Sarah Scaife Foundation

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The Sarah Scaife Foundation is one of the Scaife Foundations overseen by the late right-wing billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, whose wealth was inherited from the Mellon industrial, oil, aluminum and banking fortune. The foundations give tens of millions of dollars annually to fund right-wing organizations such as the American Legislative Exchange Council, the American Enterprise Institute, and the Heritage Foundation, and anti-immigrant and Islamophobic organizations such as the Center for Immigration Studies and the David Horowitz Freedom Center.

While the Allegheny Foundation focuses its giving in the western Pennsylvania region, the Sarah Scaife Foundation has a national and international focus. The Sarah Scaife and Carthage Foundations merged aat the end of 2014.[1]

After the death of Richard Scaife in 2014, a significant portion of his assets were given to the foundations, increasing their value substantially. Together with the Carthage merger, the bequest made the Sarah Scaife Foundation one of the largest foundations focused on supporting right-wing causes with assets expected to grow to grow to some $800 million in 2015.[2]

Ties to the Council for National Policy

The Sarah Scaife Foundation has provided funding to the Council for National Policy.

Council for National Policy

The Council for National Policy (CNP) is a secretive, Christian Right organization of funders and activists founded in 1981 by activist Morton Blackwell, commentator Paul Weyrich, direct-mail pioneer Richard Viguerie, right-wing activist Phyllis Schlafly and Left Behind author Tim LaHaye. Anne Nelson's book about CNP, Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right, describes how the organization connects "the manpower and media of the Christian right with the finances of Western plutocrats and the strategy of right-wing Republican political operatives.”

CNP membership as of September 2020 is available here.

Grants Issued

2022

Grants reported (amount paid, unless otherwise noted):

2021

Grants reported (amount paid, unless otherwise noted):[3]

2020

Grants reported (amount paid, unless otherwise noted):[4]

2019

Grants reported (amount paid, unless otherwise noted):[5]


2018

Grants reported (amount paid, unless otherwise noted):[6]

2017

Grants reported (amount paid, unless otherwise noted):[7]

2016

Grants reported according to the Sarah Scaife Foundation's annual report (amount paid, unless otherwise noted):[8]

2015

Grants reported (amount paid, unless otherwise noted):[9]

2014

Grants reported (amount paid, unless otherwise noted):[10]

2013

Grants reported (amount paid, unless otherwise noted):[11]

2012

Grants reported (amount paid, unless otherwise noted):[12]

History

According to Jane Mayer, "[Richard] Scaife's parents created the largest of the family's tax-exempt, charitable foundations, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, in December 1941, days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It appears to have been timed to shelter the family's wealth from anticipated tax increases."[13]

Scaife Became Chair, Commenced Right-Wing Funding

During the 1960s, Richard Mellon Scaife inherited an estimated $200 million from his mother, Sarah.[citation needed] The Foundation commenced funding "New Right" causes in 1973 when Richard became the foundation's chairman. His net personal worth was estimated at $800 million by Forbes magazine, which made Richard the 38th richest person in the United States.

Major Grants from 1985-2001

Between 1985 and 2001, the Sarah Scaife Foundation donated $15,860,000 to the Heritage Foundation; $7,333,000 to the Institute for Policy Analysis; $6,995,500 to the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace; $6,693,000 to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); $4,411,000 to the American Enterprise Institute; $2,575,000 to the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research; $1,855,000 to the George C. Marshall Institute; $1,808,000 to the Hudson Institute; and $1,697,000 to the Cato Institute.[14]

Core Financials

2022[15]

  • Total Revenue: $22,349,073
  • Total Expenses: $50,322,247
  • Net Assets: $617,875,069

2021[3]

  • Total Revenue: $79,121,296
  • Total Expenses: $50,116,578
  • Net Assets: $645,014,499

2020[4]

  • Total Revenue: $68,141,148
  • Total Expenses: $43,048,268
  • Net Assets: $956,389,603

2019[5]

  • Total Revenue: $32,194,257
  • Total Expenses: $41,725,079
  • Net Assets: $870,946,716

2018[6]

  • Total Revenue: $50,088,494
  • Total Expenses: $42,967,581
  • Net Assets: $738,532,141

2017[7]

  • Total Revenue: $50,901,295
  • Total Expenses: $36,585,519
  • Net Assets: $828,070520

2016

  • Total Revenue: $31,285,573
  • Total Expenses: $31,630,824
  • Net Assets: $746,257,928

2015[9]

  • Total Revenue: $40,905,078
  • Total Expenses: $20,981,796
  • Net Assets: $708,658,233

2014[10]

  • Total Revenue: $376,357,999
  • Total Expenses: $14,818,356
  • Net Assets: $705,137,867

Personnel

According to the 2022 tax filing:

Staff

  • Michael A. Gleba, Chairman/CEO/Treasurer/Trustee
  • Montgomery B. Brown, Vice President
  • Linda M. Buckley, Secretary and Assistant Treasurer

Former Staff

  • Yvonne Marie Bly, Secretary and Assistant Treasurer

Board of Trustees

  • Michael A. Gleba, Chairman/CEO/Treasurer/Trustee
  • T. Kenneth Cribb, Jr, Trustee
  • Edwin J. Feulner, Jr, Trustee
  • Roger Kimball, Trustee
  • Eugene B. Meyer, Trustee
  • Roger W. Robinson, Jr, Trustee
  • James C. Roddey, Trustee
  • Christine J. Toretti, Trustee
  • Matthew A. Groll, Trustee

Former Trustees

  • Allan H. Meltzer, Former Trustee
  • Richard M. Scaife, Chair (through July 4, 2014)
  • James M. Walton, Trustee

Contact Information

Sarah Scaife Foundation
One Oxford Centre
301 Grant Street, Suite 3900
Pittsburgh, PA 15219-6402
Phone: (412) 392-2900
Website: www.scaife.com

Articles and Resources

IRS Form 990 Filings

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

Articles

References

  1. Mike Wereschagin, "Scaife bestows 'game-changing' legacy of giving to region, nation," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, May 2, 2015.
  2. Rich Lord, "Scaife-related foundations poised to take bigger stage," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 25, 2014.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Sarah Scaife Foundation, "2021 IRS 990-PF Form," organization tax filing, November 5, 2022.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Sarah Scaife Foundation, "2020 IRS 990-PF Form," organization tax filing, 2021.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Sarah Scaife Foundation, "2019 IRS 990-PF Form," organization tax filing, November 10, 2020.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Sarah Scaife Foundation, "2018 IRS 990-PF Form," organization tax filing, October 18, 2019.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Sarah Scaife Foundation, "2017 IRS 990-PF Form," organization tax filing, September 18, 2018.
  8. Sarah Scaife Foundation, "2016 Annual Report," organization tax filing, November 6, 2017.
  9. 9.0 9.1 Sarah Scaife Foundation, "2015 IRS 990-PF Form," organization tax filing, November 11, 2016.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Sarah Scaife Foundation, "2014 Annual Report," organization tax filing, November 11, 2015.
  11. Sarah Scaife Foundation, "2013 Annual Report," organization tax filing, July 16, 2014.
  12. Sarah Scaife Foundation, "2012 Annual Report," organization tax filing, July 25, 2013.
  13. Jane Mayer, Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, Penguin Random House, 2016.
  14. Media Transparency, "Sarah Scaife Foundation grant recipients (1985-2005)," database accessed October 21, 2011.
  15. Sarah Scaife Foundation, "2022 IRS 990-PF Form," organization tax filing, November, 2023.