College and university presidents have been relatively slow to start blogs as a tool of communicating with students, parents, and alumni.

But Bob Johnson, a communications consultant in Marshall, Mich., says that a growing number of college executives are experimenting with blogs.

Bob Johnson’s Blog on Internet Marketing includes links to 15 college and university presidents who are writing blogs. And Mr. Johnson says many of those who are writing have joined the ranks just recently.

Many of the blogs — which include regular postings from presidents such as Michael Crow at Arizona State University and Jim Towey at Saint Vincent College — are tame in their tone.

“The list of presidents who blog continues to grow despite the fears and admonitions of lawyers and public-relations people who warn against some terrible damage to their institutions if their presidents are let loose to ...

The Google Foundation has launched the Official Google.org Blog — a new blog that chronicles news and notes from Google’s philanthropic arm.

“Today we’re starting a blog of our own,” Greg Miller, managing director of Google.org, writes in the inaugural post. “We’ll invite posts by our team members and other Googlers about what they’re working on, and by our grantees and partners on ideas and insights they want to share with all of you. We hope to include some of their reports and updates, as well as thoughts shared by guest bloggers.”

The blog also features a post by Irene Taylor Brodsky, founder of Vermilion Films, who is producing a documentary film about those who are working to eradicate polio. Ms. Brodsky is making the film with money from the Google Foundation.

Sean Stannard-Stockton, a California philanthropy adviser, sees the new Google blog as a template for how other ...

A new study of the governance practices of nonprofit trustees uncovers some interesting and disturbing trends.

But the nonprofit finance expert Dan Prives cautions readers not to read too much into the results of the study, which was conducted by the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank.

Mr. Prives, writing on his blog, Where Most Needed,, says the study is flawed because it includes too large of a sample of small-sized organizations. Nearly 85 percent of the 5,115 nonprofits that provided data had expenditures of less than $2-million annually.

“Unfortunately, this study of board practices employs a sampling method that ignores the power law distribution of nonprofit organizations—the fact that a relative handful of very large-scale organizations account for most of the nonprofit activity in the U.S.,” Mr. Prives writes.

That sample is particularly troubling when it comes...

The blog White Courtesy Telephone pays tribute to the late Joseph C.K. Breiteneicher, who died June 22 after a battle with cancer.

Mr. Breiteneicher, who most recently served as chief executive of the Philanthropic Initiative, a nonprofit group that advises donors, wrote an item for the blog Hail, Sons and Daughters of Carnegie — a predecessor to White Courtesy Telephone. The essay focused on why foundations should not pay their trustees.

Albert Ruesga, author of White Courtesy Telephone, has posted the item on his blog in memory of Mr. Breiteneicher.

“Trusteeship is a sacred calling—as should be all work in the philanthropic sector,” Mr. Breiteneicher wrote. “Compensating trustees diminishes the stewardship values and moral force of the sector.”

What do you think? Should foundations pay their trustees? Click on the comments link below this post to share your thoughts.

Rosetta Thurman, director of development and finance at the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington, is part of a chorus of observers who have weighed in on the recent problems at the NAACP.

But after hearing Bruce Gordon — who recently left his post as NAACP president during a shakeup — speak at a conference on black philanthropy, Ms. Thurman says she has developed a new view on the situation.

Ms. Thurman writes on Perspectives From the Pipeline that the NAACP was not ready for Mr. Gordon’s business-first approach to running the organization.

Still, the NAACP is not alone in shouldering the blame for what Ms. Thurman says is a lack of progress in solving important issues facing black Americans.

“Like many people, I complain about the sad state of affairs for our youth, civil rights, and poverty among people of color,” she writes. “But, we all could and should really be...

People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals has a long history of using provocative tactics to draw attention to its pro-animal cause.

Often, these tactics are successful. But a prominent charity watchdog says PETA’s latest missive — an attack on filmmaker Michael Moore — was in poor taste.

PETA recently sent a letter to Mr. Moore that coincides with Mr. Moore’s latest documentary, Sicko. The movie explores issues in the U.S. health-care system, which Mr. Moore argues is broken.

PETA, however, says Sicko doesn’t pay attention to what it considers to be one possible way to rein in health-care costs — vegetarianism.

The organization says that America would be healthier if people stripped meat from their diets.

And it points directly to Mr. Moore’s weight in making the argument.

“There’s an elephant in the room, and it’s you,” Ingrid E. Newkirk , founder of PETA, writes in the...

The Irish rock star Bono continues to find new ways to promote charitable efforts aimed at improving the health conditions in Africa.

The musician temporarily put down his microphone to serve as the guest editor of Vanity Fair magazine’s Africa issue.

The issue, which has drawn some criticism in journalism circles, was praised by the authors of the blog Look To The Stars, which was started by a British couple to chronicle the charitable efforts of celebrities.

“Africa is a continent with great need, and has been given a disproportionately low amount of attention and aid from wealthy nations,” writes Saskia Akyil, a contributor to the blog. “It is the first Vanity Fair issue to have a guest editor, and Bono’s highly publicized commitment to aiding Africa makes him an obvious choice for editor of this issue. In recent years, celebrities have used their status to bring a great...

A prominent charity watchdog has what he considers to be a simple way to maximize the Internal Revenue Service’s resources for auditing charities.

Trent Stamp, president of Charity Navigator, proposes that the agency focus its audits squarely on the part of the nonprofit world he believes is most responsible for poorly managing donors’ money.

“Go do audits of every group that claims to work on behalf of the police, firefighters, veterans, and sick kids, and has a large telemarketing budget,” Mr. Stamp writes on his blog. “Sure, you’ll unfairly pull in a few honest groups that don’t deserve the scrutiny, but most you find will be lousy, and I suspect the good guys will endure the audit for a playing field that is subsequently cleared of the predatory outlaws.”

The IRS, Mr. Stamp says, needs to do a better job at protecting the interests of people who donate money to charity.

The ...

The Smithsonian Institution needs to do much more than say goodbye to its two top executives in the wake of its recent governance scandal. In fact, several nonprofit experts say the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents is getting off easy.

While admitting that it failed in its oversight role as its top executives were collecting lavish salaries and perks, the board has done little to hold itself accountable, writes the nonprofit finance expert Dan Prives on Where Most Needed.

“If the Smithsonian wants real reform and adequate oversight, it should open up all board positions to outside appointments and perhaps even expand the board to 20 to 25 members,” Mr. Prives writes.

Others are even more harsh in their assessment.

“This is one nonprofit board whose 55-page accountability report is not telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth — good they have done what they have done but...

How can you get your nonprofit organization to stand out to grant makers?

Albert Ruesga, vice president at the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, in Washington, says nonprofit leaders need to think about foundations not as paper entities but rather as people-driven organizations.

And they should pursue their relationships with foundations in a personal way.

“Move from a paper relationship to one of flesh and blood at your first opportunity,” Mr. Ruesga writes on his blog, White Courtesy Telephone. “Foundations, like many individual donors, fund people not organizations: the heart of their relationship will not be with an entity, but with individuals they believe are capable of doing good work.”

To build those relationships, Mr. Ruesga offers a series of tips. Among them:

• Take time to get to know what the foundation values and how your organization fits into those...