The Economic Club of Chicago · Requirements

The Economic Club of Chicago membership requirements

Every criterion The Economic Club of Chicago publishes, with its source, the date it was verified and how confident we are in it, plus superseded figures, so you can see how the tests have moved.

A members' lounge with a fireplace and a locked bookcase — Illustration

Read a requirement as the organization's published floor, not as a promise. A revenue test may have alternative versions for different business types, chapters can set stricter local tests, and invitation-only bodies publish criteria that describe members rather than admit them.

Current published criteria

6 rows

Criterion	Published requirement	Note	Provenance
Sponsorship	Two current members must serve as sponsors, each providing a letter of support	Club tradition is that all correspondence about membership passes through the candidate's sponsors.	Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Role or title	Top-level leadership, C-suite, or reporting directly to the CEO, with operational oversight and P&L responsibility	Government and nonprofit candidates are considered under separate criteria that are not published.	Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Minimum company revenue	Company generates at least US$10 million in annual revenue	Published as part of the Club's candidate criteria.	Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Minimum employees	Company employs 25 or more people	Published alongside the revenue test.	Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Other criterion	Demonstrated civic engagement and community leadership	The Club describes civic engagement as a key pillar of membership.	Verified September 2026High confidenceSource ↗
Geographic restriction	Chicago-area business and civic leadership	The Club describes its membership as reflecting the diversity of the city and state; no formal residence rule is published.	Verified September 2026Medium confidenceSource ↗

How admission works

Application process

Six steps. Two current members agree to sponsor the candidate and send a secure link for the biography and application. Both sponsors write letters of support. The candidate attends a Club meeting, preferably with a sponsor. A representative of the relevant membership subcommittee reviews the application and decides whether to interview. The Membership Committee then elects candidates at its quarterly meetings.

Invitation required

Yes

Sponsor required

Yes

Selectivity

Not publicly disclosed. The Club describes a rigorous application and election process and reports a 92 per cent renewal rate, but publishes no acceptance rate.

Membership term

Annual; the Club reports a 92 per cent membership renewal rate

Primary audience

Chicago-area business and civic leaders at C-suite level or reporting directly to a chief executive

Typical member

Around 70 per cent of members are C-suite executives. Candidates are expected to have operational oversight with profit-and-loss responsibility at a company generating at least US$10 million in annual revenue and employing 25 or more people, and to have a record of civic engagement. Government and nonprofit candidates are assessed under separate criteria.

Do you appear to meet them?

The qualification tool reads these rows against a profile you give in ranges and explains which criteria appear met, unclear or unmet. Check your profile

If not: alternatives to The Economic Club of Chicago (The Economic Club of New York, The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., The Business Council, Council on Foreign Relations).

Last verified: 6 September 2026 Report an error on this page

Sources

The Economic Club of Chicago — home, The Economic Club of Chicago. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 1
Membership — The Economic Club of Chicago, The Economic Club of Chicago. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 2
Economic Club of Chicago membership brochure (PDF, May 2025), The Economic Club of Chicago, May 2025. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 2
The Economic Club Of Chicago — IRS Form 990 filings (EIN 36-1022340), ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer / Internal Revenue Service. Accessed 6 September 2026.tier 5

Source tiers follow the published hierarchy: 1 official site · 2 official membership materials · 3 application documents · 4 annual reports · 5 government filings · 6 reliable business publications · 7 credible interviews · 8 other reputable secondary sources. Sources and data policy.