Sarah Scaife Foundation

The Sarah Scaife Foundation is the largest of a trio of foundations controlled by the late Richard Mellon Scaife, an heir to the fortune of his great uncle, Andrew Mellon. Set up by Richard’s mother, Sarah, the Scaife family’s foundations were relatively apolitical until Sarah’s death in 1965 when Richard assumed greater control of the family fortune and was able to direct his wealth toward the growth of a conservative infrastructure. By 1976, over half of the Scaife foundations’ grant money went to conservative organizations and causes. Scaife was credited with helping to “fund the creation of the modern conservative movement in America” through his foundations and personal wealth. Scaife died in July 2014 at the age of 82.

Notable Facts:

  • In the 1990s, Richard Mellon Scaife, chairman of the Sarah Scaife Foundation, funded numerous projects in an effort to taint the public images of Bill and Hillary Clinton, leading Hillary to call Scaife the man behind the “vast right wing conspiracy.”
  • The Sarah Scaife Foundation, along with other foundations controlled by the Scaife family, has funded several anti-immigrant groups, including ProEnglish, NumbersUSA and the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
  • Richard Mellon Scaife is vice chairman of the Heritage Foundation, a minority owner of the conservative publication Newsmax, and owner and publisher of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

2,699 transactions on record as a donor.

Ordered By: Year (Newer to Older)

#
Donor
Recipient
Amount
Year
Link
1Sarah Scaife FoundationActon Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty$40,0002012+
2Sarah Scaife FoundationAllegheny Institute for Public Policy$115,0002012+
3Sarah Scaife FoundationAmerican Bar Association$230,0002012+
4Sarah Scaife FoundationAmerican Civil Rights Institute$75,0002012+
5Sarah Scaife FoundationAmerican Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research$175,0002012+
6Sarah Scaife FoundationAmerican Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research$400,0002012+
7Sarah Scaife FoundationAmerican Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research$25,0002012+
8Sarah Scaife FoundationAmerican Foreign Policy Council$125,0002012+
9Sarah Scaife FoundationAmerica's Future Foundation$40,0002012+
10Sarah Scaife FoundationAtlantic Legal Foundation$75,0002012+
11Sarah Scaife FoundationAtlas Economic Research Foundation$150,0002012+
12Sarah Scaife FoundationCalifornia University of Pennsylvania$100,0002012+
13Sarah Scaife FoundationCapital Research Center$200,0002012+
14Sarah Scaife FoundationCarnegie Mellon University$125,0002012+
15Sarah Scaife FoundationCarnegie Mellon University$62,5002012+
16Sarah Scaife FoundationCarnegie Mellon University$75,0002012+
17Sarah Scaife FoundationCato Institute$40,0002012+
18Sarah Scaife FoundationCenter for Equal Opportunity$50,0002012+
19Sarah Scaife FoundationCenter for Immigration Studies$125,0002012+
20Sarah Scaife FoundationCenter for Media and Public Affairs$75,0002012+
21Sarah Scaife FoundationCenter for Security Policy$175,0002012+
22Sarah Scaife FoundationCenter for Strategic and International Studies$375,0002012+
23Sarah Scaife FoundationCenter for the Study of the Presidency and Congress$75,0002012+
24Sarah Scaife FoundationCitizens' Council for Health Freedom$150,0002012+
25Sarah Scaife FoundationCollegiate Network$240,0002012+
26Sarah Scaife FoundationCommittee for a Constructive Tomorrow$160,0002012+
27Sarah Scaife FoundationCommonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives$150,0002012+
28Sarah Scaife FoundationCompetitive Enterprise Institute$150,0002012+
29Sarah Scaife FoundationCompetitive Enterprise Institute$150,0002012+
30Sarah Scaife FoundationCounterterrorism & Security Education and Research Foundation$125,0002012+
31Sarah Scaife FoundationDavid Horowitz Freedom Center$225,0002012+
32Sarah Scaife FoundationDefense Forum Foundation$50,0002012+
33Sarah Scaife FoundationEthics and Public Policy Center$125,0002012+
34Sarah Scaife FoundationFederation for American Immigration Reform$125,0002012+
35Sarah Scaife FoundationFoundation for Cultural Review$200,0002012+
36Sarah Scaife FoundationFoundation for Cultural Review$32,5002012+
37Sarah Scaife FoundationFoundation for Individual Rights in Education$100,0002012+
38Sarah Scaife FoundationFree Congress Research and Education Foundation$50,0002012+
39Sarah Scaife FoundationFreedomWorks Foundation$62,5002012+
40Sarah Scaife FoundationGalen Institute$35,0002012+
41Sarah Scaife FoundationGeorge C. Marshall Institute$230,0002012+
42Sarah Scaife FoundationGeorge Mason University$100,0002012+
43Sarah Scaife FoundationGeorge Mason University$150,0002012+
44Sarah Scaife FoundationHoover Institution on War Revolution and Peace$350,0002012+
45Sarah Scaife FoundationHoover Institution on War Revolution and Peace$59,0002012+
46Sarah Scaife FoundationHudson Institute$50,0002012+
47Sarah Scaife FoundationHudson Institute$100,0002012+
48Sarah Scaife FoundationHudson Institute$100,0002012+
49Sarah Scaife FoundationHuman Rights Foundation$75,0002012+
50Sarah Scaife FoundationInstitute For Foreign Policy Analysis$160,0002012+
Contributions from private foundations and other nonprofit entities are based on a review of publicly available Forms 990 filed with the Internal Revenue Service. For more information about our methodology, visit our about page.