Form 990 for tax year 2023

Totals

Total revenue

$1,943,478

Total expenses

$2,374,174

Contributions and grants received

$1,536,390

Grants paid

$0

Program service revenue

$468,825

Investment income

-$77,476

Other revenue

$15,739

Total assets, end of year

$7,933,748

Total liabilities, end of year

$2,820,331

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$5,113,417

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$1,771,288

Management and general expenses

$265,172

Fundraising expenses

$337,714

Program service expenses (Part III)

$1,771,288

Program services were 74.6% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2023

• TO FULFILL OUR MISSION, THE CITY CLUB PRODUCES FORUMS ON A RANGE OF TOPICS FOR A VARIETY OF AUDIENCES. THE BACKBONE OF OUR PROGRAMMING IS THE FRIDAY FORUM, A LUNCHTIME PROGRAM DEVOTED TO SIGNIFICANT NATIONAL AND REGIONAL CONCERNS. WE ALSO HAVE FORUMS ON OTHER DAYS, AT DIFFERENT TIMES AND VENUES (WHEN IN-PERSON), INCLUDING NEIGHBORHOOD BARS AND PUBLIC SQUARE IN DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND AND VIRTUALLY FOR LIVESTREAMING AUDIENCES. IN TODAY'S POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT, OUR WORK HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY CRITICAL BECAUSE COMMUNITIES NEED A FORUM FOR UNDERSTANDING THE NUANCES OF VARIOUS ISSUES AND REFORMS IN RELATION TO THE WAY WE LIVE OUR LIVES. SOME OF OUR MOST SUCCESSFUL FORUMS ARE (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O) DEVELOPED BY MEMBER-LED TEAMS AND STUDENTS. EVERY ELECTION SEASON, YOU CAN COUNT ON THE CITY CLUB TO CONVENE CANDIDATE AND ISSUE DEBATES. ALL TOLD, WE PRODUCE ABOUT 100 PROGRAMS EVERY YEAR, FROM SMALL, DEEP DIVE CONVERSATIONS WITH EMERGING COMMUNITY VOICES TO LARGE SCALE EVENTS, SUCH AS THE STATE OF THE CITY.OUR ORGANIZATION PROMOTES AND ENCOURAGES DIVERSITY BY WELCOMING SPEAKERS, MEMBERS, GUESTS OF VARIOUS RACE, CULTURE, AND ORIENTATION. WE ARE PROUD TO REPORT THAT IN RECENT YEARS, WE HAVE CONTINUED TO MEET AMBITIOUS TARGETS FOR SPEAKER DIVERSITY. OUR SPEAKERS TELL US THAT SPEAKING AT A CITY CLUB FORUM CONTINUES TO BE AN IMPORTANT INGREDIENT IN CONTRIBUTING TO PUBLIC DIALOGUE ACROSS THE COUNTRY.THE CITY CLUB'S PRIMARY MEDIA PARTNER IS IDEASTREAM PUBLIC MEDIA. IDEASTREAM PROVIDES PRODUCTION SUPPORT TO CAPTURE THE CONTENT OF NEARLY ALL OF OUR FORUMS, AND PROVIDES A WEEKLY BROADCAST ACROSS THE REGION AND STATE ON MULTIPLE CHANNELS. THEY ALSO HELP US PROVIDE A FREE DIGITAL ARCHIVE AND LIVE STREAM OF ALL OF OUR PROGRAMS.

