Items relevant to more than one category may appear more than once in this summary. From the issue dated April 20, 2006 About Gifts and Giving ADULT-LITERACY PROGRAMS face a potentially huge demand — almost half of Americans 18 and older possess only the most basic reading and math skills — but also the difficulty of selling donors on the importance of their mission. THE ACADEMY OF HOPE, in Washington, offers adult students classes in English, math, and science, as well as lots of extra help with resumes, job skills, and computers. MONEY OR TIME? It's easier to write a check than volunteer for charity, according to half the respondents in a national poll — a significant increase over the number who said that a year ago. A GIFT OF $50-MILLION to the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery will support the building of a science facility; other recent gifts to nonprofit organizations and institutions. FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: Juma Ventures, in San Francisco, trains young people in job skills. About Fund Raising PARTICIPANTS at the annual meeting of the Association of Fundraising Professionals heard reports that the gender gap in fund raisers' pay is for real and that fears of "donor fatigue" in late 2005 were largely unwarranted. DIRECT-MARKET APPEALS and other mass solicitations showed healthy gains in money raised in 2005 despite a tapering off at the end of the year, a new study has found. 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 POLITICAL OFFICE seems to be a comfortable fit for charity leaders, as more and more of them throw their hat into the ring. THE MAYOR OF PENDLETON, S.C., is also the head of the local United Way. Her juggling act requires long hours and care in avoiding possible conflicts of interest. SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS at the Skoll World Forum at Oxford University discussed how to attract money to enterprises with a social purpose, even the possibility of setting up a social stock exchange. SIXTEEN NONPROFIT GROUPS around the world have received Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. CONGRESSIONAL EARMARKS totaling $29-billion went to nearly 10,000 programs designated by lawmakers in the 2006 fiscal year, including a large number run by charities, a government-watchdog group reported. NINE U.S. AID GROUPS will work together to formulate ways to make international relief efforts more effective, former President Bill Clinton announced last week. AFTER A YEAR AND A HALF under investigation by the Internal Revenue Service, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People wants the agency to resolve its audit of the group or drop it (Tax Watch). A WATCHDOG GROUP in Washington has asked the IRS to investigate a Pennsylvania religious organization it says is improperly involved in politics (Tax Watch). WITH ACCUMULATED DEBT of $250,000 and the dismissal of its executive director for mismanaging the group's finances, the Association for Volunteer Administration has ceased operations. "A YMCA GUY" virtually all his life, Kenneth L. Gladish, who has led the national organization since 2000, nevertheless thinks six years of spearheading its growth and reorganization is enough (Exit Interview). REPORTS ON CHARITIES by the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance. About Technology A NEW WEB SITE sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation aims to better coordinate the work of volunteers following a natural disaster. THE SALE OF A DOMAIN NAME donated by a local entrepreneur netted the Boston Foundation $200,000. TECHNOLOGY BITS: A conference at the University of Massachusetts explores information technology for nonprofit groups and grass-roots organizers gather to talk about ways to connect people online and off line. About Grant Makers GRANT MAKING HIT A RECORD HIGH in 2005, $33.6-billion, but is likely to slow considerably this year, according to a Foundation Center report. THE GATES FOUNDATION is expanding its efforts to help the poor around the world by adding new grant-making programs. DEVELOPING A VACCINE against pnuemonia is the aim of a five-year, $75-million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. THE FORD FOUNDATION is the target of an inquiry by the Michigan attorney general, who thinks the grant maker should be spending more money in the state where it was founded. A FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM established by the Ford Foundation to the tune of $280-million provides scholarships for graduate study to people from developing countries, aiming to combat the global problem of "brain drain." CONSISTENCY in the information provided to grant seekers is a facet of grant makers' communications that charities particularly value, surveys by the Center for Effective Philanthropy indicate. Also in This Issue OPINION: Mark Dowie argues that grass-roots environmental groups get too little support; Leslie Lenkowsky says the Michigan attorney general's interest in the Ford Foundation should give grant makers pause; and Pablo Eisenberg questions the choice of Newt Gingrich as a speaker at the Council on Foundations' annual meeting. BOOKS: An examination of one of the biggest scandals in nonprofit history, a handbook on fiscal sponsorship, a guide for nonprofit groups that want to follow the Sarbanes-Oxley law, and summaries of other publications on matching grants, foundation giving in Los Angeles, money-raising techniques for community-organizing groups, and religious groups' efforts to help recently released prisoners. PEOPLE: Appointments and promotions in the nonprofit world. AWARDS: Honors for people and organizations in philanthropy.