The White House has yet to provide details on its new Office of Social Innovation, but next week the Aspen Institute, in Washington, is holding a meeting to discuss parts of the effort, which seeks to provide federal assistance to innovative nonprofit groups that are working on the country’s most pressing problems.

According to Jane Wales, a vice president at Aspen and director of its philanthropy and social innovation program, the White House asked her to hold a series of meetings during the next two years to develop advice on how the office should operate. The first meeting will be March 4 and will include a bipartisan group of philanthropists, business leaders, and government officials.

Ms. Wales, who is also president of the Global Philanthropy Forum and worked for the National Security Council during the Clinton administration, said the gatherings will focus on a “social...

During her recent trip to Asia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emphasized the role the United States can play in supporting foreign charities — a sign she will bring her long interest in nonprofit groups to her efforts as the country’s top diplomat.

While in China, she was criticized for not doing more to raise human-rights concerns with Chinese officials, but in response she emphasized her meetings with so-called nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, during her trip.

“At least as important in building respect for and making progress on human rights are the efforts of civil-society institutions, NGOs, women’s groups, academic institutions, and we support those efforts,” she told reporters at a press conference February 21 in Beijing. “And I have highlighted their good work in each capital I have visited, and I will do so here.”

According to The Washington Post, Ms....

While President Obama’s Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships is less than a week old, there are some signs of how it will operate differently than how the Bush administration approached such efforts.

The changes include:

• An effort to include nonreligious charities. Mr. Obama set up a new council to advise him on social policy and helping the poor. It includes religious groups, such as Catholic Charities USA and World Vision, but also secular organizations like Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America. A list of the council’s members is available on the White House’s Web site.

• A greater emphasis on evaluation. In the executive order Mr. Obama signed to create the office, it says the office will “promote the better use of program evaluation and research, in order to ensure that organizations deliver services as specified in grant agreements.” One of the members ...

As Independent Sector and other nonprofit associations in Washington push Congress to help cash-strapped charities, at least one key member of the Senate is resisting the move.

In a statement to the news media, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said that charities should seek support from foundations and other donors before asking for financial aid from the government.

“I don’t like to see any segment of our economy, including the nonprofit sector, have a hard time getting credit. Private foundations, donor-advised funds, and other grant-making charities are already set up to make payouts and even loans, if they want to, with an oversight structure already in place,” he said.

“They have to do oversight of their grantees when they give grants to make sure the grants are being used for their intended purpose. Instead of reinventing...

President Obama is expected to scrap a rule that prevents government money from supporting family-planning groups that counsel women overseas about the availability of abortion.

According to CNN, Mr. Obama is considering overturning the so-called global-gag rule this week.

President Ronald Reagan first instituted the rule as an executive order in 1984 at a population conference in Mexico City. President Bill Clinton rescinded it, but President George W. Bush reinstated it.

Several international aid groups, including Population Action International and Population Services International, have called for the rule to be overturned.

Antiabortion groups, which are gathering in Washington today, have raised concerns about Mr. Obama’s views toward the rule and other abortion issues, reports The Washington Post.

As part of a top 10 list of Bush administration executive orders that President Obama should scrap immediately, Slate magazine says, No. 8 is Mr. Bush’s rule that allows religious charities that receive federal money to discriminate in hiring based on religion.

The authors, Emily Bazelon, Slate senior editor, and Chris Wilson, an editorial assistant, identify two problems with the rule.

“The first is that the groups get to define for themselves who counts as a good Baptist or a good Jew — and what if they decide someone is out because he or she is gay, for example? The second problem is that it’s not really clear why Catholic charities should be able to hire only Catholics to serve meals to the homeless if that work is being funded by the government,” they write.

President Obama has pledged to continue the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives but has...

During the last eight years, President Bush has helped steered billions of public dollars to religious organizations and other charities to fight poverty and provide other services, according to a new White House report.

The report, Innovations in Compassion: A Final Report to the Armies of Compassion, outlines Mr. Bush’s controversial effort to allow more churches and other religious groups to compete for money from federal social-service programs. Civil-liberties groups have criticized the effort, saying it is tantamount to government support for religion.

The report also promotes Mr. Bush’s work to grow HIV/AIDS treatment overseas, curb malaria, and provide incentives for Americans to volunteer or donate to charity.

As part of the White House’s Faith-Based and Community Service Initiative, “federal partnerships with faith-based and other community organizations have greatly ...

Within a few months of his inauguration, President-elect Obama should organize a meeting of the nation’s 100 leading foundations “and explicitly ask them to help him implement his agenda,” writes Trevor Neilson, a philanthropy consultant who has worked with Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, and others.

In an article on The Huffington Post, he also suggests the incoming president call on wealthy people to be philanthropic while they are young; create new tax benefits for individual giving and for companies that pursue a social mission; and celebrate charitable works with awards similar to the Kennedy Center Honors, which recognize trailblazers in the performing arts.

Read The Chronicle’s collection of nonprofit proposals for the Obama administration. (A paid subscription or free temporary pass is required to view The Chronicle article.)

What do you think of Mr. Neilson’s ideas? Click on...

Despite loud protests by international aid groups, the U.S. Agency for International Development has made final the rules for a security program to screen charities and their employees for possible ties to terrorists.

While the move is the last step in the regulatory process, the agency postponed the decision to start the controversial program, known as the Partner Vetting System, or PVS, saying President-elect Barack Obama and his administration would ultimately decide its fate.

“The decision as to whether to implement PVS will be made by the incoming Obama administration,” the agency writes in today’s Federal Register.

Un­der the system, nonprofit groups that apply for agency grants and contracts must provide the names of “key individuals” overseeing their projects, including board members, executives, and other employees. The federal government would then check the names...

Want to win a trip to Barack Obama’s inauguration?

“The Change Begins with Me” contest, which is sponsored by the Case Foundation, will award a good Samaritan airfare, three-nights in a hotel room, and tickets to inaugural festivities next month in Washington.

On Case’s Web site, the foundation is asking people to enter the contest by describing their charitable commitments and how they help others.

“As we usher in this exciting new era of change we recognize that everyone has a part to play. So, how will YOU commit to bringing about change in your neighborhood, your community or your nation?” it asks on the Web site.

Earlier this year, Case offered a Social-Citizen Makeover contest.

Is there a philanthropist, charity leader, or friend you would nominate to win the prize? Click on the comment button below to share your ideas.