Google.org, the charitable arm of the technology company, is trying to help track the spread of swine flu in Mexico.

Using a program that tracks Google searches for flu-related topics, the group is providing an “experimental” snapshot of how swine flu is spreading in Mexico, say Jeremy Ginsberg and Matt Mohebbi, software engineers at the Mountain View, Calif., company.

“While we would prefer to validate this data and improve its accuracy, we decided to release an early version today so that it might help public-health officials and concerned individuals get an up-to-date picture of the ongoing swine flu outbreak,” they write on Google.org’s blog.

While cases of the new flu are relatively low in the United States, the engineers say they are keeping an eye on flu-related Internet searches for any “spike in activity.”

What are other charitable groups doing in response to swine...

As the recession and the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard Madoff force donors to Jewish causes to cut back their giving, they should support small, innovative charities that have been established in recent years, argue two grant makers.

On The Fundermentalist blog, Felicia Herman, executive director of the Natan Fund, in New York, and Dana Raucher, executive director of the Samuel Bronfman Foundation, in New York, write, “We’ve been hearing calls for greater consolidation and a return to the more centralized infrastructure of yesteryear. Drawing upon our experience in two foundations that have prioritized innovation in their grant making, we respectfully disagree with this view.”

A recent editorial in The Jerusalem Post, for example, called on Jewish donors to give priority to supporting efforts that help many people and suggested that the number of Jewish charities needed to be...

As the economic recession continues, a growing number of nonprofit and business leaders say that microfinance efforts will thrive during the downturn.

Microfinance, which includes providing small loans to poor people and other financial services, “has proved not only that the poor are credit-worthy, but that banking institutions serving the poor are investment-worthy,” writes Michael Chu, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, in an opinion article in Forbes magazine.

Mr. Chu, who is also the former chief executive of Accion International, a nonprofit microfinance organization, says he is also optimistic about microfinance’s potential to fight global poverty because it “is tapping into a technological revolution that enables areas with deficient land-phone service to leapfrog ahead to cellphones and broadband. And, as this takes place, both philanthropy and capital markets...

It’s time to play guess the mystery donor!

Nine universities have received a collective $45-million in recent weeks from an anonymous philanthropist or philanthropists who stipulated that the recipients not investigate the source of the funds. Purdue University received the largest gift, $8-million, while the smallest contribution, $1.5-million, went to the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

On The Wealth Report, a Wall Street Journal blog, Robert Frank, a senior writer at the newspaper, parses the clues to decipher the identify of this shadowy giver.

“The fact that the schools are mostly in the South suggests southern roots, so we likely can rule out most of the New York financial crowd and Silicon Valley chiefs,” he writes. “The fact that the identity is so closely guarded suggests a person or group that by nature avoids publicity, so we can cross out most of the...

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Dubai Cares, a charity in the United Arab Emirates, have agreed to work together to improve children’s health and education in developing nations.

A press statement on the Gates foundation Web site said the software mogul Bill Gates and Reem Al Hashimy, chairman of Dubai Cares, signed a “memorandum of cooperation” in Dubai on Sunday.

“The agreement represents a commitment by Dubai Cares and the Gates foundation to collaborate and co-fund programs that advance their distinct but related missions,” the statement said.

It did not say what specific projects they would support together or how much they would spend on such efforts.

Dubai Cares was started in 2007 by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, and helps children gain access to primary education in 20 countries in the ...

A new effort by the philanthropist Jeff Skoll to fight “urgent threats” drew praise this week.

Mr. Skoll, who was the first president of eBay, is dedicating $100-million to curb climate change, global pandemics, conflict in the Middle East, and other problems.

Jane Wales, co-founder of the Global Philanthropy Forum, in an online discussion with The Chronicle said Mr. Skoll combines “foresight” with “courage” and is one of the few philanthropists to support efforts to stop wars.

“Others now have a sense of urgency when it comes to poverty alleviation, climate-change mitigation, or addressing threats to public health. But only some have stepped forward when it comes to prevention of violent conflict. He is among them,” she said.

Nathaniel Whittemore, director of the Center for Global Engagement at Northwestern University, also likes the new Skoll project.

“The devil will be...

As Jewish charities face a financial crisis brought on by the economic downturn and the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard Madoff, donors to Jewish causes need to work together and prioritize their giving on efforts that help many people, says an editorial in The Jerusalem Post.

“When times are good, no one begrudges an affluent person their philanthropic dalliances,” says the article. “But these are not ordinary times. And the needs of the many deserve priority.”

The article also suggests that charities that assist Jews need to be winnowed.

“The trouble is that the community has grown so hyper-pluralist that coherence doesn’t come easy. There are too many organizations and there is too much competition for resources. No organization dares admit that it’s superfluous,” it says. “Rich people, along with just plain folk, can always be convinced to part with their money —...

Larry Brilliant, the “chief philanthropic evangelist” for Google.org, has announced he is leaving the technology company to lead a new organization formed by philanthropist Jeff Skoll.

On Google.org’s blog, Dr. Brilliant writes that he will work with Mr. Skoll, the former president of eBay, to operate the Skoll Urgent Threats Fund, a grant-making and advocacy organization that will combat climate change, the scarcity of clean water, global diseases, nuclear proliferation, and Middle East conflict.

“This new organization is designed to make serious headway on these issues by identifying and supporting the most innovative initiatives and solutions out there,” Mr. Skoll said in a press release.

Dr. Brilliant will also serve as an adviser to Mr. Skoll’s film-making and investment efforts, which seek to support social causes. He has served on the board of directors of the Skoll...

On the Tactical Philanthropy blog, several nonprofit experts are discussing the work of the Center for Effective Philanthropy and how to define good grant making.

Sean Stannard-Stockton, author of the Tactical Philanthropy blog and a columnist for The Chronicle, writes that the center, which is a nonprofit research group that studies foundation efforts, has set out three primary rules for quality philanthropy: “clear goals; coherent, well-implemented strategies; and relevant performance indicators.”

In response, several people said that the rules are good, if obvious, but aren’t sufficient to lead to effective philanthropy alone.

On his Uncivil Society blog, Jeff Trexler, a professor of social entrepreneurship at Pace University, writes that the rules “fall short of addressing the relation between part and whole. On one level, they tend to frame a social issue in such a way as...

Last year 260 aid workers for international charities and the United Nations were either killed, kidnapped, or injured in violent attacks, making it the most dangerous year for humanitarian efforts since 1987, when such incidents started to be tracked.

According to a new report by the Overseas Development Institute, in London, and the Center for International Cooperation, in New York, attacks on aid workers, especially kidnappings, have increased sharply since 2006. The three most dangerous countries were Somalia, Afghanistan, and Sudan, which accounted for 60 percent of the reported assaults.

By comparison, 206 charity and U.N. employees were victims of violent attacks in 2007.

Some observers have said the rise in attacks is in part due to the increasing number of humanitarian workers worldwide. But the report said the growing “humanitarian footprint” does not explain the rise...