Chicago 2016: Olympics Fundraising Drive a Game of Giving or Take

September 20, 2009, The Chicago Tribune — By many measures, Chicago 2016's fundraising success, coming during a recession, has been striking. Should Chicago win the race to become host city on Oct. 2, observers debate what such a major effort, raising $35 million a year for the next seven years, will mean to the city's other cultural institutions. They wonder what it will take to sustain such a high level of giving and what the long-term effect will be.