Roma Kapoor is working to spread United Ways around the world.

Photograph by Najla Feanny, for The Chronicle

Allyn Yamanouchi, a former Citigroup executive, has been working at a nonprofit group as part of an attempt to make a job switch.

Photograph courtesy of CBS

CSI: NY is among the television shows that will promote volunteerism in mid-October.

From the issue dated September 17, 2009 About Managing NEARLY THREE IN FOUR Americans who responded to a recent survey reported that they had cut back on their volunteer hours since the recession struck. HEALTH-INSURANCE COSTS are becoming a major burden for U.S. charities, forcing many to cut back on coverage for employees, according to a Johns Hopkins survey. NEW STATE LAWS offer charities increased, and often much needed, flexibility in tapping their endowments in tough times. FALLING VICTIM TO THE RECESSION, some small charities have been forced to close their doors, or even declare bankruptcy. THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE has turned down suggestions that it redesign the informational tax return filed by private foundations and simplify the filing rules for small private foundations (Tax Watch). FILING FOR TAX-EXEMPT STATUS will become more expensive after January 3, when the IRS is set to raise its application fees (Tax Watch). MERGERS announced by charities. About Diversity FEW FEMALE OR MINORITY CEOS occupy the executive suite at big charities, a new Chronicle survey shows: experts suggest ways to make more room at the top. THE RECESSION has prompted diversity officers at large nonprofit organizations to take a different approach to their job. NONPROFIT WORKERS who grew up poor or working class talk about finding a place in the charity world. A NEW "COMPACT" signed by charity leaders promises more-inclusive hiring and employment practices. A "BOOT CAMP" for minority students offers them the opportunity to learn how to lead a nonprofit group in an array of roles. HOW THE NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION is using online tools to reach out to minorities. OPENING A DISCUSSION ON RACE has helped a Milwaukee youth charity become more inclusive. HOW A NONPROFIT MANAGER handled an embarrassing situation with Muslim volunteers she had taken pains to recruit. About Giving AMERICA'S TV SCREENS will be filled with volunteers the week of October 19, as dozens of national programs air episodes, news reports, and announcements featuring public service. HOLLYWOOD has put the power of prime time behind good causes before, working with the Kaiser and Gates foundations, among others, to publicize health, education, and other issues. NONCASH GIFTS donated by Americans in 2006 totaled $46.8-billion, an increase of 14 percent over the previous year, according to the Internal Revenue Service. PHILANTHROPEDIA seeks to bring expert advice about the most effective charities to donors looking for the best places to put their contributions (Innovations). MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL will establish an autism center with a $29-million gift from Nancy Lurie Marks and the family foundation that bears her name. EMERGENCY GRANTS made by foundations and corporations to meet recession needs. THE FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: Native Texas plants take center stage at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. About Technology THE REACH OF FACEBOOK turned a random act of kindness into a fund-raising windfall for a California food bank. THE SALVATION ARMY has taken its online annual report to a new level, incorporating video — including testimonials from groups the organization has helped — throughout the document. THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY to improve children's health is the subject of a new report from two California charities. About Fund Raising FUND RAISING WITHOUT BORDERS: To meet growing needs, more and more U.S. charities are extending their efforts to attract donations around the globe. THE WORLD WILDLIFE FUND has set in motion a new training system designed to improve fund raising by each of the charities in its global network. FORSAKE CLEANLINESS FOR CHARITY! A nonprofit group in Texas raised $23,000 this summer with a fund-raising appeal that recruited volunteers to go on a "shower strike." PEOPLE SKITTISH ABOUT ONLINE DATING may be reassured by a new Web site that combines charitable giving with finding that certain someone (Innovations). About Philanthropy Careers RETRAINING PROGRAMS are a natural magnet for business professionals hoping to move into nonprofit work, but the charity jobs they seek are increasingly scarce. COMMUNITY COLLEGES are playing a role in helping midcareer employees switch to charity work. WANTING A "FAMILIAR HAND" in control of its assets, the Ford Foundation has named Eric Doppstadt, a longtime member of its investment team, as its chief investment officer (New on the Job). KENNETH BACON, who has died at 64, was president of Refugees International and an effective advocate of people displaced by violence (Legacies). Opinion: Vince Stehle worries that the Office for Social Innovation will prove a distraction from other sources of new ideas; Pablo Eisenberg thinks the White House, in its attempts to promote social innovation, has strayed from President Obama's community-organizing roots; Robert Ross argues that diversity will not be achieved simply by reporting information about race; H. Woods Bowman warns charities to be cautious about dipping into endowments in an emergency; Ralph DeJong and Michael Peregrine suggest that the Madoff scandal holds out yet another lesson for charities — about conflict of interest; and Tom Nelson offers nonprofit leaders some ideas about how to make the best use of an expected influx of new volunteers. Worth Reading: Fast Company spotlights the lessons Warren Buffett's children have learned in trying to give away the money passed down by their father, and American Prospect offers a foundation-financed supplement with prescriptions for fighting poverty. New Books: A look at how grant makers have accomplished social change, a pitch for a greater focus on nonprofit efforts to help women in the developing world, a grant-seeker's guide, a case for rethinking how arts patronage works, a handbook on fund raising in the recession, an account of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scam — and how he entrapped donors, and a primer on seeking big gifts from entrepreneurs.