Goga Aptsiauri, a correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, is one of only a handful of journalists reporting from the town of Gori, in central Georgia, since it was seized by Russian forces a week ago.

Mr. Aptsiauri writes on his blog today that aid has just arrived from the U.N. World Food Programme. He says: “They’ve brought two huge KamAZ trucks full of aid to Gori. After consulting with the local administration, the decision was made to send those trucks to Bojuri valley, to the villages of Bobnevi and Bojuri, where most Gori residents sought refuge.”

Among other findings on his blog, which is updated several times a day:

— Russian troops have not pulled out, although the troop commander said they would depart soon. — International journalists have been allowed in and are speaking with Gori residents. — More people are returning. A local official estimates the...

Nonprofit leaders are hungry for knowledge, writes Michael Idinopulos on the blog Socialtext. Conferences offer an opportunity for charity leaders to learn from each other, but they are costly and often impractical to attend.

So why aren’t there more opportunities for nonprofit executives to meet each other online?

Mr. Idinopulos says that charity employees could participate in discussions, share documents, describe case studies, identify experts, and create groups for others who work on similar issues.

He says: “Think of it as a standing online industry conference for nonprofit executives. And you don’t even have to get on a plane.”

Foundations are the “natural hosts” for such forums, says Mr. Idinopulos. They could start by creating networks for their grantees. Winning support from a foundation, then, would mean more than an infusion of cash. It would also include an...

Advertising by companies offering services to wealthy donors is growing, Lucy Bernholz notes on her blog Philanthropy 2173.

She notes that The New York Times Magazine on Sunday came wrapped in a advertisement by U.S. Trust and Bank of America Private Wealth Management with the words: “You want to make a difference in the world. And we can make a difference in your ability to do so.”

Ad Week has an article on the “cover-wrap” advertisement, which is the first such ad for the Times magazine.

Last year, U.S. Trust created an advertising campaign emphasizing the changing demographics and interests of wealthy donors, says the article. The company has spent more than $30-million this year.

For Holly Lillis, raising money in her hometown of Sarasota, Fla., has some distinct advantages over fund raising in a big city. As she described in a post last month on the Future Leaders in Philanthropy blog, highlighted on Give and Take, the advantages include the accessibility of lawmakers and news-media organizations, and the approachability of strangers.

Now Ms. Lillis tackles how to overcome challenges of working as a development officer in a small city. Writing on the Future Leaders in Philanthropy blog, she says that collective memory is longer in smaller communities.

“This means that when your organization’s best-laid plans go awry, your population of prospective donors is not going to forget about it anytime soon,” writes Ms. Lillis.

To protect your organization from ruining its reputation, she advises reminding trustees that they’ are representatives of your charity...

Most blogs written by aid organizations aren’t all that interesting, writes Reuters AlertNet on its blog. They’re too formal, having been edited to death by the headquarters’ office. They’re often filled with jargon.

But on paper, at least, aid workers are the ideal blog writers. They’re working from exciting and sometimes dangerous places. They have stories to tell. So why the dearth of interesting blogs by aid groups?

Reuters AlertNet hosted an event in London recently to discuss those questions and to help aid organizations to avoid security risks and write compelling blogs. Visit this link to see a report and video highlights from the event.

What do you think? How can blogging help, or hurt, aid groups? What are some examples of good blogs? Are there security risks for aid organizations that blog?

There’s a lot of confusion among international aid workers about what constitutes corruption, according to a new study cited by Ruth Gidley on ReutersAlertnet.

The study by Transparency International, Tufts University, and the Overseas Development Institute, found that foreign employees with seven large aid groups saw corruption primarily as stealing money, not abusing power.

Many staff members surveyed didn’t consider demanding sexual favors or getting a friend a job corruption. Some, in fact, saw nepotism as a positive thing — ensuring that family members and friends they brought to the job would be honest.

The study also found that many charities abandon strict accounting practices in times of crises. One nonprofit group reported that it lost track of 39 of its 50 satellite phones in the midst of an emergency.

Many large charities fail to end a relationship with a...

If you purchase Barbara Ehrenreich’s book Nickel and Dimed through Amazon.com chances are the Web site will suggest you try reading other books on poverty in America, along with similar nonfiction works such as Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation.

Music sites such as Pandora work similarly, providing users with recommendations for new music based on artists they have chosen in the past.

Lucy Bernholz, writing on Philanthropy 2173, wonders whether philanthropy could benefit from such an online recommendation service. Ms. Bernholz says she knows of two organizations that are looking into developing such sites.

But how would such a service work? Ms. Bernholz contemplates the options — and whether such a site makes sense at all.

“Do you base such algorithms on where money goes (the Amazon approach)? Or would you, as Pandora does, attempt to deconstruct nonprofit organizations into...

Reuters AlertNet is inviting a debate on its blog about the implications for humanitarian workers of Colombia’s rescue this month of hostages held by the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

On Wednesday, Alvaro Uribe, the president of Colombia, apologized for misusing the International Committee of the Red Cross emblem, amid reports that a Colombian intelligence officer who took part in the rescue mission wore clothing with the charity’s logo.

Mr. Uribe admitted that in using the emblem, the government may have violated international law. The Geneva Conventions forbid military personnel from falsely portraying themselves as Red Cross workers, which could put humanitarian workers in war zones at risk.

“When aid workers bear their agencies’ logos on their caps and trucks, it’s not just about publicity – it’s also a badge to say they’re unarmed civilians who aren’...

The Future Leaders on Philanthropy blog is publishing a new series to give young people a clearer sense of what nonprofit jobs are like — so they can avoid learning too late that their supposed dream job isn’t all they’d expected.

In the first post of the series, Elizabeth Miller, a senior program associate at the Overbrook Foundation, describes one of the most time-consuming responsibilities of her job: preparing for and participating in meetings.

Her “crash course,” Meetings 101, discusses the types of meetings foundation employees can expect to attend. First, there are board meetings, which provide “a formal arena in which to discuss program priorities and interests, as well as governance issues,” she says.

Many foundations also hold committee meetings in addition to board gatherings. They may focus on programs, governance, planning, or other issues, says Ms. Miller. ...

Nonprofit boards waste too much time fantasizing about the ideal board member, writes Kelly Kleiman on her blog The Nonprofiteer.

“What’s the point of identifying a desired outcome (‘Someone wealthy, with lots of connections, who’s eager to do fund raising’) if there’s no way to accomplish the outcome?” she says.

Ms. Kleiman, a former lawyer and journalist, says that a board should instead identify people they know — not “hypothetical constructs” — who might be interested in supporting their charity. Next, they should determine how well those peoples’ skills stack up against a list of concrete tasks they need board members to accomplish.

Then, she says, “Go talk to those people!”

“Board recruitment is nothing more than stating the case for an institution you love to people who will be prepared to do the same thing,” writes Ms. Kleiman. “Let’s stop complicating it, and...