The debate about President Obama’s interest in philanthropy continues.

David J. Sanders, a columnist for Stephens Media, in Little Rock, Ark., wrote in The Wall Street Journal last week that the president wants to effectively “nationalize” rural giving based on a recent meeting between foundations and federal officials.

Ken Larson, a California businessman and blog writer for the Acton Institute, a religious thank tank, in Grand Rapids, Mich., agrees.

The Obama administration’s effort to promote philanthropy and service “calls to mind many things that hang on the tenets of faith to which Christians pay mind,” he writes on Acton’s blog. “But as we are consistently reminded by the scholars at Acton Institute, our charity is best left to the individual.”

But Blake Rutherford, a blog writer who covers public affairs in Arkansas, doesn’t understand what the fuss is about

“When...

Wal-Mart has faced many detractors as the world’s largest retail outlet, but it may have met its match with its newest foe: a Girl Scout mom.

The angry mother, C.V. Harquail, who writes a blog called Authentic Organizations, takes Wal-Mart to task for considering selling cookies that — according to her — are knockoffs of the Girl Scout’s Thin Mints and Tagalongs.

Ms. Harquail, who has been “cookie mom” for her daughters’ Girl Scout troop, writes that Wal-Mart would essentially be siphoning fund-raising revenue from the Girl Scouts of the USA if it were to sell the popular treats.

Advertising Age, a trade publication about the advertising business, reports that a spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts said that other companies have come close to copying the charity’s cookies. She added: “I would hope that people realize that when they buy Girl Scout cookies, they’re also helping little...

Here are some of latest blog items and opinion pieces worth noting for the nonprofit world:

• Herve Delhumeau examines the different ways business and charity have worked together and what the future may hold for businesses with a social mission.

• The Fundermentalist wonders if some Jewish philanthropists could sell their extensive art collections to support more charity work.

• The consulting company McKinsey looks at how businesses measure the financial value produced by their philanthropy and social-responsibility practices. (The article is in the company’s quarterly business magazine, which requires a subscription.)

• Social media has made it easier for people to organize for a cause, but is it also encouraging “slacktivism” and “bumper-sticker philanthropy,” wonders Kristin Ivie on the Social Citizens blog.

• On his Nonprofit Board Crisis blog, Mike Burns...

As Independent Sector holds a meeting in Colorado this week to discuss the future of the nonprofit world, questions are being raised about who has been invited to the event.

Seventy-five nonprofit leaders and others are attending the Washington charitable association’s gathering, including Stacy Palmer, editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Rosetta Thurman, a charity consultant, writes that the effort could be “very groundbreaking” but says it has not done enough to include people under 30. “For a country that is teeming with millions of Generation Y leaders (the second largest generation behind Baby Boomers), this is a huge oversight on the part of a group that seeks to examine trends in the nonprofit sector and develop a plan for the future,” she writes on her blog.

On The Chronicle’s Web site, other charity officials have written similar concerns about whether the...

Is Google doing enough to provide free online ad space to nonprofit groups led by blacks and Latinos? Andrew Sears, a nonprofit leader, says no.

Mr. Sears is director of TechMission, a charity in Boston that seeks to help minorities gain access to the Internet and other digital technology. On UrbanMinistry.org, a Web site his group manages, Mr. Sears details his concerns with Google Grants, a program that offers valuable Internet advertisements to charities.

He writes that Google often awards free ads to organizations that are run by people who reflect the technology company’s own racial make-up and background. Google employees “give grants to organizations with interest like theirs and people they know, which most often are also white or Asian and from elite schools.”

A Google spokeswoman, who declined to be identified, told The Chronicle that the company does not collect...

Will the recession force the nonprofit world to work together better and be more focused? Or will the continuing economic losses simply hobble charities and foundations?

Sidney R. Hargro, a senior officer at the Columbus Foundation, in Ohio, is raising these questions on his blog. He says nonprofit groups are failing to deal with the bleak situation, similar to a how a person copes with a terminal illness.

“Nonprofits have experienced denial, anger, bargaining, and depression due to this most difficult state of affairs,” he writes. “But who will issue the call to move to ‘acceptance’ and beyond by saying, ‘True –- this traumatic state of affairs sucks –- but now what?’”

He says the nonprofit world needs to ask itself three questions: What services are most crucial to the country’s long-term health? How do charitable efforts become more efficient? And how will organizations deal ...

The Chronicle today kicks off a new daily digest of some of the nonprofit world’s most thought-provoking, controversial, or simply entertaining blog items.

If you’d like to have your blog article mentioned in our daily roundup, send an e-mail message to giveandtake@philanthropy.com.

Here are some of latest blog items that are worth noting:

• On his Aid Watch blog, William Easterly, a professor of economics at New York University, is debating with World Vision UK about whether the group is unfairly using children to advocate for increased foreign aid. In a letter to Mr. Easterly, World Vision defends its tactics as appropriate.

• Has the reality television show “NYC Prep” tarnished the image of high-school community service, asks Carolyn Rubenstein on The Huffington Post. Ms. Rubenstein is the founder of a charity that assists children with cancer.

• The Asian American ...

While a conservative commentator has accused President Obama of declaring “war on philanthropy,” Peter Golio, a California fund-raising consultant, offers a robust defense of the president.

In a wide-ranging response to an essay by David Billet, associate editor of Commentary, Mr. Golio agrees with Mr. Billet that nonprofit efforts are crucial to America. But on his blog, L.A. Philanthropy Watch, he argues that Mr. Billet is off the mark with his attack on the Obama administration’s plan to reduce the charitable deduction for wealthy Americans.

“The language, tone, and focus of Billet’s essay reveal a greater concern with tax policy as it affects Americans in the top tax brackets, than for the strength and vibrancy of ‘American nonprofits’ or ‘American philanthropy,’” says Mr. Golio.

Mr. Golio writes that the president’s tax proposal, which is supposed to help pay for changes...

Next week nonprofit leaders will gather in Colorado Springs to discuss the future of philanthropy and how it can meet the emerging global problems triggered by the economic downturn.

Independent Sector, a Washington association of about 600 charities and grant makers, is organizing the three-day event. Given how hard the nonprofit world has been hit by the recession, it needs to “reinvent itself” in the next 10 years or so, Diana Aviv, Independent Sector’s chief executive, said in a phone call with reporters and blog writers.

She promised that the discussion would be wide-ranging, including global and national trends and specific issues facing nonprofit groups. Topics are likely to include whether there are too many charities in America; how business, government, and nonprofit organizations can work together better; and how foundations should rethink their grant making to meet...

In response to a recent Forbes magazine article that criticized the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s work to fight HIV/AIDS in India, the foundation says the story had “significant errors and mischaracterizes key aspects of the initiative.”

In a letter to the editor, Tachi Yamada, the fund’s president of global health, defended the India program, known as Avahan. He writes that the article inaccurately stated that the program is winding down — Gates has extended its commitment to 2014 — and that Forbes misstated the program’s goals.

In addition, Mr. Yamada disagreed with the article’s claim that Avahan has made no significant headway to curb HIV/AIDS. “

While it is too early to fully assess Avahan’s long-term impact,” he writes, “early signs are encouraging — data from some projects suggest these efforts are increasing condom use and reducing STD infections.”

Some nonprofit...