Allegheny Foundation

From SourceWatch
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The Allegheny 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 Sarah Scaife Foundation has a national and international focus, the Allegheny Foundation "concentrates its giving in the Western Pennsylvania area and confines most of its grant awards to programs for historic preservation, civil development and education," according to its 2014 Annual Report.[1] Nonetheless Allegheny emphasizes programs with a libertarian or right-leaning outlook, foundation chair Matthew Groll told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.[2]

"While [Richard] Scaife funded many traditional charities, such as art museums and theater, 'he was squarely in the 'equal opportunity' camp, not the 'equal outcome' camp,' Groll said. 'So we try to identify and fund programs that encourage individual responsibility and self-reliance.'"[2]

After the death of Richard Scaife in 2014, a significant portion of his assets were given to the foundations, increasing their value substantially.[3]

History

The Allegheny Foundation is one of three foundations founded by the late billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife, an heir of the Mellon industrial and banking fortune. (The other two, the Sarah Scaife Foundation and the Carthage Foundation, merged in 2014.)

Scaife died in 2014, leaving an estimated $1.4 billion in assets that were split between the Allegheny and Sarah Scaife Foundations.[3] Allegheny's share increased the foundation's size by nearly six times. Under federal rules mandating that foundations give away at least 5 percent of their assets each year, Allegheny's giving was set to increase to at least $20 million annually.[2]

Core Financials

2019[4]

  • Total Revenue: $24,672,019
  • Total Expenses: $18,238,520
  • Net Assets: $363,933,675

2018[5]

  • Total Revenue: $11,185,736
  • Total Expenses: $52,803,420
  • Net Assets: $327,602,675

2017[6]

  • Total Revenue: $17,007,642
  • Total Expenses: $19,843,368
  • Net Assets: $329,220,359

2016[7]

  • Total Revenue: $9,987,113
  • Total Expenses: $21,055,001
  • Net Assets: $372,056,085

2015[8]

  • Total Revenue: $10,964,957
  • Total Expenses: $26,828,558
  • Net Assets: $383,123,973

Finances and Grants Issued

2014

Allegheny's total assets had a market value of $74,770,291 as of December 31, 2014.[1]

Grants reported (amount paid, unless otherwise noted):

  • Allegheny Institute for Public Policy: $125,000
  • America's Survival, Inc.: $100,000
  • American Chestnut Foundation: $50,000
  • American Legislative Exchange Council: $50,000
  • B&O Railroad Museum: $10,000
  • Boy Scouts of America, Westmoreland-Fayette Council
  • Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art: $110,000
  • Carnegie Free Library of Connellsville: $25,000
  • Carnegie Library of Homestead: $50,000
  • Career Connections Charter High School: $10,000 (grant approved but not paid)
  • Center for Strategic and International Studies: $100,000
  • Central Catholic High School: $100,000
  • David Horowitz Freedom Center: $100,000
  • Duquesne University, Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law: $60,000
  • Epiphany Catholic Church: $125,000
  • Extra Mile Education Foundation Inc.: $113,500
  • Family Guidance, Inc.: $25,000
  • Fayette County Community Action Agency, Inc.: $50,000
  • Foundation for Free Enterprise Education: $25,000
  • Garden Club of McKeesport: $10,000
  • Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania: $100,000
  • Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank: $200,000
  • Grove City College: $150,000
  • Guiding Eyes for the Blind: $25,000
  • Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Inc.: $70,000
  • Light of Life Ministries, Inc.: $50,000
  • Ligonier Valley Historical Society: $25,000
  • Ligonier Valley School District: $30,000 ($80,000 approved)
  • Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc.: $65,000
  • Loyalhanna Watershed Association: $50,000
  • Manchester Bidwell Corporation: $250,000
  • McKeesport Regional History: $10,000
  • Mon Yough Community Services: $200,000
  • National Center for Arts and Technology: $150,000
  • Pennsylvania Right to Work Defense and Education Foundation, Inc.: $25,000
  • Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, Inc.: $100,000 ($270,000 approved)
  • Philanthropy Roundtable: $15,000
  • Pittsburgh Botanic Garden: $50,000 ($150,000 approved)
  • Pittsburgh Opera, Inc.: $50,000
  • Pittsburgh Public Theater: $40,000
  • Railroaders Memorial Museum, Inc.: $25,000
  • Reading is FUNdamental Pittsburgh: $10,000
  • River City Brass Band: $60,000
  • The Salvation Army: $50,000
  • Union Mission of Latrobe, Inc.: $15,000
  • Virginia Museum of Transportation: $75,000
  • Westmoreland County Food Bank, Inc.: $100,000
  • Westmoreland Museum of American Art: $110,000
  • Young America's Foundation: $100,000
  • Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh: $300,000

Personnel

As of 2016:

  • Matthew Groll, Chair[2]
  • Lisa R. Orlando, Secretary[1]

Contact

Address:
Allegheny Foundation
One Oxford Centre
301 Grant Street, Suite 3900
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219-6401
Website: www.scaife.com/alleghen.html
Phone: (412) 392-2900

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Allegheny Foundation, "2014 Annual Report," organization report, FY 2014, accessed July 2016.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Mike Wereschagin, "Scaife bestows 'game-changing' legacy of giving to region, nation," Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, May 2, 2015.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Rich Lord, "[http://www.post-gazette.com/local/2014/10/25/Scaife-related-foundations-poised-to-take-bigger-stage/stories/201410250058 Scaife-related foundations poised to take bigger stage]," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 25, 2014.
  4. Allegheny Foundation, 2019 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 10, 2020.
  5. Allegheny Foundation, 2018 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 5, 2019.
  6. Allegheny Foundation, 2017 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, June 28, 2018.
  7. Allegheny Foundation, 2016 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, October 19, 2017.
  8. Allegheny Foundation, 2015 IRS Form 990, organizational tax filing, November 7, 2016.