Schwab Charitable: National DAF sponsor affiliated with Charles Schwab, directly competing for donor advised fund assets with similar investment and grantmaking tools.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
The Chicago Community Trust social profiles
Digital presenceThe Chicago Community Trust financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Chicago Community Trust leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles20 records
The Chicago Community Trust funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Chicago Community Trust M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Chicago Community Trust
What does The Chicago Community Trust do?
The Chicago Community Trust administers donor advised funds, manages an endowment for charitable grantmaking, and provides philanthropic advisory services to individuals, families, and businesses. It pools donor contributions through affinity funds and impact investing programs to support nonprofit organizations addressing the Chicago region's most pressing needs.
Is The Chicago Community Trust a public or private company?
The Chicago Community Trust is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was The Chicago Community Trust founded?
The Chicago Community Trust was founded in 1915. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is The Chicago Community Trust based?
The Chicago Community Trust is headquartered in Chicago, United States, in the North America region.
How does The Chicago Community Trust make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Donor Advised Fund Administration is the primary driver. The others are grantmaking from Endowment, impact Investing Program and philanthropic Services.
Who are The Chicago Community Trust's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are The Boston Foundation, The New York Community Trust, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Central Indiana Community Foundation, Greater Houston Community Foundation, Cleveland Foundation and San Francisco Foundation. National Philanthropic Trust is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Fidelity Charitable and Schwab Charitable.
Does The Chicago Community Trust have an API?
No public API is recorded for The Chicago Community Trust.
What industry is The Chicago Community Trust in?
The Chicago Community Trust's product category is Community Foundation and Philanthropic Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAKAB, Community Foundations, with a secondary code of BPAGAKAE, Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries. Its NAICS code is 813211 and its SIC code is 8300.