Almost a year after Illinois became the first state to require its largest charities to spell out who is sitting in their boardrooms, most qualifying foundations still have not put the numbers online. Leaders at several organizations say they are waiting for legal clarity, agency guidance or even just signoff from their own directors. The result is a patchwork of disclosures that leaves donors and community groups without the public accounting the law was supposed to deliver.
According to the Chicago Tribune, as of mid-April only three foundations had published the required director and officer breakdowns on their websites. Those that have posted their numbers include the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Polk Bros. Foundation and the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation.
What the law requires
Illinois' Senate Bill 2930, signed in June 2024 and effective January 1, 2025, requires not-for-profit corporations that report $1,000,000 or more in grants to post aggregated demographic information about their directors and officers within 30 days after filing the AG990-IL, and directs the Illinois Department of Human Rights to publish standardized demographic classifications. The statute also says the posting is required only "if one exists," meaning organizations without a public-facing website are not forced to create one. According to the Illinois General Assembly, the data must remain accessible for at least three years.
Why so few have posted
Compliance has been slowed by a mix of litigation and implementation delays. The American Alliance for Equal Rights sued to block the law in January 2025, and the Department of Justice moved to intervene in March 2025, a federal action the Justice Department described as a matter of "immense public importance." A federal judge's August 20, 2025 opinion resolved multiple motions and noted that the Department of Human Rights had not yet published the standardized categories the statute called for, which the court said made immediate compliance impractical.
The Department of Human Rights later posted the subcategories on July 28, 2025, but several groups say they only discovered the list weeks afterward. The parties even stipulated to stay enforcement against two anonymous members while appeals proceed. The joint filing lays out the stay and related deadlines in the litigation; see the court filing for details.
Foundations and nonprofits have also offered practical reasons for holding off. Some said board members declined to disclose sensitive personal categories, a choice SB2930 explicitly protects, while others pointed to the pending lawsuits and confusion over how to implement the new rules. The Chicago Tribune reports that the state's attorney general's office could not provide a breakdown of the taxpayer cost of defending the statute, and that the Grand Victoria Foundation said the matter will be addressed in its next annual filing.
Enforcement and case status
On paper, the General Not-For-Profit Corporation Act includes penalty provisions and tools that could be used to enforce reporting, and the Secretary of State may propound interrogatories. Failures to answer, or to perform acts required by the Act, can in some circumstances be a Class C misdemeanor. See the relevant provisions in the Illinois Compiled Statutes. The district court's August 20, 2025 order resolved several motions largely in favor of the state, and the plaintiffs have appealed. The consolidated appeals are now pending before the Seventh Circuit, where the U.S. Department of Justice has filed an appellate brief.
What to watch
Legal analysts and philanthropy watchers say disclosure alone is unlikely to reshape board recruiting without stronger accountability mechanisms or incentives, so two things matter next: the Seventh Circuit's decision and the coming rounds of AG990-IL filings that will trigger posting deadlines for some organizations. If the appeals court affirms the law or the state agencies issue clearer guidance, more foundations are likely to publish their director and officer demographics; until then, public visibility into Illinois philanthropy will remain spotty. For a deeper legal read on the statutory and practical implications, see analysis by Hinshaw & Culbertson.
