A Target employee reads to students at an elementary school in Minneapolis.

Bob Riha Jr., for The Chronicle

Jack Mayer, of the Salvation Army's Los Angeles affiliate, is seeking new ways to raise money after United Way trimmed its longstanding grants to the group.

Jackson Hill, for The Chronicle

Shantrelle P. Lewis returned to her hometown of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to head a museum.

From the issue dated August 21, 2008 About Corporate Grant Makers GIVING BY U.S. BUSINESSES is likely to remain flat this year as the jumpy economy eats into companies' profits and new charitable projects are put on hold, the annual Chronicle survey of corporate philanthropy finds. MORE CORPORATE DONATIONS are headed overseas, a trend that will only grow as more companies expand their business operations to foreign countries. THINK BEYOND CASH and be creative in the way you ask for help: tips for soliciting corporate donations in a weak economy. MOST BUSINESS EXECUTIVES believe the American public wants their companies to do more than they have in the past to help solve social problems, a new study has found. About Gifts and Giving ON HIS TRIP TO AFRICA, Bill Clinton was greeted like a rock star, but he also showed that he is a philanthropist unafraid to get his hands dirty. PRAISE THE LORD and skip the service: Churches in one Texas town shortened or canceled services on a recent Sunday to allow the faithful to take part in a community effort to spruce up local schools. PEOPLE WHO USE THEIR CARS for volunteer work could get a larger tax break on the expense if any of a dozen bills on the matter now before Congress succeeds (Tax Watch). HEDGE-FUND MANAGERS would get a hefty new tax deduction for charitable donations under bills proposed in both the House and the Senate as a way to promote giving (Tax Watch). THE FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: Flashes of Hope, a charity in Cleveland, arranges for professional photographers to take pictures of children undergoing treatment for cancer and other potentially fatal illnesses. RECENT GIFTS to nonprofit organizations and institutions. RECENT GRANTS by foundations, corporations, and other grant makers. About Fund Raising UNITED WAY'S NEW APPROACH to grant making has charities around the country scrambling to replace money they no longer receive because their work doesn't fit the organization's aims. IN CONCENTRATING THEIR EFFORTS on three measurable goals, United Ways hope to increase their fund raising — which has been stagnant in recent years — in particular by attracting new donors. THE NATURAL DISASTERS that shook China and Myanmar in May have so far prompted $110-million in donations to American charities, and some groups have already begun raising money to help people uprooted by the conflict in Georgia. A NEW PRODUCT developed to help charities solicit planned gifts has prompted concerns among fund raisers about whether it violates the privacy of donors. INTEREST RATES for planned gifts, issued by the Internal Revenue Service. UPDATE ON CAMPAIGNS for endowments, capital improvements, and other needs. About Managing Nonprofit Groups A CHARITY'S PLAN to sell donated industrial property to raise $100-million for a Christian business school proved too ambitious: In July it laid off all of its 50 employees, who had not been paid in nearly two months. A VOLUNTARY ACCREDITATION PROGRAM to vet Muslim charities is aimed at restoring public trust in the groups and protecting them from unfair government scrutiny. THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE has published proposed rules covering gifts of cash and property, and issued guidelines related to the tax exemption of groups that maintain donor-advised funds (Tax Watch). CONVIO, a company that provides Web-based software for charities, has decided to withdraw its bid to go public, blaming the unfavorable market. A KEY NONPROFIT SPECIALIST for the Senate Finance Committee, Kristin Bailey, will temporarily leave her job with the committee to work for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign (Tax Watch). EXPERIENCE CORPS, a program begun in 1995 to tap older people as tutors for poor schoolchildren, is preparing to set itself up as a separate charity independent of its parent organization, Civic Ventures. About Careers in the Nonprofit World YOUNG PEOPLE FLOCKED to New Orleans to help out after the disastrous 2005 hurricanes, and to some extent the pace of the city's recovery depends on how many of them stay. IN ITS SEARCH for a new chief executive, the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations says it has found the right combination of qualities and skills in Sister Melanie Guste, a Catholic nun and native of Louisiana with experience managing social programs (New on the Job). PEOPLE: Appointments and promotions in the nonprofit world. Also in This Issue OPINION: Allison Fine urges charities to take advantage of all the millennial generation has to offer; Leslie Lenkowsky defends Leona M. Helmsley's right to devote most of her multibillion-dollar estate to the care of dogs; and Pablo Eisenberg thinks United Way's new approach to raising and distributing money is worth trying.