Alberto Ibargüen, head of the Knight Foundation, seeks ideas from charities and the public to shape its giving.

Photograph by Phelan M. Ebenhack, for The Chronicle

Holly Duncan, a fund raiser at a Florida hospital, says the bad economy has forced her organization to lay off several development staff members.

Photograph by Chris Hondros

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, of New York, is taking a creative approach to helping charities weather the financial storm.

From the issue dated July 23, 2009 About Giving THE KNIGHT FOUNDATION, under the leadership of Alberto Ibargüen, takes an unorthodox approach to grant making, most notably in its grant "challenges," largely in the service of reviving the ailing news business. A DONOR who rescinded a $20-million pledge to Florida International University for its medical school has decided to give the money to the institution after all. AS ITS LEADERSHIP CHANGES HANDS, the Connect U.S. Fund is also entering a new phase, adjusting its advocacy of a progressive foreign-policy agenda to a more sympathetic administration in Washington. WITH CREDIT-CARD DEBT MOUNTING, charities that offer credit counseling face financial troubles of their own trying to keep up with the demand for help and advice. A CUTTING-EDGE PARTNERSHIP between a university and a charity puts federal money to work helping farmers and ranchers with disabilities stay on the land. THE FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: Horses in the Hood teaches horseback riding -- and communications skills -- to kids in Los Angeles's impoverished neighborhoods. RECENT GRANTS by foundations, corporations, and other grant makers. RECENT GIFTS to nonprofit organizations and institutions. EMERGENCY GRANTS announced by foundations and corporations. About Managing STATE GOVERNMENTS are struggling to balance their budgets, leaving charities that rely on state contracts for much of their revenue braced for a potentially dismal financial future. IN NEW YORK CITY, the Bloomberg administration is unusually attuned to the needs of charities and has taken steps to make their lives a little easier — a model many nonprofit leaders hope other cities will emulate. SAN FRANCISCO'S BUDGET DEFICIT prompted the formation of a body of experts that has recommended ways charities might boost their operations to cope with the recession, and ways the city might help them. SYNAGOGUES AND JEWISH CHARITIES in the Milwaukee area banded together to form a health plan that provides insurance coverage for employees at a far better rate than most small groups can get on their own. PRESIDENT OBAMA announced that he would dispatch a group of White House officials around the country to identify promising nonprofit endeavors, as part of the administration's efforts to promote social innovation. SEVEN IN 10 CHARITIES are shifting the allocation of their invested assets in response to the steep losses of the last year, according to a poll conducted by an investment-management company. BOOKS: A prescription for applying market techniques to philanthropy in a quest to better solve social problems; a guide for helping chief executives work with their boards, a volunteer's memoir of humanitarian work in Sudan, and essays from philanthropists designed to pass knowledge to the next generation of grant makers. About Fund Raising AS DEVELOPMENT OFFICES run out of ways to economize in the face of the protracted recession, even fund raisers, usually the last people charities lay off, are losing their jobs. SHIFTING STAFF MEMBERS to other positions and training them to handle a variety of tasks are among the ways fund-raising teams are limiting the threat of job cuts. IN A SPARE BASEMENT CONFERENCE ROOM in Baltimore, fund raisers at small local charities gather monthly to help one another handle the difficulties of working for organizations with limited budgets and staffs. UPDATE ON CAMPAIGNS for endowments, capital improvements, and other needs. INTEREST RATES for planned gifts, issued by the Internal Revenue Service. About Technology TO ATTRACT YOUNG AUDIENCES, the Seattle Opera conceived a video and blogging project called Confessions of a First-Time Operagoer, hosted by a 19-year-old who offers her impressions of an unfamiliar art form (Innovations). TEXT MESSAGING is the cornerstone of a new program to help farmers and villagers in Uganda. A NEW SERVICE THAT USES GOOGLE MAPS shows grant makers where their money could make the greatest difference -- or what areas have been overlooked. TECHNOLOGY BITS: JustGive.org has raised $100-million online since its founding in 2000; grass-roots activists will meet in October to discuss technology. About Philanthropy Careers FROM SELLING CHILDREN'S SHOES, Jerry Silverman learned the value of listening, a skill he intends to bring to his leadership of United Jewish Communities (New on the Job). LEGACIES: GARY A. TOBIN, a researcher on Jewish philanthropy who often pushed conventional wisdom, died at age 59. AWARDS: Honors for people and organizations in philanthropy. PEOPLE: Appointments and promotions in the nonprofit world. Opinion STEPHEN ISAACS AND PAUL JELLINEK say working together would enhance foundations' impact on the outcome of the federal health-care overhaul. WILLIAM A. SCHAMBRA suggests that, despite their dismissal of the NBC series, philanthropy professionals might have something to learn from The Philanthropist. PABLO EISENBERG chastises progressives for staying silent in the face of problems at the Corporation for National and Community Service.