Joel Fleishman, a scholar who has served as head of a major philanthropy, has written a much-anticipated book about foundations.

Rick Friedman, for The Chronicle

Suzy Kendrick, of the Lahey Clinic, is promoting retirement-account gifts to potential donors.

Brendan Corr/Getty Images, for The Chronicle

Megan J. Pacey, a nonprofit official in London, says a new British law has stirred debate over what groups deserve charity status.

John Harrington, for The Chronicle

Albert Ruesga, a foundation official, writes a popular blog on philanthropy.

Items relevant to more than one category may appear more than once in this summary. From the issue dated December 7, 2006 About Grant Makers THE GATES FOUNDATION has announced it has set a date for its own demise: The grant maker plans to cease operations 50 years after the last of its three current trustees dies. A "WISE ELDER" of the grant-making world, Joel Fleishman has written a book warning foundations about the consequences of their secrecy and arrogance. LOOKING TO ADD PUNCH to its giving, the U.S. philanthropic arm of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse directs most of its grants to groups that offer volunteer opportunities to its employees. RECENT GRANTS by foundations, corporations, and other grant makers. About Gifts and Giving ELIMINATING THE ESTATE TAX is unlikely to have the impact on charitable bequests that many have feared, new research suggests. PHILANTHROPIES AROUND THE WORLD are growing not only more numerous but also more sophisticated, a Ford Foundation official told grant makers and other participants at a recent conference in Bangkok. GIVING really does feel good. Researchers have shown that donating to charity activates the same brain responses that evoke the pleasurable sensations associated with sex, drugs, and food. NEW YORKERS best their fellow Americans in generosity, giving a larger share of their income to charity than the residents of any other state, according to a new study. A SURVEY of giving in 12 countries, measuring donations as a proportion of economic output, ranked the United States at the top of the list. A GIFT OF $50-MILLION will support research and patient care at the Indiana University Cancer Center; other recent gifts to nonprofit organizations and institutions. THE FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: The Maine State Society, a group that gathers people from Maine who live in the Washington metropolitan area, places wreaths at Arlington National Cemetary during the holiday season to honor military veterans. About Fund Raising A LAND RUSH with a difference: Prompted by a temporary tax incentive, owners are moving to donate easements designed to protect environmentally valuable property from development. LAND TRUSTS, the nonprofit groups that work to preserve open spaces, doubled, from 2000 to 2005, the number of acres they protect, according to a new report. LAND TRUSTS are forging ties with groups that promote low-cost housing, even though such organizations previously were often at odds with one another. A PROVISION in the new pension law allowing older Americans to make tax-free charitable donations from their individual retirement accounts has already yielded results for some nonprofit organizations. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT has lifted a key restriction on charities that wish to participate in its annual fund-raising drive. 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 BLOGS have become the latest way for people in the nonprofit world to offer criticism, share news, or just sound off about the workings of charities and foundations. SITES COVERING FUND-RAISING SNAFUS, charity governance, and what's right and wrong in philanthropy: a list of blogs recommended by the experts. KEEP IT INFORMAL, avoid the jargon, and other rules for writing blogs. BRITAIN HAS OVERHAULED its laws regulating nonprofit organizations, a development likely to lead to less government oversight of charities, not more. A BRITISH VERSION OF GUIDESTAR, a U.S. group that makes data on charities available online, went live a year ago, but faces financial difficulties and questions about whether it's needed. AMONG THE IRS'S PRIORITIES FOR 2007, the tax agency plans to investigate whether community foundations continue to meet the standards for charitable exemption (Tax Watch). THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE has issued instructions for charities for claiming refunds of taxes paid on long-distance phone calls (Tax Watch). A REPUBLICAN SENATOR has asked the IRS to investigate allegations of improper political activity by a nonprofit group that registers low-income voters (Tax Watch). TAX WRITE-OFFS: The IRS audited more than 7,000 groups in the 2006 fiscal year, and the tax agency is offering advice to so-called supporting organizations that want to change their status to become freestanding charities. (Tax Watch). THE NEW HEAD of the McKnight Foundation is the first president of the Minnesota grant maker who is not a native of the state (New on the Job). HOTLINE: Advice on how charities decide whether to recruit people from the business world, getting free legal help for a fledgling organization, and moving into grant-making work without a master's degree. THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT has refused a Dutch charity that assists victims of human-rights abuses in Russia permission to operate within the country. REPORTS ON CHARITIES by the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance. About Technology HOLIDAY SHOPPERS can contribute to the post-Katrina recovery of New Orleans through a Web site that allows visitors to order items from stores in the city and make donations to local charities. CHARITIES IN INDIA AND SAN FRANCISCO were honored for their creative use of technology to benefit society. TECHNOLOGY BITS: A Web site shows people how to volunteer to help Christian charities, the United Nations Foundation is running an online campaign to fight malaria, and librarians are swapping advice on how to deal with common glitches in computers that libraries make available for public use. Also in This Issue OPINION: Leslie Lenkowsky on Milton Friedman and his impact on philanthropy, Robert Egger on the need for charity leaders to demand serious newspaper coverage of the nonprofit world, and Mark Kramer on Joel Fleishman's new book about foundations. LETTERS: on the board's role in averting charity malfeasance, and on the right way to test the effectiveness of a direct-mail appeal. BOOKS: A guide on how to hire a chief executive for a nonprofit organization, an examination of wrongdoing by charities, a look at how family foundations are incorporating multiple generations in their giving, a handbook for trustees, and essays on the role of nonprofit groups and government. PRESS CLIPPINGS: Harvard Business Review examines corporate social responsibility; BusinessWeek ranks the most generous donors; Vanity Fair profiles Eli Broad; and Fortune lauds the success of Teach for America. PEOPLE: Appointments and promotions in the nonprofit world. AWARDS: Honors for organizations and people in philanthropy.