Another nonprofit leader is headed to the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Shari Berenbach, chief executive of the Calvert Foundation, has been appointed director of the Office of Microenterprise Development. The position, while a political appointment, does not require Senate confirmation. Ms. Berenbach will start on September 15.

Late last year, the president appointed Rajiv J. Shah, a former official at the Gates Foundation, to head USAID, and earlier this month, the administration nominated Nancy E. Lindborg, president of Mercy Corps, to be assistant administrator at the Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Affairs Bureau.

Ms. Berenbach has led the Calvert Foundation -- which promotes the idea of doing good through investing -- for more than 13 years.

The Bethesda, Md., organization issues low-interest notes, an investment option similar to a certificate of deposit....

New York

Philanthropy and the federal government are still working out the kinks in their relationship as they try to work together to help proven programs grow.

Teach for America has learned the hard way that government money can be as difficult to count on as private donations, David Gergen, a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, told participants at the 2010 Inaugural Conference on Scaling.

The organization received $18-million in this year's federal budget. Mr. Gergen, who is a Teach for America board member, said that the group was talking to officials at the Department of Education about a $50-million allocation for 2011 but that the money got caught up in the political backlash against earmarks.

So the budget request President Obama sent to Congress earlier this year eliminated the money designated for Teach for America and added it to a larger pool of...

The Corporation for National and Community Service has received 69 applications for the $50-million in grants that the Social Innovation Fund will award this year.

The grant proposals come from collaborations of more than 260 foundations, charities, universities, local governments, businesses, and private donors. The applicants are seeking the money as "intermediary" grant makers, which will, in turn, provide grants to nonprofit groups that have shown results in their work.

The corporation said that the applications hail from 25 states and the District of Columbia and are "well balanced" across the fund's three issue areas: economic opportunity, youth development and school support, and healthy futures.

Over the coming weeks, more than 50 experts from the philanthropic, nonprofit, and government realms will review the applications. Seven to 10 awards of $1-million to $10-million are...

Maryland has created a new legal structure—called a benefit corporation for companies that blend business with social and environmental good.

The legislation, signed into law by Gov. Martin O'Malley, requires that benefit corporations create a positive impact on society and that boards of directors consider how decisions will affect employees, local jurisdictions, and the environment, rather than just looking at shareholders' interests. It also offers board members legal protection for taking social and environmental issues into consideration.

"For the first time, we have a market-based solution supporting investors and entrepreneurs who want to make money and make a difference," Andrew Kassoy said in a written statement. Mr. Kassoy is co-founder of B Lab, a nonprofit organization in Berwyn, Pa., that runs a certification program for socially responsible businesses.

The new law...

The National Endowment for the Arts has posted grant guidelines for the $50-million it will distribute as part of the recently passed stimulus bill.

Sixty percent of the money — $30-million — will be awarded competitively to nonprofit groups. Applicants must be previous NEA award recipients from the past four years.

Organizations can request a grant amount of $25,000 or $50,000 either to pay the salaries, full or partial, for one or more positions that are critical to their artistic mission but that have been or are in danger of being cut because of the difficult economic climate, or to pay fees for previously engaged artists to maintain or expand the period during which they would be engaged.

Regional and statewide arts councils can apply for grants of $100,000 or $250,000, which they will then distribute to local arts organizations.

Applications must be submitted online by...

Twitter Vote Report an all-volunteer effort, is giving voters a high-tech way to report on their experiences at the polls this election season.

Voters can report inaccurate voter rolls, broken machines, and long lines via Twitter, an online service that lets people send very short, frequent messages to one another, by sending a text message, or even using a touch-tone phone. Twitter Vote Report aggregates the information to create maps that show where there are problems.

“Imagine a nationwide Web map with pins identifying every zip code where Americans are waiting over 30 minutes to vote or indicating those election districts where the voting machines are not working,” the effort’s founders write on the Twitter Vote Report Web site. “Collectively we will inform each other when the lines are too long and ensure that media and watchdog groups know where problems exist.”