The Chronicle of Philanthropy this week released its annual survey of the salaries of top executives at the nation’s largest charities.

The 15th-annual survey found that chief executives at the nation’s biggest charities and foundations received a median pay increase of 4.6 percent in 2006

But at least one charity watchdog takes exception with the survey’s findings.

“Yes, the median CEO makes over $300k, but these aren’t exactly the most representative CEOs in the sector,” writes Trent Stamp, president of the watchdog group Charity Navigator, on his blog. “This survey should be renamed the ‘Chronicle of Philanthropy survey of the wealthiest CEOs in the sector’ study. It still has value, but let’s understand exactly what, and who, they’re measuring.”

Mr. Stamp’s organization conducts its own salary survey based on the compensation of more than 5,200 charities.

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When the late Fred Rogers took the microphone before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications, millions of dollars were at stake.

President Lyndon B. Johnson had proposed giving the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — which aired Mr. Rogers’ iconic children’s television show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood — a $20-million grant.

But President Johnson had left office and his successor, President Richard Nixon, wanted to cut the grant in half, according to the anonymous blog Don’t Tell the Donor.

Against that backdrop, the Senate subcommittee had invited Mr. Rogers to come to Washington and state his case for the money.

John Morris, who writes for Pittsburgh Bloggers, unearthed a 1969 clip on YouTube of the late Mr. Rogers testifying before the U.S. Senate subcommittee. In the clip, Mr. Rogers is able to argue to the subcommittee why the Corporation for Public Broadcasting...

Potential donors in Michigan have been greeted with fund-raising phone calls from the Michigan Fraternal Order of Police, in which a telemarketer talks about a Bob Kozminski, a 29-year-old Grand Rapids police officer who was killed in the line of duty in July.

The caller tells the potential donors about the fallen officer’s 3-year-old daughter and the fact that they are raising money to help his family.

But, according to the blog Don’t Tell the Donor, the Michigan group hasn’t been very careful about who it calls.

The anonymous blog cites a report on WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids that says the organization has called both the officer’s sister and mother with the fund-raising pitch.

The organization had also not asked the family for its permission to use the officer’s death as part of its fund-raising efforts.

The Michigan Fraternal Order of Police told WZZM that it is suspending the...

Successful advocacy groups often build their reputations by being a radical voice for their cause, writes Marc Sirkin on his blog, Npmarketing.

But once they become established, they often lose their radical edge and become bureaucratic.

In such cases, these groups “have so many different issues that they have started to focus more of their messaging and marketing on their own organization or event platform,” Mr. Sirkin writes.

Is this a bad thing?

Mr. Sirkin doesn’t think so, as long as the group is able to continue to bring attention and resources to its cause.

And, in some cases, an organization can keep its edge and remain a radical voice.

Kivi Leroux Miller — on the blog Nonprofit Communications — points to the Humane Society of the United States as one example.

The organization is well established, has a large membership, and a big staff, Ms. Miller writes.

But she...

What does it mean when your charity gets mentioned in the popular comic strip Doonesbury?

It means you’re either yesterday’s news or it’s your turn for an up-close examination, according to some bloggers.

Gary Trudeau’s famous strip on Sunday depicted 25-year-old computer user raising money for the charity DonorsChoose through the online game Second Life.

Second Life — the popular game — has become a trendy way for nonprofit groups to generate money and exposure online. The charitable potential of the game, in fact, is the subject of a blog Nonprofits in Second Life.

Meanwhile, DonorsChoose — a charity that produces an online catalog of projects at schools nationwide that need money for supplies and other projects — has been praised in many corners for its egalitarian approach to raising money.

Now that they have been immortalized in Doonesbury, Lucy Bernholz, the author of

The second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina has prompted questions from nonprofit officials about America’s priorities.

Larry James, a former New Orleans resident who oversees a Central Dallas Ministries, a charity that helps the poor, writes on Larry James’ Urban Daily that the U.S. government has abandoned one of its major cities.

Mr. James writes that he is sickened by the nation’s inability to mount a coordinated effort to rebuild New Orleans.

“I wonder what our reaction might be if New Orleans had been destroyed by an act of foreign terror? I have this feeling more would be under way today and I think I know who would be in charge,” he writes.

“But those in charge in Washington right now evidently don’t believe the federal government can solve the problem or lead us toward a better day in a city in need of coordinated national attention. Movie stars and entertainers are...

A prominent charity watchdog says the chairman of the Senate’s Finance Committee is ignoring a key part of his job if he fails to vigorously crack down on charitable abuses.

Sen. Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who took over the reins of the Senate Finance Committee in January, told The Chronicle in an interview that he has more pressing issues on his agenda than pushing for new legislation aimed at curbing wrongdoing by nonprofit groups.

Mr. Baucus’s predecessor as Finance Committee Chairman, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, is known for his aggressive efforts to patrol nonprofit organizations.

But Mr. Baucus says he has other priorities.

“Senator Grassley and I work very closely together,” he said in the Chronicle interview. “It’s a relationship that we both treasure and we agree far more than we don’t on policy. But I also have to look at the calendar.”

That statement might...

Two prominent financial advisers say the nonprofit world is doing a poor job of reaching out to “main street millionaires” who have significant wealth but who do not own securities or other publicly tradeable wealth.

Randy Fox, a legacy planner, writes on InKnowVision that most of the wealthy clients he advises rely on their small businesses or real estate as their prime source of wealth.

But, for many of those clients are not offered options for using those assets for charity.

“Few advisers are having deep conversations about philanthropy or legacy. In fact, very few gain great clarity on family goals and objectives,” Mr. Fox writes. “Not a criticism per se, just an observation for now. Though, I continue to wonder what might happen if the clients ever got fully engaged in their own planning.”

Phil Cubeta another prominent financial and charitable-giving adviser, says that lack...

Should donor anonymity be protected at any cost?

Jack Siegel, a Chicago lawyer and accountant, gives his answer to that question on Charity Governance following a flurry of recent efforts to make public the donor lists of fund-raising charities that work on behalf of public colleges.

In some cases, Mr. Siegel writes, newspapers and other watchdogs have argued that open-records laws apply to such charities because they are extensions of public institutions.

And because some organizations have ties to public officials, Mr. Siegel says, the push for disclosure is understandable.

But the author ultimately argues that efforts to disclose anonymous donors is a violation of privacy — and a waste of time and money.

“There is a longstanding tradition and ethos that donor anonymity is to be respected by non-disclosure of donor names,” Mr. Siegel writes. “Applying open-record laws to the...

Johnson & Johnson’s lawsuit against the American Red Cross is creating quite a bit of buzz among blog writers.

But a lot of the discussions are coming from blogs that typically don’t cover philanthropy.

Men’s Health — known mostly for tips on firming up one’s abs — explores the topic on its MH Today Blog between posts titled “Plump Woman Seeks Chubby Guy” and “The Fitness Question”.

Ploafmaster General, a blog written by self-described “Christian leftist eccentric” Daniel C. Warshaw, blasts Johnson & Johnson for suing the charity.

“Way to go, Johnson and Johnson. Sue the charity. You look great doing it,” writes Mr. Warshaw. “You look great fussing your way right into the Corporate Embarrassment Hall of Fame.”

Meanwhile, the marketing expert Seth Godin, on his popular Seth Godin’s Blog, offers the opposite opinion, saying the Red Cross is in the wrong.

Mr. Godin writes that ...