Items relevant to more than one category may appear more than once in this summary. From the issue dated October 12, 2006 About Gifts and Giving SANFORD I. AND JOAN H. WEILL are making plans to give away the bulk of their fortune, worth more than $1-billion. THE ALVIN AILEY DANCE TROUPE has benefited not only from the financial largess of Sanford and Joan Weill, but also from Mrs. Weill's leadership and enthusiastic fund raising. MORE THAN $7-BILLION has been committed to fixing global ills through a program run by the former president Bill Clinton's foundation. THE AD COUNCIL, which normally produces public-service announcements promoting a specific charity or cause, has begun an advertising campaign simply urging Americans to give. WARREN BUFFETT has pledged $50-million to the Nuclear Threat Initiative; other recent gifts to nonprofit organizations and institutions. CHARITABLE GIVING would jump by $27.5-billion a year if every wealthy American donated at the same rate as the most-affluent people in the nation's five most-generous states, according to a new study. THE FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: Southwestern University doesn't throw out its old computers; it sends them to needy villages in Honduras, along with students and workers who can provide technical expertise. About Fund Raising ADVISING CHARITIES, not just donors, is an unusual service for community foundations, but at the Greater Green Bay fund such consulting boosts revenue and provides needed help to local groups. ALMOST SIMULTANEOUSLY, Columbia and Yale Universities and the University of Virginia announced capital campaigns seeking $3-billion or more. 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 THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE is noticeably enhancing its scrutiny of tax-exempt groups, hiring additional auditors and streamlining procedures, but some charities say the move is more likely to cause headaches than prevent abuses. WOMEN WHO LEAD nonprofit organizations continue to be paid less than men who hold similar jobs, but the difference in their paychecks is getting smaller, according to a new study. THE CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL has concluded that officials of the J. Paul Getty Trust incurred certain improper expenses but that other questionable activities did not constitute violations of the law. DASHBOARDS are not just for cars anymore. Charities are using the popular corporate tool to measure how well they are meeting their goals. SUPPORT GROUPS have become popular with nonprofit executives looking for professional advice and the company of peers — so popular that competition for a spot in one can be stiff. CREATING WANT ADS that attract good candidates in a tight job market is an art many charities struggle to master, but some groups are succeeding with new approaches. ILLINOIS HAS UPHELD a ruling that stripped a Catholic hospital in Urbana of its county property-tax exemption because it failed to provide sufficient charity care. THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT has once again revised its guidelines aimed at preventing charities from unwittingly giving their support to terrorist organizations. REPORTS ON CHARITIES by the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance. About Technology MORE DONORS may be opening e-mail appeals than some nonprofit organizations realize. PROSPECTIVE LAW STUDENTS can compare the public-interest offerings of the nation's law schools on a new Web-based guide published by Equal Justice Works and Newsweek.com. A VIRTUAL PROTEST MARCH organized by Greenpeace International was judged by the ePhilanthropy Foundation to be one of the best uses of the Internet by a nonprofit organization. TECHNOLOGY BITS: Two nonprofit organizations are sponsoring an online debate for Minnesota gubernatorial candidates; the creator of a free e-mail service for grass-roots groups has won a $10,000 prize. About Grant Makers SUSAN V. BERRESFORD has announced that she will retire as president of the Ford Foundation. RECENT GRANTS by foundations, corporations, and other grant makers. Also in This Issue OPINION: Evan Hochberg says charities should look to corporate America for more than just cash donations; and Pablo Eisenberg thinks tax deductions for gifts of part of an artwork are more like tax rip-offs. BOOKS: Essays on corporate philanthropy by chief executives of big companies, a biography of the philanthropist Andrew W. Mellon, a critical examination of charity and corporate efforts to fight breast cancer, and a guide to help nonprofit leaders deal with change, plus summaries of other publications on preventing fraud at nonprofit groups, how progressives view philanthropy, and nonprofit programs to help school dropouts. PEOPLE: Appointments and promotions in the nonprofit world. AWARDS: Honors for organizations and people in philanthropy.