Marc Fest, an Internet entrepreneur and former journalist, oversees the Knight foundation's efforts to use new media to share stories.

Rick Friedman, for The Chronicle

Earl Martin Phalen has successfully persuaded grant makers to give his organization money with no strings.

Rick Olivier, for The Chronicle

Patricia A. Jones founded a neighborhood group that is helping rebuild a part of New Orleans that was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

From the issue dated May 1, 2008 About Fund Raising OPERATING SUPPORT is the holy grail of grant seeking, and many charities — growing more assertive and businesslike in their approaches to foundations — are beginning to raise more money for basic needs. EXPERTS ADVISE charities seeking operating support to be persistent and to spell out in detail the results it can get: tips for procuring such grants. CHARITY AUCTIONS are fun, says Bob Levey, who's handled the gavel at a fair number of them, but they seem to be losing their fizz as money makers. INTEREST RATES for planned gifts, issued by the Internal Revenue Service. UPDATE ON CAMPAIGNS for endowments, capital improvements, and other needs. About Grant Makers GRANT MAKERS' COMMUNICATIONS with the public are growing increasingly sophisticated, as foundations begin to make use of new Web technologies for getting their message out. THE OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE makes use of a variety of online media, including audio reports, film, blogs, and even Facebook, to educate the public about the issues that are high on its agenda. THE TEAGLE FOUNDATION has moved to paperless communication, putting most of its reports and research papers online in the hope of making a bigger impact on higher education. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE and assemble a staff with a variety of skills: tips for communicating in the complex world of Web 2.0. EIGHTY GRANT MAKERS will be honored next week by the Council on Foundations for outstanding communications efforts. RECENT GRANTS by foundations, corporations, and other grant makers. NEWLY ANNOUNCED grant programs. About Managing Nonprofit Groups THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S INTENTION to expand a program to screen foreign-aid workers for terrorist ties has international charities worried. HIGH FOOD AND FUEL PRICES and a weak dollar have severely hampered the efforts of charities that work overseas. THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION would get authority to regulate the activities of nonprofit groups under a provision in a bill now in Congress to extend the agency's life. NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS have been at the heart of recovery efforts in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina, offering residents help in getting information, rebuilding their homes, and even buying fresh produce. WHEN A CITY COMMISSION recommended that the Broadmoor area of New Orleans not be rebuilt after the hurricane, the neighborhood association sprang into action to save it. IN THE LOWER NINTH WARD, the area hardest hit by the flooding that followed Katrina, a neighborhood group begun just two years ago has already helped 1,200 residents apply for disaster assistance. BACKGROUND CHECKS on volunteers are inadequate at many charities, a pair of reports suggest, potentially putting the organizations and the people they serve at risk. VERMONT will soon officially recognize a new kind of business with a social agenda, a "low-profit limited-liability company," eventually clearing the way for investments by foundations. TWO SENATORS have introduced a bill that would extend a provision offering tax breaks to people who make charitable donations from their individual retirement accounts (Tax Watch). THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE says it plans "extensive efforts" to educate charities about federal restrictions on politicking by nonprofit groups (Tax Watch). THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE is looking for advice on what issues to focus on as it offers guidance to charities on tax regulations (Tax Watch). REPORTS ON CHARITIES by the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance. About Gifts and Giving TAX RETURNS released by two of the presidential contenders show that John McCain gave more than $105,000 to charity in 2007 and Barack and Michelle Obama donated more than $240,000 that year. IN HOT SPOTS AROUND THE WORLD, donors can play a key role in curbing violence and protecting human rights, participants at the Global Philanthropy Forum were told. A CO-FOUNDER OF HOME DEPOT and his wife have promised $100-million to New York University Medical Center, their second gift of that size to the institution. THE AT&T FOUNDATION announced it would devote $100-million in grants over the next four years to efforts to curb the nation's school-dropout rate. RECENT GIFTS to nonprofit organizations and institutions. THE FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: Back on My Feet, a Philadelphia charity, organizes homeless people into jogging teams and helps them get fit, stay sober, and take other steps to rebuild their lives. About Technology THE PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE who actually opened and read the e-mail messages they received from nonprofit organizations fell in 2007, according to a new study. A COMPANY that issues credit cards to small businesses has agreed to match its customers' donations to a charity that raises money for loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries. About Careers in the Nonprofit World A LONGTIME NEW YORKER, Edward Skloot, who headed the Surdna Foundation for 18 years, has moved south to Duke University to direct its Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society (New on the Job). YOUNG CHARITY WORKERS at a conference in Chicago of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network sought ways to further their careers and boost their chances for leadership roles. PEOPLE: Appointments and promotions in the nonprofit world. AWARDS: Honors for people and organizations in philanthropy. Also in This Issue OPINION: Michael Edwards on the problems with "philanthrocapitalism," Mark Rosenman and Pablo Eisenberg on California's push to promote diversity in grant making, and Joshua Horwitz on why Oprah's Big Give was a loss for the nonprofit world. LETTERS: challenging a Chronicle column on allegations against a Texas hospital and the work of American food banks. NEW BOOKS: A grant maker suggests ways for foundations to apply strategic thinking and creativity to do a better job of solving problems, a handbook for foundations on "mission-related investing," a biography of the founder of Detroit's McGregor Fund, and summaries of other publications on how foundations can ease the process of ending support to charity, how charities can avoid "founder's syndrome," and how foundations can use their power as shareholders during corporate proxy season.