# Scaife Family Foundation

Scaife Family Foundation is a Foundation based in West Palm Beach, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Foundation
- **Headquarters:** West Palm Beach, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** West Palm Beach, FL, United States
- **Founded:** 1985
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** scaifefamily.org
- **LinkedIn:** linkedin.com/company/scaife-family-foundation

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Scaife Family Foundation was established in 1985 by Jennie K. Scaife and David Scaife, carrying forward a philanthropic legacy rooted in the immense wealth of the Mellon family. Their father, Richard Mellon Scaife, was a billionaire publisher and heir to the Mellon Bank, Gulf Oil, and Alcoa fortunes built across generations. Jennie Scaife served as president and chairperson until her death in 2018. The foundation now operates from West Palm Beach under the leadership of President and Chairman David Zywiec. Grants target three specific program areas: programs demonstrating beneficial interaction between humans and animals, early intervention and prevention in drug and alcohol addiction, and issues concerning women's and children's health and welfare. The foundation has disbursed over $180 million in cumulative donations to nonprofits, primarily concentrated in South Florida and Western Pennsylvania. Grantees are typically community-based direct-service organizations, reflecting a preference for local impact over institutional or academic giving. The foundation does not maintain public-facing investment staff profiles or publish returns. Its asset base is presumed to include a corporate stock portfolio held in West Palm Beach, alongside real estate holdings such as the office at 777 South Flagler Drive, and significant personal assets held by the principals — including the David Scaife car collection, which contains rare Ferraris including three of six existing Ferrari F50 GT prototypes. The foundation is a long-time donor and member of the Philanthropy Roundtable and a major sponsor of the Historical Society of Palm Beach County's 1916 Society. Where many private foundations build in-house investment operations or migrate toward institutional asset management, the Scaife Family Foundation operates as a lean grant-making entity — its structural differentiator is the absence of a visible investment arm. The foundation shares governance with sister entities including the DSF Charitable Foundation, the Jennie K. Scaife Charitable Foundation, and the Sarah Scaife Foundation, but each maintains independent programming. This network of Scaife-linked foundations, rooted in Mellon wealth and controlled by successive generations of the family, distributes capital without the intermediation of external investment managers.

## Sectors

- Health & Human Services
- Animal Welfare

## People

- David Zywiec — President and Chairman
- David Scaife — Principal
- Jennie K. Scaife — Co-founder and Former President (deceased 2018)

## Questions

### Where does the Scaife Family Foundation's wealth come from?

The foundation's endowment originates from the Mellon family fortune, one of America's great industrial and banking dynasties. The wealth was built through Mellon Bank, founded in 1869, alongside controlling stakes in Gulf Oil and Alcoa. Richard Mellon Scaife, a direct heir to that fortune, passed the wealth to his children Jennie and David Scaife, who then established the foundation.

### What does the Scaife Family Foundation actually fund?

Grants fall into three specific program areas: animal-assisted therapy and programs demonstrating beneficial human-animal interaction, early intervention and prevention in drug and alcohol addiction, and women's and children's health and welfare. The foundation prioritizes direct-service nonprofits in South Florida and Western Pennsylvania, though its charter permits nationwide giving.

### How is the Scaife Family Foundation different from the Sarah Scaife Foundation?

The Scaife Family Foundation and the Sarah Scaife Foundation are separate entities with distinct grant programs and governance. The Sarah Scaife Foundation, also Mellon-derived, focuses on public policy, higher education, and national security issues — a fundamentally different mission from the Scaife Family Foundation's focus on animal welfare, addiction, and women's health. Both are part of a broader network of Scaife-linked philanthropies controlled by different branches of the family.

## Related profiles

- [SB Capital Management](https://altss.com/profile/sb-capital-management)
- [Schlindwein Associates](https://altss.com/profile/schlindwein-associates)

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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