There are several groups of friends and colleagues around the world who have taken initiatives to keep Sander's journalistic fire burning.

- Financial Times Sander Thoenes Prize: Every year between 2001 and 2011, a winner of this award was offered a stimulating internship at the Financial Times headquarters.

- Sander R. Thoenes Memorial Scholarship Fund that makes a regular award to Hampshire College students engaged in a Division III project.

- Sander Thoenes Memorial Fund which has financed East Timorese students to study journalism at the University of Queensland in Australia.