• Foundations should do more to discuss their mistakes with their peers and the public, says Grant Oliphant, president of the Pittsburgh Foundation, in a video discussion from the Communications Network, a group of foundation communications officials.

• The list by Barron’s magazine of the 25 “best” philanthropists is well intentioned but “too cute by half,” writes Mitch Nauffts, editorial director for the Foundation Center, on the center’s blog.

• Social entrepreneurship is relatively new to East Asia, but in Hong Kong and other parts of China it is gaining momentum, writes Nora Gao, business development manager for the Social Venture Group, a philanthropy consulting company in Shanghai. Her views appear on the company’s blog.

• Seth Godin, the author and marketing expert, writes on his blog that you can’t trust fund raisers who aren’t willing to donate their own money ...

An effort to develop so-called microvolunteering has received a lot of positive press, but one charity consultant argues it should be “slated for extinction.”

The Extraordinaries, a company that is developing technology so busy people can help charities and local governments using their cell phones, has been featured by CNN, Time magazine, and The Chronicle.

While using an iPhone or similar device to help a nonprofit group has its limitations, Jacob Colker, one of the group’s three co-founders, told The Chronicle in its article that the collective effort can produce results.

“Even a few minutes of brainpower is helpful. Especially when you have tens of thousands of people doing it,” he said.

But David Henderson, chief executive of Idealistics, a consulting company that works with social-service groups, writes on his blog that such volunteering does little to help the world...

• Should the government register nonprofit groups like the U.S. Patent Office, which is testing a new way to approve patents by seeking public input through the Internet and so-called crowdsourcing? Lucy Bernholz, a foundation consultant, asks this question on her blog.

• While American environmental groups have chosen to promote the “bright side” of dealing with climate change, like creating so-called green jobs, charities in Europe and elsewhere have produced much darker, and potentially more successful, marketing, writes David A. Fahrenthold, a science writer for The Washington Post.

• While there are half a dozen or more efforts to bring computers and other information technology to poor parts of the world, their results have been mixed so far, writes Mark Beckford, a vice president at NComputing, a California company. His views appear on Next Billion, a blog about global...

The economy has forced many nonprofit groups to cut expenses, lay off employees, or dip into their reserves.

But it hasn’t stopped many from feeling thankful this week.

In fact, quite a few charities are using Thanksgiving as an occasion to offer thanks to their supporters, volunteers, and donors.

The Chronicle has started the hashtag #nonprofitthanks on Twitter to help draw attention to the Thanksgiving messages being shared this week by nonprofit groups.

We invite you to jump into the conversation that is unfolding on Twitter — and to post your Thanksgiving thoughts in the comments area below.

And while we’re at it, we’d like to give thanks to all of you who take the time to follow this blog, subscribe to the Chronicle, and who spread the word about what we’re doing. We couldn’t do this without you.

The billionaire Eli Broad has chosen seven people who he says are the “most powerful philanthropists” in the world.

His list is part of a Forbes magazine effort to find out who the most powerful people are in politics, Hollywood, finance, and in other categories.

Mr. Broad, who is an avid arts and education donor, picked Bill and Melinda Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Dell, Michael Bloomberg, Peter Peterson, David Rockefeller Sr., and Wallis Annenberg.

Perhaps as interesting as who he included is who he left out. Big-name donors like Ted Turner and George Soros failed to make the list. So did the technology moguls Pierre Omidyar and Jeff Skoll.

To be fair, Mr. Broad writes that he had trouble whittling his list down.

“I immediately came up with a list of more than 20 philanthropists who are notable in their passion and generosity,” he says. “But the seven I chose are...

Are students facing economic or social problems “at risk” or “at promise”?

A growing number of educators across the country are referring to such youth with the latter phrase, triggering a debate about how schools and nonprofit groups describe students, writes Jay Mathews, an education columnist for The Washington Post.

In a Post blog, Mr. Mathews says proponents of the change argue it will help instill a sense of potential and does not imply some kind of deficit in students. Others disagree.

Calling youth at promise “sugarcoats the larger issue: At-risk children are underserved children, and terming them anything else would take our eyes off the issues that plague them,” writes Lisa Feldner, a nonprofit communications consultant, in a letter to the editor.

On the other hand, Larry Bell, co-chair of the Reaching At-Promise Students Association, says the word change represents ...

• A robust and much-needed debate has erupted about how to solve global poverty with a flood of new books on the issue, writes Nicholas D. Kristof, a New York Times columnist. The discussion, he says, is one that will help define the future of America.

• With last week’s news that 49 million Americans lack consistent access to adequate food, Katherine Gustafson, a freelance writer, wonders if the growing problem demonstrates a lack of compassion by the country. Her views appear on the Change.org blog.

• The fund-raising consultants Robert I. Evans and Avrum D. Lapin ask on eJewish Philanthropy whether nonprofit groups have forgotten the power of a well-placed thank you.

• While applauding the work of Philanthropedia, an organization that connects people with giving experts, Richard Marker, a donor consultant, wonders on his blog how different the effort is from United...

Tim Ogden is challenging the thinking of two of the world’s most prominent donors — Bill and Melinda Gates.

As part of an effort to promote foreign aid, the Gateses describe themselves as “impatient optimists” — people who believe global-health programs have been successful but expect them to do more and be faster at eradicating diseases and such.

But Mr. Ogden, editor in chief of Philanthropy Action, says that if donors are too impatient, they run the risk of becoming cynical about what giving can achieve.

He recommends a “patient optimism” — “a view that combines the belief that change is possible with the belief that any significant transformation takes a great deal of time and effort.”

“Impatient optimists are like investors in subprime mortgages in 2007,” he writes. “They can be so blinded by the upside that they fail to do their due diligence. In the end, their...

• Gene Takagi a California nonprofit lawyer, asks whether nonprofit boards are prepared to handle the difficult financial decisions they face in the tough economy, on Nonprofit Law Blog.

• The public is debating the motives behind the Goldman Sachs Group’s $500-million philanthropic pledge, but its giving has helped charities in tough times, writes Charles Best, the founder of DonorsChoose.org, which has received support from Goldman. Mr. Best’s views appear on a New York Times blog that is debating the Goldman controversy.

• J.D. Lasica, a social-media consultant to nonprofit groups, explains why charities should emulate the group Bread for the World when they develop social-media policies for their employees on Socialbrite.

• Goldman Sachs Group’s $500-million philanthropic pledge will do little to quell public anger about the billions of dollars its employees are paid and its role in last year’s financial crisis, says Mark Gilbert, a columnist for Bloomberg News. Read The Chronicle’s article about the Goldman Sachs commitment.

• In response to a Wall Street Journal editorial, Luis Ubiñas, president of the Ford Foundation, defends his organization’s decision to support a charitable fund created by a teacher’s union, saying teachers are key to improving the nation’s public schools.

• There are too many international aid groups, which leads to confusion among donors and creates an inflated demand for aid workers that then forces charities to spend more on salaries than they should, says Olesya Dmitracova, a writer for Reuters AlertNet, as part of an article about how to improve of foreign aid.