The Scaife Family Foundation was created by Jennie Scaife and David Scaife, the children of Richard Mellon Scaife, who was the grandnephew of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Mellon. Though it had previously supported right-leaning policy organizations, the foundation now mostly supports animal welfare, family preservation, and addiction-recovery programs.

Pittsburgh Origins

The Scaife Family Foundation was created by Jennie Scaife and David Scaife, the children of Richard Mellon Scaife, who was the grandnephew of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Mellon. In the 20th century, the foundation was located in the same office as other Scaife-funded foundations. In 1994, the Scaife Family Foundation donated $140,000 to the Carnegie Museum of Art to renovate the Sarah Scaife Gallery, originally funded by the Sarah Scaife Foundation. The renovation included repainting the walls, adding more labels, and reducing the number of rooms in the gallery. ¹

In collaboration with the Donahue Family Foundation and the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association, the Scaife Family Foundation launched a $75,000 private scholarship program that awarded grants of up to $1,000 to low-income families whose children attended private schools. ²

In 2000, the Scaife Family Foundation, collaborating with the Scaife Charitable Foundation, donated $10.8 million to the University of Pittsburgh for a center designed to fund research and treatment for neurodegenerative diseases. ³

Move to Florida and Non-Political Giving

In 2000, Jennie Scaife took over control of the Scaife Family Foundation from her brother, David Scaife. In 2003, the foundation moved to Palm Beach, Florida, where Jennie Scaife lived. The Palm Beach Post noted that the Scaife Family Foundation had given $75,000 to the Heritage Foundation in 1998, $140,000 to the American Enterprise Institute in 1999, $75,000 to the Center for Immigration Studies in 2002, and $100,000 to the Landmark Legal Foundation in 1996 to defend a Wisconsin school-choice program. ⁴

Jennie Scaife told the Palm Beach Post that the Scaife Family Foundation had donated $800,000 for a “no-kill” animal shelter and had donated to two other Palm Beach-based animal welfare organizations. The Post said that Jennie Scaife “scoffs at the suggestion that she’s a point-person for a national conservative movement, or even her father’s agenda” and that grants to center-right organizations in the past “were made by a board of trustees who are no longer with her foundation.” ⁵

Later Grant Making

Jennie Scaife died in 2018. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted in an obituary that the Scaife Family Foundation “has, in recent years, placed on emphasis on animal-related charities, and “among its biggest grantees in 2016” were the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation, Puppies Behind Bars, and the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania.” ⁶

In 2019, the Scaife Family Foundation’s three largest grants were to the Crime Victims Treatment Center ($1.5 million), Hazelden Betty Ford Center ($305,000), and Puppies Behind Bars ($250,000). The foundation gave one grant to a center-right public policy organization, contributing $35,000 to the Philanthropy Roundtable. ⁷

1. Donald Miller. “Scaife Galleries Get A New Layout And A New Look.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 25, 1994.
2. “Fund Formed To Help Offset Private School Tuition.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 23, 1996.
3. Bill Schackner. “Two Scaife Foundations Give Pitt $10.8 Million.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 2, 2002. https://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20000802scaife2.asp
4. Marc Caputo. “Foundation’s Move To Palm Beach Rings Alarm.” Palm Beach Post. June 9, 2003.
5. Marc Caputo. “Foundation’s Move To Palm Beach Rings Alarm.” Palm Beach Post. June 9, 2003.
6. Rich Lord and Andrew Goldstein. “Jennie K. Scaife: Philanthropist, Daughter of Late Billionaire Newspaper Publisher.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 1, 2018. https://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2018/11/30/Jennie-Richard-Mellon-Scaife-dies-Palm-Beach/stories/201811300442
7. Scaife Family Foundation. Return of a Private Foundation (Form 990PF). 2019.