Items relevant to more than one category may appear more than once in this summary. From the issue dated November 23, 2006 About Gifts and Giving WHO'S MORE CHARITABLE? A new book says research data show that liberals are less likely than conservatives to open their wallets for a good cause. MOST COMPANIES RECOGNIZE that support for charity can be good for business, says a Conference Board report, but few have developed a strategy to capitalize on the connection. A TRUSTEE of Florida International University rescinded a $20-million pledge and resigned from the board after the institution refused his request to spread out payment of the gift. THINK GLOBALLY, ACT GENEROUSLY  — that was among the messages conveyed to wealthy philanthropists at a gathering in Little Rock, Ark., held to honor the people on The Chronicle's list of most-generous donors. SIX RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS will each receive $20-million plus real-estate stock to set up centers for the study of cancer. YALE UNIVERSITY has received $60-million for science facilities; other recent gifts to nonprofit organizations and institutions. THE FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: All Saints Catholic School has recruited its students to record children's stories to entertain young cancer patients at a local hospital. About Grant Makers DAVID ROCKEFELLER will cap his philanthropic career with a pledge of $225-million to the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. RECENT GRANTS by foundations, corporations, and other grant makers. SUMMARIES OF ANNUAL REPORTS from the Atlantic Philanthropies, the Houston Endowment, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. About Fund Raising HOLDING ON TO DONORS alienated by aggressive marketing techniques has become a problem for charities, prompting some of them to change the way they interact with contributors. STUDIES CONFIRM that when donors stop giving, it's most often because they don't like the way they are treated by the groups they support. 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 WITH CONGRESS in the hands of Democrats come January, charities are less likely to see more regulations governing their operations or new tax incentives for charitable giving. PROPERTY-TAX EXEMPTIONS granted to nonprofit groups cost the nation's largest cities upwards of $1.5-billion a year, according to a Chronicle analysis of municipal tax records. THE POWER OF ADVERTISING to change people's behavior for the better is evident in an exhibit of public-service announcements at the New York Public Library. A BREAST-CANCER SURVIVOR, the new head of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation leapt at the chance to join an organization that had offered her comfort and support. REPORTS ON CHARITIES by the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance. About Technology VOTES BY INTERNET USERS helped the National Trust for Historic Preservation decide how to distribute $1-million in grants to historic sites in the San Francisco Bay Area. THE MACARTHUR FOUNDATION plans to spend $50-million over the next five years to explore how the tools of the digital age affect the way teenagers live and learn. YOUNG FILMMAKERS in the developing world have been enlisted to create short videos about their countries that a Washington charity will then distribute as open-source material on the Internet. TECHNOLOGY BITS: GuideStar is offering a free trial to help federal workers learn more about charities they might want to support through the government's annual charity drive; charities have until December 15 to enter a contest for outstanding Web sites. Also in This Issue OPINION: Leslie Lenkowsky on what's in store for charities under the new Democratic Congress; Mark Kramer on the hallmarks of an effective donor; and Joanne Edgar on the power of stories to explain the work foundations do. LETTERS: on criticizing changes at the American Red Cross, urging beefed-up IRS oversight of charities and foundations, and explaining a missed deadline. BOOKS: A handbook for trustees of nonprofit groups, a memoir of an oil heiress who became an activist and philanthropist, a look at the political divide in charitable giving, and summaries of other publications on winning arts grants and a sampling of policies that nonprofit groups can adapt for their own needs. PEOPLE: Appointments and promotions in the nonprofit world. AWARDS: Honors for organizations and people in philanthropy.