Items relevant to more than one category may appear more than once in this summary. From the issue dated March 23, 2006 About Giving and Grant Makers FOUNDATION ASSETS increased modestly last year, according to a new Chronicle survey of the nation's wealthiest private foundations. AT A WHITE HOUSE CONFERENCE, President Bush urged foundations, especially those run by corporations, to devote more of their giving to religious groups. THE CHALKBOARD PROJECT, a foundation-backed effort to improve public education in Oregon, could establish a model for collaboration among grant makers. THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA has received a pledge of $23-million for its School of Fine Arts; other recent gifts to nonprofit organizations and institutions. FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: A Minneapolis theater company produces shows customized for companies that delve into issues that workers face on the job. RECENT GRANTS by foundations, corporations, and other grant makers. About Fund Raising PUBLIC-TELEVISION STATIONS are making a concerted effort, financed by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, to go after bigger gifts. TO MEASURE the success of major-gift fund raisers, many public-television stations have adopted an evaluation system devised by a development officer at Indiana University. UPDATE ON CAMPAIGNS for endowments, capital improvements, and other needs. INTEREST RATES for planned gifts, issued by the Internal Revenue Service About Managing Nonprofit Groups PAYING BACK STUDENT LOANS is especially hard for young people going into nonprofit work, making it difficult, some say, for charities to recruit and retain them. THREE IN FOUR RECENT GRADUATES working at nonprofit organizations carry some form of college debt, according to a new study. ASSETS held by charities more than doubled in the decade from 1993 to 2003, says a new report from the National Council of Nonprofit Associations. OF THE EIGHT RED CROSS TRUSTEES appointed by the White House, almost none attended the board meetings held from 2000 to 2005. STARTING A BUSINESS or money-making activity requires charities to study past efforts and focus on marketing, participants at a meeting of nonprofit and business leaders were told. THE RETIREMENT of the powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee could cheer some charities opposed to his investigations of tax-exempt groups (Tax Watch). AN INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE PANEL has made its annual revaluation of artworks given to charity or left to heirs (Tax Watch). REPORTS ON CHARITIES by the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance. PLANNED PARENTHOOD'S new president, Cecile Richards, has experience in organizing and fund raising and political credentials to spare — including a mother who is a former Democratic governor of Texas (New on the Job). About Technology AMERICA ONLINE has announced two new delivery options for nonprofit groups that will make sure the charities' e-mail messages get through to supporters. E-MAIL can play a crucial role in online fund raising, says a new book by a veteran of Internet-driven charity efforts. Also in This Issue OPINION: Mark R. Kramer on fiduciary responsibility and foundations' missed investment opportunities; and Gary D. Bass on the uneven playing field for nonprofit lobbyists. BOOKS: A guide to helping people help themselves, a collection of essays on giving in Latin America, an examination of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's programs, a look at values-driven businesses, and summaries of other publications on getting retirees to volunteer, grant making and gay causes, and how corporations and charities work together. PRESS CLIPPINGS: Worth looks at rap stars and philanthropy; and Teen People profiles 20 adolescent activists to watch. PEOPLE: Appointments and promotions in the nonprofit world. AWARDS: Honors for people and organizations in philanthropy.