The Scaife Foundations refer collectively to three

foundations Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. The three subdivisions are: the Allegheny Foundation, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, and the Scaife Family Foundation. A fourth foundation, the Carthage Foundation, was folded into the Sarah Scaife Foundation in 2014.

Allegheny Foundation

Richard Mellon Scaife Richard Mellon Scaife (; July 3, 1932 – July 4, 2014) was an American billionaire, a principal heir to the Mellon banking, oil, and aluminum fortune, and the owner and publisher of the ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review''. In 2005, Scaife was n ...

endowed the foundation and served as its founding chairman. It "concentrates its giving in the Southwestern Pennsylvania area and confines most of its grant awards to programs for historic preservation, civic development and education." When Scaife died in 2014, he left assets worth $364 million to the Allegheny Foundation. In 2015, the Allegheny Foundation distributed over $25 million to 81 different organizations. The foundation's largest donations went to Point Park University for the Pittsburgh Playhouse and the Center for Media Innovation. The Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania, Saint Vincent College, the Extra Mile Education Foundation, Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania, and the Ligonier Valley YMCA all received gifts of $1 million or more.

Sarah Scaife Foundation

The Sarah Scaife Foundation does not award

grants Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama *Grant, Inyo County, C ...

to individuals. It concentrates its efforts towards

politically conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...

causes focused on

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

at a national and international level. From 1985 to 2003 the organization awarded over $235 million to other organizations. The organizations it has supported include the

George C. Marshall Institute The George C. Marshall Institute (GMI) was a nonprofit conservative think tank in the United States. It was established in 1984 with a focus on science and public policy issues and had an initial focus in defense policy. Starting in the late 198 ...

Project for the New American Century The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was a neoconservativeInstitute for Humane Studies The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) is a non-profit organization that promotes the teaching and research of classical liberalism in higher education in the United States. IHS offers funding opportunities, programs, and events for faculty and g ...

Reason Foundation The Reason Foundation is an American libertarian think tank that was founded in 1978. The foundation publishes the magazine ''Reason''. Based in Los Angeles, California, it is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization. According to its web site, the f ...

, and

Judicial Watch Judicial Watch (JW) is an American conservative activist group that files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits to investigate claimed misconduct by government officials. Founded in 1994, JW has primarily targeted Democrats, in particula ...

. Prior to its 2014 merger, like the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Carthage Foundation did not award

to individuals. It concentrated its efforts towards causes focused on

at a national and international level. From 1985 to 2003 the organization awarded over $68 million to other organizations.

Scaife Family Foundation

The Scaife Family Foundation has funded conservative causes.Isaac Stanley-Becker & Craig Timberg
Trump's allies turned to online campaign in quest to unmask Ukraine whistleblower
''Washington Post'' (November 7, 2019).Howard Kurtz
Reason's Altered Rationale
''Washington Post'' (November 5, 2001). The Scaife Family Foundation has financially backed ''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

'' magazine and the

RealClearInvestigations RealClearPolitics (RCP) is an American political news website and polling data aggregator formed in 2000 by former options trader John McIntyre and former advertising agency account executive Tom Bevan. The site features selected political new ...

website. It was among the largest contributors to the

climate change denial Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, or th ...

movement from 2003 to 2010. The Scaife Family Foundation is controlled by Richard Mellon Scaife's daughter Jennie; who, according to 2014 article in ''

Inside Philanthropy ''Inside Philanthropy'' is a news website about large philanthropic foundations and wealthy donors, created by David Callahan David Callahan (born 1964/1965) is an American writer and editor. He is the founder and editor of ''Inside Philan ...

'', shifted over time from funding conservative groups to becoming "almost exclusively a supporter of animal welfare and other humanitarian issues." The family foundation has donated significant sums to the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

.Ade Adeniji
A Look at the Sarah Scaife Foundation's Higher Ed Grantmaking
''Inside Philanthropy'' (April 21, 2015).

References

External links

Scaife Foundations website

Allengheny Foundation grant recipients from 1985-2006

Carthage Foundation grant recipients from 1985-2003

Sarah Scaife Foundation grant recipients from 1985-2003

Scaife Family Foundation grant recipients from 1985-2001
{{Authority control Political organizations based in the United States Foundations based in the United States New Right (United States) New Right organizations (United States)