Items relevant to more than one category may appear more than once in this summary. From the issue dated May 31, 2007 About Endowments ENDOWMENTS in the fourth annual Chronicle survey of university, foundation, and other charity endowment funds achieved earnings gains of 11.7 percent. HEDGE FUNDS make up a bigger and bigger share of nonprofit investment portfolios, boosting the returns of the largest endowments, but their luster may begin to fade. MOST COLLEGES GOT A C+ or worse on a report card issued by a nonprofit group to grade the impact of university endowments on the environment. MOST BOARDING AND DAY SCHOOLS now see endowments as an important way to help pay faculty salaries and provide student aid, according to a new study. About Gifts and Giving WORKING FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT early in his career energized Samuel J. Heyman and inspired him to create a charity that works to promote the importance of public service. THE PARTNERSHIP FOR PUBLIC SERVICE tries to practice what it preaches, attempting to be the kind of efficient, creative organization it urges government agencies to be. THE $25-MILLION DONATION Samuel and Ronnie Heyman made to start the Partnership for Public Service may have been their largest charitable gift, but it was far from their only one. T. BOONE PICKENS has given two Texas institutions $50-million each, with one string attached — they must increase the gift tenfold before they spend any of it. GREENPEACE AND THE SALVATION ARMY have settled a dispute over their respective shares of a $264-million bequest. GIVING CIRCLES  — groups of people who pool money and decide how to give it away — distributed an estimated $13-million to charities in 2006, according to a new survey. PRIVATE DONATIONS sent from the United States to poor countries overseas topped $95-billion in 2005, three times the amount of government aid to developing nations, according to the Hudson Institute. AN ART COLLECTION valued at $100-million has been promised to the Colby College Museum of Art, in Maine, by two of the museum's trustees. THE CULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA has received a pledge of $35-million from a businessman; other recent gifts to nonprofit organizations. DAVID LYNCH, the filmmaker who brought us the dark worlds of Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks, directs his philanthropy to the teaching of Transcendental Meditation. THE FACE OF PHILANTHROPY: A Seattle group, Bridges to Understanding, teaches schoolchildren around the world how to compile digital videos about their heritage. About Fund Raising FUND-RAISING DATABASES are becoming a popular tool to give development officials a way to compare their own groups' money-raising efforts with those of similar charities. WITH A PINCH OF KITCHEN SENSE and a dollop of community spirit, women — and increasingly men — have been putting together cookbooks for charity since the Civil War. 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 WHEN TRUSTEES FAIL to carry their weight, sometimes it's necessary to start from scratch: how some charities have managed to rebuild their boards. A THIRD OF U.S. CHARITIES anticipate a financially stressful year ahead, according to a poll by the Johns Hopkins Listening Post Project. THE STATE OF NEW YORK has recovered $1.9-million from officials of the William T. Morris Foundation, settling a claim that the officials had been overpaid. ARTS GROUPS PUMPED $166.2-billion into the U.S. economy in 2005, including the money spent by people who attend arts events, says a report from Americans for the Arts. THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE is investigating a tax scheme involving the donation of a type of property lease to charity (Tax Watch). RULES INVOLVING A NEW LAW that regulates how charities report income unrelated to their mission have been released by the Internal Revenue Service (Tax Watch). INFORMAL GUIDELINES explaining what charities need to report to the Internal Revenue Service concerning their officials have been posted on the tax agency's Web site (Tax Watch). WRITE-OFFS: A federal agency is cracking down on charities that offer housing down payments to the needy; a federal watchdog unit says the Internal Revenue Service needs to figure out a way to assess whether hospitals deserve their tax-exempt status; and a new guide shows donors how to determine the value of items they give to charity (Tax Watch). CONTRARY TO POPULAR THINKING, many radio and television charity ads air during key viewing and listening hours, a new study indicates. TWO OUT OF THREE CHARITIES make no effort to test whether their marketing is effective, a recent online survey suggests. JACK MCGUIRE, the interim chief executive of the American Red Cross, who failed to win the position permanently, will leave the organization in July. WITHOUT A CAREER PLAN but always with the aim of helping poor people, Sherece Y. West went into philanthropy and will take over this month as head of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation (New on the Job). TRAVELING UP THE EAST COAST by foot and kayak, two friends and fellow adventurers hope to raise money for the Waterkeeper Alliance and call attention to the need to protect America's coastlines. REPORTS ON CHARITIES by the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance. About Technology A NEW ONLINE GIVING SITE introduces a social element into charitable giving and political advocacy. TWO WEB SITES allow donors to contribute to specific projects, instead of providing unrestricted support to charities. TECHNOLOGY BITS: A conference in Houston will discuss municipal Wi-Fi and broadband projects, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has started an online site about the world's 1.8 million species of animals, plants, and other forms of life. About Continuing Education ACADEMIC PROGRAMS IN NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT have grown increasingly common, as more and more charities seek credentialed employees. THE VALUE OF CONTINUING EDUCATION for charity leaders is a matter of some disagreement: excerpts from conversations with five executive recruiters. FAITH AND SPIRITUALITY can go just so far when it comes to handling budgets and employees; some universities have answered the call with programs in management for church leaders. About Grant Makers CORPORATE FOUNDATIONS gave a record amount to charity in 2006, though their philanthropy grew at a slower pace than in the previous year, the Foundation Center reports. A $100-MILLION FOUNDATION will be divided into two, one in Mississippi and one in Tennessee, as part of the settlement of a three-year legal battle. THE WINNERS OF AN UNUSUAL CONTEST received a total of $12-million in grants from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to create innovative digital ways for people to get the news. RECENT GRANTS by foundations, corporations, and other grant makers. SUMMARIES OF ANNUAL REPORTS from the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Trust, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Also in This Issue OPINION: Robert Egger thinks it's time charities got involved in the presidential race; and Peter M. Ascoli tracks the history of the Julius Rosenwald Fund, the first major U.S. grant maker to set a sunset date. BOOKS: A guide to grant-proposal writing, a biography of Brooke Astor, a guide to moving from the business world to a nonprofit career, and summaries of other publications about how grant makers can promote social change and racial equity. PRESS CLIPPINGS: Nature dissects the ability of philanthropy to drive medical research; and Town & Country explores the "power of giving." PEOPLE: Appointments and promotions in the nonprofit world. AWARDS: Honors for people and organizations in philanthropy.