We are a design and build studio on the north side of Chicago and a Coonley Core sponsor. When a Coonley family hires us, a share of the job goes straight back to the school. 25% of every design consultation and 5% of every project. No campaign. No special link. You have a kid at Coonley, you hire us, the school gets a share.
Where the money goes
Every dollar of the give back is paid directly to Friends of Coonley, the 501(c)(3) that funds programs, staff support and enrichment at John C. Coonley Elementary. Purpose Design + Build is a Coonley Core sponsor at the Platinum level.
The money
Two different things, kept separate on purpose. What we pay to be a sponsor, and what your project generates on top of it.
Annual Coonley Core sponsorship, paid
Written in September 2026, before a single Coonley family hired us. This is our cost of being a sponsor, not something a family generated.
On top of that, from Coonley families
Updated as jobs close, paid to Friends of Coonley quarterly. Counted from zero since September 2026. When the number is zero, it says zero.
How it works
You were going to do the project anyway. This just decides where a piece of it lands.
We come out, measure, talk through what you want, and put together a design and a real number. The fee runs $250 for most single spaces and $500 for a kitchen or bath. It gets credited back to your project if you move forward.
A quarter of that consultation fee goes to Friends of Coonley. That happens whether or not you ever hire us to build anything. Book the consult, the school gets paid.
Five percent of the full project, paid to Friends of Coonley quarterly. A $20,000 kitchen refresh sends $1,000 to the school. Nothing is added to your price to cover it.
The first ten
For the first ten Coonley projects we book this fall, Purpose Design + Build adds $250 to Friends of Coonley on top of the standard give back, paid when your project starts. Ten spots, then it goes back to the regular 25 and 5.
We are telling you the cap because it is real. We build these ourselves, and ten projects is what the fall holds.
Claim a spotWhat we build
Chicago houses, real rooms, finished and lived in. Most of our work sits between $8,000 and $50,000. Our floor is $2,000, because below that we cannot do it properly.
Who you are hiring
I run Purpose Design + Build, a design and build studio on the north side of Chicago. I am a licensed general contractor in the City of Chicago and a CPS parent, so I know exactly what a parent organization is carrying.
Here is why I do this, plainly. I would rather my marketing money go to a school than to Google. The school gets money that grows with the work instead of a flat check once a year, and I get known in a neighborhood I already build in. That works for both sides, and I would rather say it that way than dress it up.
Start here
Takes about a minute. Steve reads every one of these himself and gets back to you within two business days.
Questions
No. You are quoted the same as anyone else. The give back comes out of our margin, not your price. If it came out of your price it would not be a donation, it would be a surcharge with a bow on it.
Because it is real work. We come out, measure, and build you an actual design and an actual number instead of a guess over the phone. The fee is $250 for most single spaces and $500 for a kitchen or bath, and it is credited back to your project if you move forward. It also means we spend our time with people who are serious, which is why we can hold our pricing.
We pay it directly to Friends of Coonley quarterly. You do not file anything, forward anything, or use a code. We track it on our end and the running total at the top of this page is what we have sent.
That is fine, and the school still gets its 25%. You keep the design. Plenty of people take a design and sit on it for a year, and some hire someone else. No hard feelings either way.
$2,000. Below that the coordination costs more than the job is worth and we would be doing you a disservice by taking it. If your project is smaller than that, ask us anyway and we will point you to someone good.
For the give back, yes, that is the whole point. If you are a neighbor without kids at the school we would still love to build for you, and you can tell us to send the share to Coonley anyway if you want to.