In a recent column in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, William A. Schambra of the Hudson Institute argues that foundations need to remember that what they “do best and most reliably is simply to make grants to worthwhile nonprofit organizations.”

On their blog Values, the authors of Philanthrocapitalism, Matthew Bishop and Michael Green, begin their response with a simple, “Oh dear.”

They write that Mr. Schambra points out, correctly, that many small charities do excellent work and are being hit hard by the recession.

First, Mr. Bishop and Mr. Green say Mr. Schambra is wrong to predict that hard times will, in their words, “drive corporate do-gooding off the agenda.” Smart corporate leaders, they say, recognize that cutting back...

In her foundation’s most recent newsletter, Susan King of the Carnegie Corporation has done something that foundation employees rarely do: share information about a grant that failed.

Ms. King, vice president of external affairs who leads the foundation’s support of journalism programs, discusses a $354,000 grant made in 2000 to the American Communications Foundation, a nonprofit news organization. The grant was designed to expand news-media coverage of the foundation’s grantees who seek to improve education and promote democracy.

“I must admit that an honest analysis of my first grant leads me to conclude that I was naive in making it, sensitive as a former broadcast journalist to news media needs more than issue impact,” she writes, “and unsuccessful in really improving the coverage of nonprofit organizations and priorities that were the twin goals of the grant.”

Writing on his...

A column about charities that support the building of Israeli settlements in the West Bank is stirring debate on the Washington Post’s Web site and on other blogs.

David Ignatius, a Post columnist, says that donors contributed $33.4-million in tax-exempt gifts to pro-settlement organizations and other related charities from 2004 to 2007. The United States government has for many years had a policy against spending money for settlements in the West Bank, which it regards as an obstacle to peace.

“Critics of Israeli settlements question why American taxpayers are supporting indirectly, through tax-exempt contributions, a process that the government condemns,” Mr. Ignatius writes.

He says that “often the U.S. charities will specify that their gifts are going to charities in Israel, even though the recipients are in the West Bank, which the United States regards as occupied...

Should donors be able to claim a deduction for contributions they make to charities located outside the United States?

Two prominent University of Chicago professors are debating that question on their blog.

Gary Becker, a professor of economics and sociology, says he favors at least some deduction for giving to foreign organizations that do not have U.S. offices or tax-exempt status.

“Otherwise, it may just be another form of protectionism, where American services and goods are favored over foreign services and goods,” he writes. “Since protectionism arguments take many guises, it is likely that some of the opposition to allowing tax deductions for foreign charities is due to the desire to impose tax disadvantages on the ‘import’ by American individuals and organizations of foreign ‘goods.”

Richard Posner, a law professor, disagrees. “Although charitable donations to foreign...

Like all charities, many Jewish groups have been hard hit by the recession. Some have been forced to lay off employees in recent months.

Stephen G. Donshik, a lecturer at Hebrew University’s International Leadership and Philanthropy Program, wonders on the Jewish Philanthropy blog about the ethics of trimming a charity’s staff.

Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, the philosopher-scholar better known as Maimonides, suggested that the most important way to assist someone is to enable him or her to find a job so that person no longer has to rely on charity, according to Mr. Donshik.

“This being the case,” he writes, “then the imperative would be to find a way to keep our communal professionals employed.”

He continues: “It is also far better to keep someone employed than add them to the already exploding rolls of the unemployed.”

While Mr. Donshik says he recognizes that charity leaders have...

Are aid groups partially to blame for the expulsion last week of 13 such organizations from Darfur?

Rob Crilly, a freelance journalist who writes from Africa for The Times, in London, and other newspapers, makes that case on his blog.

Mr. Crilly has long been critical of human-rights activists such as the Save Darfur movement for oversimplifying the roots of the crisis in Darfur, Sudan. Save Darfur has pushed for the International Criminal Court to indict Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir — an event that happened last week, precipitating the ouster of the aid groups — and minimized the potentially dire consequences if the government retaliated.

But Mr. Crilly writes that humanitarian groups, which generally try to be apolitical, are also at fault.

“They have been routinely screwed by Khartoum without so much as batting an eyelid,” writes Mr. Crilly. Among the indignities with ...

The Sudanese government yesterday revoked the licenses of at least eight international charities, following the International Criminal Court’s announcement that it would issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudan’s president on charges of war crimes, according to InterAction, an umbrella group of international charities.

Mercy Corps said on its Web site that it was among those groups whose license was revoked. The aid group said it would immediately halt its programs in Darfur and Khartoum.

The Sudanese government did not provide a reason for its decision, according to the charity.

CARE reported that it received a letter yesterday from the Sudanese government canceling its permit to operate in the country.

Other groups reportedly affected: International Rescue Committee, Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders’ Holland operations, and Save the Children UK. (Save the Children’s U.S. org...

While the United States may be increasing its spending on foreign aid, many other countries are not.

Michael Kleinman, at Change.org, draws attention to a Reuters article summarizing some grim news for international organizations.

— Italy has cut in half its foreign-assistance budget, while Ireland reduced its budget by 17 percent. -European Union nations expect that by 2010, aid contributions could be as between $15-billion and $25-billion less than previously estimated.

Samuel A. Worthington, InterAction’s president, says in the Reuters article: “If this recession goes into 2010, we will be seeing a significant reduction in delivery of programs in the world’s poorest areas.”

(For more on how the economy could affect international groups, see this Chronicle article).

How badly do you think international organizations will be affected by the economic mess?

Larry Brilliant’s announcement on Monday that he will be stepping down as executive director of Google.org to become “chief philanthropy evangelist,” and that the philanthropic arm will be aligning its giving more closely with the company’s expertise on technology and information has generated a lot of discussion among bloggers.

Writing at Change.org, Nathaniel Whittemore calls the move a good one. Mr. Whittemore says that when other philanthropists have given in ways that reflected their business approach (think Pierre Omidyar and Jeff Skoll, both of eBay), social entrepreneurship has made big leaps.

He calls Google.org’s “core competencies” in technology and information “real” and “valuable.”

“It’s not hard to understand how that core capacity could be the driving force behind their entire philanthropic strategy,” he said. “Google should be investing in and scaling tools like...

Finding a stable job at an international aid group is never simple. The economic meltdown has made it even harder.

Change.org’s blog on humanitarian relief is running a series of posts by a woman who has spent the past half-decade interning, volunteering, and working for humanitarian and human-rights groups.

Her first step? An internship. While entry-level jobs are being eliminated more quickly than created, she says, charities seem to be hiring interns more often than before.

While landing an internship will not guarantee you a paying job at the organization, she writes, it can still help your career. It’s good for your resume, and for making connections.

According to the blogger, you’ll also be getting experience doing the kind of work you want—or at least think you want—to spend your career doing. And you will learn very quickly if you’re on the wrong track.

What is...