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The Heritage Foundation (Opinion)

U.S. right (conservative)

Owned byIndependent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization governed by a board of trustees; no single corporate or individual owner
FundingDonations from conservative foundations and wealthy individuals, including the Koch-affiliated network, Scaife family foundations (Sarah Scaife Foundation, Allegheny Foundation), and a membership base of over 500,000 contributors
On the administrationbroadly supportive

Background

The Heritage Foundation was founded in 1973 by Congressional staffers Edwin Feulner and Paul Weyrich, with seed money from beer magnate Joseph Coors and financier Richard Mellon Scaife. It grew rapidly through the late 1970s as a supplier of ready-made conservative policy proposals to Republican lawmakers and presidential campaigns. Heritage became especially influential during the Reagan administration, when it published its landmark 'Mandate for Leadership' blueprint—a document Reagan distributed to his Cabinet—and claims credit for shaping policies from missile defense to welfare reform. Through the 1990s and 2000s it expanded its donor base, drawing heavily from the Koch network and Scaife family foundations, and built one of the largest memberships of any U.S. think tank. In 2023–2024, Heritage led the production of 'Project 2025,' a comprehensive 900-page governing manual designed to restructure the federal executive branch along hard-right lines, coordinating nearly 100 conservative organizations in its preparation. After Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election, Heritage publicly reported that the administration had implemented more than 53 percent of Project 2025's proposals by mid-2025 and issued a follow-on 2026 agenda. The organization describes itself as nonpartisan but has functioned in practice as a leading institutional advocate for Republican and specifically Trump-aligned conservative governance.

Sources

  1. Heritage Foundation | History, Reagan Administration, Project 2025 | Britannica
  2. Heritage Foundation – Ballotpedia
  3. Heritage Foundation – Media Bias/Fact Check
  4. Heritage Foundation Brags That Trump Has Implemented More Than Half of Project 2025 | Common Dreams
  5. 6 Billionaire Fortunes Bankrolling Project 2025 | DeSmog
  6. Heritage Foundation 2025–2026 Priorities: Read in Full | Newsweek
  7. Heritage Foundation – SourceWatch

Profile compiled 2026-08-01; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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