  Expenses $1,673,088

• A GROWING NATIONAL DIVIDE IS REFLECTED IN THE FRACTURES WE SEE IN COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT NORTHEAST OHIO. WHEN IT COMES TO EDUCATION, THE BARRIERS THAT DIVIDE OUR COMMUNITY ARE PARTICULARLY DESTRUCTIVE. THE CITY CLUB AIMS TO BRIDGE THIS DIVIDE THROUGH FOUR DISTINCT PROGRAMS THAT SERVES STUDENTS AND THE EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITY: CITY CLUB YOUTH FORUMS, STUDENT PARTICIPATION, THE FREE SPEECH ESSAY CONTEST, AND THE ANNUAL HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE CHAMPIONSHIP. SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 1997, MORE THAN 14,000 STUDENTS HAVE ATTENDED CITY CLUB YOUTH FORUMS. STUDENTS TAKE CHARGE OF EVERYTHING IN THE FORUM, FROM TOPIC SELECTION TO PANEL MODERATION AND DELIVERING INTRODUCTIONS. THESE FORUMS ARE EXECUTED BY A (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O) PLANNING COUNCIL OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WHO COME FROM AREA HIGH SCHOOLS (BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE) TO MEET MONTHLY TO SELECT TOPICS AND INVITE THE SPEAKERS FOR AS MANY AS FIVE FORUMS EACH YEAR. YOUTH FORUMS PROVIDE A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR PARTICIPANTS TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS BY HOLDING GROUP DISCUSSIONS ON CURRENT EVENTS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT FORUMS, DEVELOP ANALYTICAL THINKING ABILITIES BY DEBATING THE TOPIC AND POINTS OF VIEW REFLECTED BY THE FORUM SPEAKER, AND ENCOURAGING POSITIVE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT BY PROVIDING A DIRECT EXPERIENCE WITH ENGAGED DIALOGUE-THE VERY FIBER OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.EVERY YEAR THE HOPE AND STANLEY ADELSTEIN FREE SPEECH ESSAY CONTEST CHALLENGES HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO EXAMINE THE ROLE OF FREE SPEECH IN THE 21ST CENTURY. THIS ESSAY CONTEST WAS ESTABLISHED WITH A GENEROUS GIFT FROM THE ADELSTEINS TO HONOR THEIR DEEP COMMITMENT TO THE CITY CLUB OF CLEVELAND. NORTHEAST OHIO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE ELIGIBLE TO COMPETE AND CITY CLUB MEMBERS AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS SERVE AS GUEST JUDGES SCORING THE ESSAYS ON THEIR CLARITY, CONTENT, ORIGINALITY, AND SIGNIFICANCE. WINNING ESSAYS ARE POSTED ON THE CITY CLUB WEBSITE AND THE TOP WINNERS ARE INVITED TO READ THEIR ESSAYS AT THE CITY CLUB. WINNERS RECEIVE A TOTAL OVER MORE THAN $4,000 IN PRIZES, INCLUDING $1,000 TO THE TOP WINNING ESSAY.FOR MORE THAN TWO DECADES, THE CITY CLUB OF CLEVELAND HAS HOSTED THE ANNUAL HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE CHAMPIONSHIP. EVERY YEAR, THE TOP TWO AREA HIGH SCHOOL DEBATERS SQUARE OFF IN A CLASSIC "LINCOLN-DOUGLAS" STYLE DEBATE AT A FRIDAY FORUM. THIS GIVES THE DEBATERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMPETE, NOT ONLY FOR THE JUDGES AND THE AUDIENCE IN THE ROOM, BUT ALSO FOR OUR RADIO, TELEVISION, AND LIVESTREAM AUDIENCES. DEBATE TEAMS FROM ACROSS NORTHEAST OHIO ATTEND THIS ANNUAL SPRING TRADITION AND THE FORUM IS CONSISTENTLY AMONG OUR MOST WATCHED YOUTUBE VIDEOS.

  Expenses $98,200

As filed on the 2023 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Related organizations on this return

Schedule R Part II: tax-exempt organizations related to the filer by control. It does not record shared board members or money.

• THE CITY CLUB FORUM FOUNDATION

  501(C)(3) · TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO THE CITY CLUB OF CLEVELAND · OH · controlled entity

  Directly controlled by THE CITY CLUB OF CLEVELAND

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2023

Filed

25 April 2025

IRS schema version

2023v6.0

Source object

202501299349303150

Check it against the return as filed: the GivingTuesday Data Lake hosts a public copy of the original XML.

The source document this was parsed from is served over the API, which is where bulk and document access live.