Items relevant to more than one category may appear more than once in this summary. From the issue dated November 25, 2004 About Gifts and Giving THE MERGER of three Jewish fund-raising groups has not done as much to reinvigorate Jewish philanthropy as many people had hoped. JEWISH CHARITIES are taking a variety of approaches to entice the next generation of donors to give. JEWISH GROUPS are debating how much in charitable donations should go to Israel and how much to causes in the United States. SEVENTY THOUSAND young people have received free trips to Israel through a program developed by two Jewish philanthropists. SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT of wealthy Americans say they plan to give the same amount to charity in the next 12 months as they did in the previous 12 months, a new survey has found. THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY and the Smithsonian Institution have each received $25-million donations; other recent gifts to nonprofit organizations and institutions. FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: An American conservation biologist has created the Cheetah Conservation Fund, in Namibia, which has more cheetahs living in the wild than any other country. About Fund Raising THIRTEEN NONPROFIT GROUPS have sued the federal government over new antiterrorism requirements for participating in the Combined Federal Campaign, the government's annual charity drive. NEW GUIDELINES for counting revocable and deferred gifts when reporting fund-raising totals have been proposed by the National Committee on Planned Giving. PAID TELEPHONE SOLICITORS that raised funds for Connecticut charities last year turned over a little more than a third of the money to the nonprofit groups, state officials reported. SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT of wealthy Americans say they plan to give the same amount to charity in the next 12 months as they did in the previous 12 months, a new survey has found. UPDATE ON CAMPAIGNS for endowments, capital improvements, and other needs. INTEREST RATES for planned gifts, issued by the Internal Revenue Service. About Grant Makers INTERNATIONAL GIVING by American foundations declined slightly last year, according to a new survey. ENDING CHRONIC HOMELESSNESS is the goal of an ambitious new campaign backed by $30-million from seven major foundations and financial institutions. RECENT GRANTS by foundations, corporations, and other grant makers. SUMMARIES OF ANNUAL REPORTS from the Fund for New Jersey, the Houston Endowment, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. About Managing Nonprofit Groups VOTER TURNOUT SURGED this election, and charities, which can take at least some of the credit, are looking to build on their registration and mobilization efforts. THE APPARENT KILLING of a CARE official in Iraq has left relief agencies both saddened and anxious about what it means for their future operations. NEARLY HALF THE CHARITIES responding to a recent survey said they had made changes in their procedures in response to the 2004 Sarbanes-Oxley Act governing publicly traded companies. VACANCIES IN SENIOR MANAGEMENT are going unfilled at many charities, a study by a nonprofit recruiter has found. PERSONNEL ISSUES can become overwhelming for small nonprofit groups, prompting a growing number of them to set up their own human-resources departments. THREE PITTSBURGH CHARITIES joined forces to form a shared human-resources operation, saving time and headaches for staff members and money for the organizations. A PRIVATE OFFICE or access to a conference room is a must for a personnel director, experts in the field say; other tips for charities setting up human-resources departments for the first time. WORRIES ABOUT INVESTIGATIONS of charities and foundations by Congress and the Internal Revenue Service dominated much of Independent Sector's annual meeting, in Chicago. RUNNING A LOCAL RED CROSS CHAPTER in Minnesota taught Mason Hollifield something about crisis management; in retirement, he'll keep using those skills as a disaster-relief volunteer for the Red Cross (Exit Interview). VIRGINIA'S SUPREME COURT has ruled that charities can be sued when they are accused of making serious errors resulting from extreme negligence. A FEDERAL COURT in California has frozen the assets of a San Diego charity accused by the Justice Department of being an improper tax shelter for contributors (Tax Watch). SEVERAL NONPROFIT GROUPS have won awards for their creative use of technology. THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE said a charity broke the law when it administrated a payroll-deduction plan that allowed its employees to contribute voluntarily to a political-action committee. REPORTS ON CHARITIES by the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance. About Technology THE FUND-RAISING TECHNOLOGY COMPANY Kintera is purchasing a provider of accounting software for nonprofit groups. MANY COLLEGES are starting to make annual-fund appeals via e-mail. FREE SPAM-FILTERING SOFTWARE will be made available to charities on a single day in December. SEVERAL NONPROFIT GROUPS have won awards for their creative use of technology. Also in This Issue OPINION: Hugh B. Price urges nonprofit groups to mobilize on behalf of America's working people; Leslie Lenkowsky outlines what the "ownership society" envisioned by President Bush might mean for philanthropy. LETTERS: on efforts to stop a World Bank project in China, and on the decision by the American Civil Liberties Union to forsake Ford Foundation support rather than sign a grant agreement containing an antiterrorism clause. BOOKS: An examination of efforts to get Americans more involved in civic affairs, a guide on human-resource policies, a handbook on legal issues, and summaries of other publications on raising big gifts, getting grants for international programs, and filling out informational tax returns. PRESS CLIPPINGS: Fortune looks at the Walton family's giving; Town & Country examines philanthropy by women. PEOPLE: Appointments and promotions in the nonprofit world. AWARDS: Honors for people and organizations in philanthropy.