President Barack Obama`s future Chicago library has received $5.4 million in pledges and donations in 2014. The numbers became available to the public after the non-profit organization filed their tax returns for their first year of fundraising.
The $5.4 million were given by 11 donors, who have sustained the idea of a Chicago library right from the beginning and who have been long time supporters and friends of Barack Obama.
The biggest donator for this cause was Joyce corporation which gave $1 million to see the presidential library come to life. The donation will be made in several installments and only a third of the money were received in 2014.
Along with its large profit, the Barack Obama Foundation also gave a report regarding the expenses made and they consisted of $2 million, with $500,000 expenses being made for fundraising.
The fundraising campaign was started just last year and it is mostly handled by Smoot Tewes Group who is said to have received around $18,000 a month for the last months of 2014.
Smoot was also promised several bonuses over the course of the fundraising campaign, but the target of donations that has to be met in order to receive those bonuses, has not yet been disclosed.
Seeing that the presidential couple has pledged not to get involved into the fundraising project until Barack Obama leaves office in 2017, this means that most of the money for the Chicago library will be raised after 2017.
The new library is expected to be build in the South Side of Chicago, because Obama said that this is the town that made him a man and helped him find his way and that this is his way of giving back to the city.
The site of the location was proposed by the University of Chicago and although the South Side is the best bet one can make on the library`s location, nothing has been made official just yet.
The Chicago library will function in cooperation with the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois.
Columbia University from New York, which is also Barack Obama`s alma mater, also made a bid to build the library which was turned down, but will become a partner of the library. University of Hawaii also proposed a site for the library, but was rejected from the race.
Still, the Chicago library will establish powerful connections with both of these state Universities and a presence from the library will be felt both in New York, as well as Hawaii.
Image Source: mashable
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