Despite launching his presidential library basis a 12 months in the past, former President Joe Biden has struggled to boost substantial funds for the challenge, casting critical doubt on its future as a standalone establishment.
According to a New York Times report, public filings and donor interviews reveal that the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Presidential Library Foundation expects to boost simply $11.3 million by the tip of 2027—a fraction of what’s usually wanted to assemble a contemporary presidential library. No new donations have been acquired in 2024, and the muse’s seed cash got here from $4 million in leftover funds from Biden’s 2021 inauguration.
As of late 2025, Biden has but to carry any main fundraising occasions for the library, with the primary donor reception scheduled for this coming Monday in Washington DC’s Georgetown neighborhood. The basis has not disclosed what it raised in 2025, solely stating that Biden is now starting to fundraise extra actively.
The New York Times notes that Biden’s projected whole of $11.3 million lags far behind the efforts of different latest presidents. The Obama Foundation, as compared, has raised over $1.5 billion for its sprawling Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. The heart, regardless of value overruns and criticism from Chicago residents, is slated to open in 2026 with greater than $850 million already dedicated to development. However, filings and monetary disclosures have prompted considerations concerning the basis’s restricted endowment funding and the potential for taxpayer legal responsibility, together with rising working prices.
President Donald Trump, who plans to construct his library in Miami, is aiming to boost almost $1 billion and has already secured land and funding from authorized settlements and personal donations. Trump’s challenge was formally permitted in September 2025 by the Florida Cabinet and is being promoted as a significant civic attraction in Miami.
The Biden library basis’s difficulties seem compounded by donor fatigue and intra-party discontent. Several prime Democrat donors, together with longtime bundler John Morgan, have expressed disinterest or outright refusal to contribute, citing poor remedy by Biden’s workers. “He’ll be fortunate to have a bookmobile,” Morgan instructed the New York Times. Some donors have stated they’re extra targeted on defeating Donald Trump or are reluctant to contribute resulting from frustrations with Biden’s presidency. Separately, Axios revealed that Biden’s resolution to pardon his son Hunter additional alienated some Democrats, with a lot of donors threatening to withhold help for the library effort.
The Biden library basis is at present chaired by Rufus Gifford, a Democrat fundraiser and former U.S. chief of protocol. Its government administrators embody two of Biden’s closest aides, Annie Tomasini and Anthony Bernal. Over the summer time, the group employed a consulting agency, CCS Fundraising, to evaluate monetary prospects. In September, the Bidens despatched letters inviting potential supporters to take part in 45-minute interviews to gauge donation potential.
Given the fundraising shortfall, a few of President Biden’s donors have recommended merging the longer term library with present Biden establishments on the University of Delaware. The college has raised no less than $22 million—together with $20 million from the Delaware state authorities—to assemble “Biden Hall.” While such a merger may permit the library challenge to share sources and cut back prices, each the college and the Biden basis declined to touch upon whether or not consolidation is being thought-about.
At current, the Biden library exists solely on the National Archives web site and as a company entity included in December 2024. It has not chosen a particular website in Delaware, although areas in Wilmington have been mentioned. The library’s said $200 million fundraising purpose stays far out of attain.
