The foundation supporting the George W. Bush Presidential Center, however, has pledged to make the names of almost all of the 315,000 donors public, with the exception of those who request anonymity.
The Bush presidential library, which is slated to be open to the public on May 1, 2013, will be officially dedicated on April 25. The dedication ceremony will feature all five living presidents -- Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama -- and their spouses.
Source: George W. Bush Raises $500 Million For Presidential Library By Chelsea Kiene
Bush’s library and museum will be dedicated on April 25 in Dallas in a ceremony featuring all five living tenants of the White House and their spouses.
“Half of the money was spent to build the Bush Center itself, a portion of the funds go to a mandatory endowment to the Federal Government, which will be paid when we gift the George W. Bush Presidential Museum and Library to the American people on April 25th, and another portion of the funds will go to Southern Methodist University for a endowment that is intended to strengthen our relationship with their programs,” Langdale said in a statement to TIME. “The remainder of the funds, most of which is paid for over time in long term pledges, provides a strong financial foundation to build the George W. Bush Institute as a long standing contributor to advancing freedom and the principles that have guided President and Mrs. Bush in their service to their country.”
The foundation’s last publicly available financial report from 2011 shows the foundation raised upwards of $415 million. The precise audited sum will be reported when Bush’s foundation releases its 2012 report to the Internal Revenue Service in the coming months. The foundation has pledged to make the names of nearly all its donors available for review at the library — only the names of those who requested anonymity will be withheld.
Source: Bush Raises More Than $500 Million For Library By Zeke J Miller
To compare, when former President Bill Clinton opened his presidential library in Little Rock in 2004, he had barely raised the $165 million needed to cover the cost. (Though it should be noted that he has gone on to raise hundreds of millions due to the humanitarian efforts of his foundation.)
Bush's library and museum will be dedicated on April 25 in a ceremony that will include all four living former presidents, President Barack Obama, and all of their spouses. It will open to the public on May 1.
But just where will all of the funds raised go?
"Half of the money was spent to build the Bush Center itself, a portion of the funds will go to a mandatory endowment to the Federal Government, which will be paid when we gift the George W. Bush Presidential Museum and Library to the American people on April 25, and another portion of the funds will go to Souther Methodist University for a endowment that is intended to strengthen our relationship with their programs," Langdale says. "The remainder of the funds, most of which is paid over time in long term pledges, provides a strong financial foundation to build the George W. Bush Institute as a long standing contributor to advancing freedom and the principles that have guided President and Mrs. Bush in their service to their country."
Source: George W. Bush raises more than $500 million for library, emerges as most successful post-presidency fundraiser By Billy Nilles