Items relevant to more than one category may appear more than once in this summary. From the issue dated June 1, 2006 About Charities and Design THE QUALITY OF THE SPACE where a charity does its work can make a big difference, leading many nonprofit groups to seek the help of architects and designers. MAKING NURSING HOMES smaller, more private, and more like home is the aim of the Green House Project, in New York, which hopes to establish one such facility in every state, to serve as a model for care of the elderly. FUN IS THE FOCUS of the new children's clubhouse built by the Boys & Girls Clubs of the North Valley, in California, while its center for teenagers feels more like a lounge. NEW FRONT PORCHES were the key to creating a sense of home and community at a low-cost housing complex developed by Community Housing Partners, in Virginia. INVITE AN ARCHITECT to join your board, experts urge charities embarking on a building project, and think hard about what you want your space to achieve. THE HEALING GARDEN on the rooftop of Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, in Phoenix, was designed to be an oasis for patients and visitors alike. INTERACTIVE ART commissioned for its newly expanded facility helps the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh engage youngsters in its exhibits. STICKING TO GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS can be challenging, a Chicago environmental group discovered when it renovated an old textile factory for its headquarters. ATLANTA'S NEW AQUARIUM was designed with the priorities of scientists taking precedence over the views of architects, so it offers an unusual perspective on aquatic life. About Endowments NONPROFIT GROUPS that invested in venture capital, hedge funds, real estate, and other nontraditional approaches fared better last year than organizations that kept their money mostly in stocks, bonds, and cash, a Chronicle analysis has found. OVER THE LEAST 20 YEARS, fund raising at the Curtis Institute of Music has crescendoed, to impressive effect. WORLD VISION is one of America's largest charities, but it has only recently started an endowment. FINANCES AT DICKINSON COLLEGE looked gloomy a decade ago, until a new president turned things around. HOW NONPROFIT ENDOWMENTS have fared and how they have invested: results of a Chronicle survey of 247 institutions. About Gifts and Giving TULANE UNIVERSITY is the object of a lawsuit charging that its plan to merge two undergraduate colleges fails to honor the wishes of the donor whose gift established one of them. STANFORD UNIVERSITY has received $100-million from a real-estate developer; other recent gifts to nonprofit organizations and institutions. FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: Riders for Health, a British charity, provides mechanic services and training for government and nonprofit health workers who rely on motorbikes to deliver care and medicine to people in remote regions of Africa. About Fund Raising FORGET THE CHINA AND SILVERWARE: More and more engaged couples, with the help of online giving sites, are asking guests for donations to charity instead of traditional wedding presents. THE SUPREME COURT has refused to consider a case brought by two Maryland charities challenging federal-government restrictions on telemarketers. UPDATE ON CAMPAIGNS for endowments, capital improvements, and other needs. INTEREST RATES for planned gifts, issued by the Internal Revenue Service. About Grant Makers THE WHITAKER FOUNDATION, the pre-eminent supporter of research and teaching in biomedical engineering, will close its doors in June, but has taken steps to see that the work it started won't founder. CORPORATE GRANT MAKERS remain committed to using their philanthropy to improve the bottom line, according to a survey by the Conference Board. RECENT GRANTS by foundations, corporations, and other grant makers. About Managing Nonprofit Groups THE UNITED WAY in Washington is once again under a cloud, facing allegations that its chief executive inflated the amount of money raised in its 2004-5 campaign. TRUSTEES OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITY have approved a sweeping overhaul of their operations in response to the spending scandal last fall involving the institution's former president, Benjamin Ladner. AN ANTIPROSTITUTION PLEDGE that the federal government required of charities that receive government grants to fight AIDS has been struck down by a federal judge. MAJOR LEGISLATION to encourage charitable giving and curb abuses by nonprofit groups is given a slim chance of passage this year, unless members of Congress can reach a compromise (Tax Watch). SEVEN REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS in recent years forwarded complaints to the Internal Revenue Service about the tax-exempt status of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Tax Watch). THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE is set to revoke the tax-exempt status of 41 groups that counsel people who have amassed burdensome debts (Tax Watch). About Technology INTEL HAS ANNOUNCED it will commit $1-billion over the next five years to expanding computer access in developing countries. A NEW WEB SITE developed by the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers features articles and studies on recent trends in philanthropy. GOVERNMENT REGULATORS could have an easier time locating information about charities' finances through an online service to be inaugurated by GuideStar in July. A CONFERENCE CALL FOR GRANT MAKERS this month, sponsored by the Innovation Funders Network, will take up the topic of "net neutrality." TECHNOLOGY BITS: A new resource on the expected shortage of nonprofit leaders has been put online, and a contest on Internet fund raising and activism is accepting nominations. Also in This Issue OPINION: Robert Egger thinks if more charities went on strike, government agencies might do more to pitch in and help. LETTERS: on foundations and the power of shareholder proxies, and on charitable giving after Hurricane Katrina. BOOKS: A guide for trustees, a handbook on strategic planning, a reference tool for aspiring chief executives, and an examination of "social marketing," plus summaries of recent publications on foundation communications and how board members can best help small groups. PEOPLE: Appointments and promotions in the nonprofit world.