The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (the “Department” or “DCEO”) is issuing this Notice of Funding Opportunity (“NOFO”) to match/leverage local funds with State funds to market and
promote destinations, tourism attractions and tourism events throughout the State.
Donor Name: Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
State: Illinois
County: Cook County (IL), Cook County (IL)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/03/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The goal of the program is to increase overnight stays in paid accommodations. The Illinois Promotion Act authorizes the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to award grants to counties, municipalities, not-for-profit organizations, and local promotion groups for the promotion of tourism attractions, destinations and tourism events in Illinois. This particular opportunity is for projects outside Cook County.
Performance Goals and Measures
Examples of program goals or performance measures include:
- Visitors to a region or area (measured by tickets sold (for events)
- Increase in sales tax revenue compared to previous year
- Increase in hotel tax revenue compared to previous year
- Advertising conversion.
Funding Information
Total amount of funding expected to be awarded through this NOFO is $1,250,000. Awards will range from $10,000 to $100,000.
Project Period
July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026.
Eligible Promotional Projects and Activities
The Program shall provide matching grants to eligible Applicants to assist in promotional activities including, but not limited to, the following:
- Travel Related Promotional Materials: Costs related to production, design and distribution of travel related brochures, visitor guides, direct mail literature or travel guides that are primarily used to promote areas outside of 50 miles from the Tourism Attractions, Tourism Destinations or Tourism Events in Illinois
- Media: Costs related to production, design and placement for print advertising, radio advertising, on line advertising, out of home advertising and television advertising directed toward areas outside of 50 miles from the Tourism Attraction, Tourism Destination or Tourism Event in Illinois;
- Billboards: Costs related to design and production of billboard artwork and rental of billboard space directed toward areas outside of 30 miles from the Tourism Attraction, Tourism Destination or Tourism Event in Illinois, unless the billboard is placed on an intrastate;
- Web Sites: Costs related to Web site development, including hosting fees, domain registration and related maintenance fees, search engine optimization and key word searches;
- Market Research: Costs to conduct research to optimize the effectiveness of marketing the tourism Attraction, Tourism Destination or Tourism Event in Illinois to areas outside of 50 miles;
- Travel/Trade Shows: Costs related to travel/trade show booth space rental and related expenses, including travel show registration fees for domestic and international marketing, utilities, furniture rental, cleaning, etc.;
- Visitor Inquiries: Costs related to telephone expenses for toll free telephone numbers for visitor inquiries;
- Mail Promotions: Costs of the purchase and use of mailing lists for direct mail promotions, provided the promotional material is printed under this Program and provided the postage is billed at bulk rate;
- Promotional Publications: Expenses for shipping and distribution of promotional publications printed under this Program to State funded Tourism information centers;
- Ad Campaigns: Costs related to email newsletters and ad mail campaigns primarily directed towards visitors outside a 50 mile radius from the Tourism Attraction, Tourism Destination or Tourism Event in Illinois; and
- Maps: Costs related to the design and production of maps illustrating the Tourism Attractions of an area being promoted.
Eligibility Criteria
- Entities on the Illinois Stop Payment List and/or the Federal Excluded Parties List at time of application submission will not be considered for an award. An automated email notification to the entity alerts them of “qualified” status or informs how to remediate a negative verification (e.g., not in good standing with the Secretary of State). A federal Debarred and Suspended status cannot be remediated. At this time, federal memo M-21-20 allows entities to apply for grant awards without a valid UEI number.
- The UEI number must be obtained prior to grant execution. The State of Illinois has adopted this
guidance for the issuance of state awards also. - Pursuant to the policy of the Illinois Office of the Comptroller, to receive grant funds from the State of Illinois, a grantee must be considered a regarded entity by the IRS for federal income tax purposes. Disregarded entities will not be eligible to receive grant funds.
Eligible Applicants include:
- Counties located outside Cook County
- Municipalities located outside Cook County
- Not-for-profit organizations located outside Cook County
- Local promotion groups located outside of Cook County that includes any non-profit corporation, organization, association, agency or committee thereof formed for the primary purpose of publicizing, promoting, advertising or otherwise encouraging the development of tourism in any municipality, county, or region of Illinois
For more information, visit DCEO.
