About Global Philanthropy

GLOBAL PHILANTHROPY grew in the last 20 years as countries around the world got richer, but the worldwide economic crisis could upend what is still a fragile system.

AMERICAN GROUPS THAT WORK OVERSEAS have been hit hard by the recession, but so far donors have not diverted their gifts to domestic causes as they watch the effects of the downturn at home.

ASIAN FUND RAISERS are hearing the same advice for dealing with the recession that Americans are getting: Don't lose touch with donors.

IN AFRICA, the downturn could prompt more of the continent's residents to give, because international donors are cutting back.

CHARITIES IN LATIN AMERICA are feeling the drop in corporate donations especially, though in Mexico some donors and grant makers are attempting to take up the slack.

THE MIDDLE EAST has a long tradition of giving, prompted by the Islamic obligation of zakat, but the economy may hamper the region's increasing efforts to make its philanthropy more effective.

RESETTLING REFUGEES IN THE UNITED STATES has become particularly hard for the International Rescue Committee, and the group is hoping donors can be persuaded to give to its domestic programs.

About Giving

MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR PLEDGES from three donors, Sanford I. and Joan Weill and T. Denny Sanford, have been fulfilled ahead of schedule.

MOST LARGE GRANT MAKERS expect to reduce the number or size of the grants they award, and some anticipate doing both, says a newly released report from the Foundation Center.

THE OBAMAS gave 6.5 percent of their income to charity last year and the Bidens less than 1 percent, according to tax returns made public by the White House.

BILL GATES SR. shares thoughts about his second act — following a career as a lawyer, he has helped shepherd the world's largest foundation — in a new memoir, Showing Up for Life.

JEFF SKOLL, the first president of eBay and founder of the Skoll Foundation, has established a $100-million fund to confront "urgent threats" to global security and welfare.

THE FORD FOUNDATION is making structural changes to its grant making that will encourage more collaboration and efficiency on the part of its grantees.

THE FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: StandUp for Kids provides food, clothing, and a sympathetic ear to runaway youths.

EMERGENCY GRANTS made by grant makers for social-service needs: a sampling.

About Managing

LIKE THEIR FOR-PROFIT COUNTERPARTS, charity-run businesses are trying to figure out how to slow the loss of revenue caused by tight credit and a decline in consumer spending.

"GREEN BUSINESSES" are among the revenue-generating ventures that nonprofit leaders hope will outlast the recession.

DON'T PANIC, but plan for the worst: advice for charity leaders trying to start or maintain a business, from people who have been there.

RESTRICTIONS ON LOBBYISTS set out by the Obama administration have struck a nerve with nonprofit leaders, many of whom think the rules go too far.

THE FATE OF THE ESTATE TAX differs in bills passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives: the House measure would keep the tax as it now stands, while the Senate's would lower it (Tax Watch).

THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE is keeping a particularly watchful eye out for charitable abuses that tend to crop up in hard times (Tax Watch).

ONLY FOUR IN 10 CHARITIES that reported income in 2005 from businesses unrelated to their mission paid taxes on that revenue, according to statistics released by the Internal Revenue Service (Tax Watch).

DONATIONS OF TIME AND EXPERTISE from people with financial and other skills could help blunt the effects of the recession, but charities are not very adept at soliciting such gifts, a survey suggests.

About Fund Raising

DONATIONS fell a median 3.3 percent last year at big charities, according to a survey released by the software company Blackbaud.

JAZZ APPRECIATION MONTH is an eight-year-old Smithsonian program that has grown in popularity, but Bob Levey, a Chronicle columnist, fears what the recession could mean for its future ability to attract support.

UPDATE ON CAMPAIGNS for endowments, capital improvements, and other needs.

INTEREST RATES for planned gifts, issued by the Internal Revenue Service.

About Philanthropy Careers

DESPITE NUMEROUS LAYOFFS by charitable organizations this year, some 24,000 senior-level nonprofit positions are likely to come open in 2009, according to a report from the Bridgespan Group.

TO PREPARE UP-AND-COMING CHARITY LEADERS, American Express has opened the Nonprofit Leadership Academy, an example many in the nonprofit world wish other grant makers would follow.

A FORMER JUDGE and top official of the United Nations, Louise Arbour will make the leap to the nonprofit world as president of the International Crisis Group (New on the Job).

PEOPLE: Appointments and promotions in the nonprofit world.

DOROTHY CULLMAN, who with her husband, Lewis B. Cullman, gave more than $250-million to arts, educational, human-rights, and science organizations in New York, has died at 91 (Legacies).

Opinion

SEAN STANNARD-STOCKTON touts the "Googlization" of philanthropy.

LESLIE LENKOWSKY looks at a spate of new books questioning the effectiveness of international giving.

AARON DORFMAN defends the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy's report on foundations.

WILLIAM A. SCHAMBRA takes issue with the most negative response to the committee's report.

JAMES E. CANALES challenges foundations to take a hard look at the occupational hazards of their work — insularity, complacency, and arrogance.

PAT NICHOLS offers guidelines for managing a charity in uncertain times.