Items relevant to more than one category may appear more than once in this summary. From the issue dated February 9, 2006 About Giving and Grant Makers PAY RAISES in 2005 for foundation employees stayed just ahead of inflation, according to a Council on Foundations report, and also bested the increases seen by U.S. workers overall. A STUDY OF FOUNDATION EXPENSES conducted by the Urban Institute found that community funds spend a greater portion of their budget on overhead than other types of foundation do. BETTING all its grant money on a single effort — strengthening youth-development groups — the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in 2000 embarked on a radical makeover that may be starting to yield results. CITIZEN SCHOOLS, a Boston after-school program that is one of the youth groups supported by the Clark Foundation, has benefited almost as much from the grant maker's management advice as from its money. WITH LITTLE EVIDENCE to show that the Clark Foundation's programs were working, Michael Bailin, who took over as president in 1996, led an overhaul of the group's grant making that has focused on accountability. MY TURN, a Massachusetts charity that grooms struggling teenagers for the world of work, went through a rigorous process to qualify for a Clark grant, and must show evidence of success in order to keep it. THREE HIGHER-EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS have received gifts of $100-million or more. THE FOUNDER OF LANDS' END has given $42-million to the University of Chicago; other recent gifts. FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: Clear Path International, a Vermont group, helps victims of land mines in Vietnam. RECENT GRANTS by foundations, corporations, and other grant makers. About Fund Raising DONATING TIME SHARES is gaining popularity among owners unable to unload them and charities looking for new revenue. But the real-estate gifts are not guaranteed moneymakers. A COMPANY ACCUSED of using deceptive tactics in running direct-mail sweepstakes for charities has agreed to a $400,000 settlement with 19 states. CHARITY REGULATORS in four states have issued reports on fund-raising campaigns run by paid solicitors that show mixed results for the nonprofit groups that hire them. 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 PROMOTING AN OPEN SOCIETY in Russia has proved dicey for a Moscow charity whose finances have been repeatedly investigated and whose founder is in prison: an interview with Open Russia's program director. A NEW LAW IN RUSSIA governing nonprofit organizations has drawn fire from international charities that say it could severely hamper the work of civil-society groups. THE SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE is looking into whether the board members for a group of Oklahoma trusts are paid too much. HOSPITALS IN ILLINOIS are worried about proposed state legislation that would require them to spend 8 percent of their operating costs on charity care or lose their tax exemption (Tax Watch). MASSACHUSETTS LAWMAKERS have rejected a bill to force churches and other houses of worship to file the same financial reports that are required of other charities (Tax Watch). THE NEW LEADER of the Triangle Community Foundation, in North Carolina, brings with her a wealth of lobbying experience, especially on Latino issues (New on the Job). About Technology A CHARITY IN PORTLAND, ORE., helps doctors communicate with foreign-language-speaking patients by arranging teleconferences with interpreters in any of 150 different languages. WHAT USE IS TECHNOLOGY ASSISTANCE to nonprofit groups? A three-year study led by NPower and the Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network will investigate the question. IN A NEW BOOK, a former foundation official looks at how charities can effect social change using information technology. TECHNOLOGY BITS: The Blackbaud charity-software company has acquired a small fund-raising business; a new report shows how nonprofit groups have integrated technology into their work; and free workshops on computer security are available to groups in two California counties. Also in This Issue OPINION: Phil Buchanan touts the wisdom of a rare business expert who understands the difference between for-profit and nonprofit; and William A. Schambra enumerates the bad habits that foundations are prey to. PEOPLE: Appointments and promotions in the nonprofit world.