News Briefing: Charities Spend Millions On Census Outreach

• The local chapter of the Make-a-Wish Foundation replaces its president after an investigation by its national headquarters into staff complaints.  [Washington Post]

• A reculsive Malaysian billionaire's extensive charity work is an example to others.  [Forbes]

• President Obama pledges a lasting commitment to Haiti.  [New York Times]

• Foundations and nonprofits take an unusually active role in trying to get an accurate census count.  [NPR]

News Briefing: Shower of Aid Brings Flood of Progress

• The Shapiro Foundation, which lost $145 million in the collapse of Madoff's scheme, has issued a series of bulletins offering to help former grant recipients find new funders, link with other groups to share resources, or find volunteers and interns.  [Boston Globe]

• The  historic preservation program Save America's Treasures is on the current administration's chopping block.  [Associated Press]

• Life in Sauri, one of the first Millennium Villages in Africa, has improved dramatically over the past five years.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: Donations from Americans for Haiti top $1 Billion

• The former chief operating officer of Catholic Charities has called on the organization to reverse its recent decision to change health benefits for employees' spouses.  [Washington Post]

• According to Charles Bronfman, the new crop of philanthropists is focusing on smaller start-up organizations and looking for ways to leverage their gifts.  [Wall Street Journal]

• Experts who track charitable giving say donations from Americans for earthquake relief in Haiti have passed the $1 billion mark.  [Associated Press]

• Giving by U.S. companies endured the worst recession in decades with mixed results as some pared back philanthropy in the face of tough times, others increased budgets, and most predicted a steady 2010.  [Reuters]

News Briefing: Older Workers Bring New Purpose to Volunteer Work

• Volunteerism is on the rise, and it is the older population that is behind it.  [New York Times]

• The Department of Education announces the 16 first-round finalists in the federal grant competition known as Race to the Top.  [New York Times]

• David Rubenstein, co-founder of the Carlyle Group, will be the next chairman of the Kennedy Center.  [Washington Post]

News Briefing: Flying Nun Leads Fund-Raising Drives for Haiti

• Sister Jane Meyer, principal at St. Agnes Academy in Houston and a Dominican sister for more than 50 years, pledged to take a 14,000-foot leap out of an airplane if her students raised $25,000 for Haiti.  [Wall Street Journal]

• The findings in what's thought to be the largest-ever survey of American teachers is released today, highlighting teacher views on what they need to help more students achieve.  [Seattle Times]

News Briefing: Same-Sex Marriage Leads Catholic Charities to Adjust Benefits

• Employees at Catholic Charities are told that the social services organization is changing its health coverage to avoid offering benefits to same-sex parters of its workers.  [Washington Post]

• Museums saw a spike in attendance last year, despite struggling financially, according to the latest data from the American Association of Museums.  [Wall Street Journal]

• A court ruling in the Bernard Madoff case may mean that Carl Shapiro, a Boston philanthropist who reaped $1 billion in profits, may have to return a portion of that money, some of which he had already pledged to nonprofits.  [Boston Globe]

News Briefing: States Move to Revoke Charities’ Tax Exemptions

• Michael Hintze, founder of hedge-fund manager CQS, is one of the public faces of philanthropy in the U.K.  [Wall Street Journal]

• Scoring charitable work is evolving from an art into a science.  [Wall Street Journal]

• Faced with steep declines in tax revenue, an increasing number of states and localities are considering eliminating various tax exemptions for nonprofit groups.  [New York Times]

• Chileans accelerate their rescue, aid, and security efforts in damaged regions Sunday.  [Washington Post]

News Briefing: Pepsi Charity Contest Trips Over Its Own Submission Rules

• Pepsi Refresh, the most ambitious so far among a number of similar contests using social networks on the Internet to riase money, stumbles over its own rules.  [New York Times]

• The Department of Defense abrubtly shuts down a program that offered grants for college or career training to military spouses.  [Associated Press]

• A new documentary about the controversial relocation of the Barnes Collection - the world's largest private collection of post-impressionist and modern art - opens today.  [Bloomberg]

• North General, a hospital in Harlem, tries to restructure itself to avoid closing.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: Ex-Madoff Executive Bonventre Arrested

• The Los Angeles Board of Education votes to reject a number of applications from charter school operators, choosing instead to hand control to nonprofit educational groups formed by teachers.  [Los Angeles Times]

• The Rev. Anthony Motley steps down as head of a nonprofit group in the wake of an investigation that concluded that he mishandled funds and manufactured documents in response to a subpoena.  [Washington Post]

• The former director of operations for Bernie Madoff's firm is arrested by FBI agents.  [Wall Street Journal]

News Briefing: Olympic Athletes and Sponsors Get Behind Philanthropy

• Olympic athletes use their voices and resources to support various causes of their own.  [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

• The Texas A&M University System is awarded a $40 million U.S. Department of Defense grant to develop vaccines made from tobacco.  [The Houston Chronicle]

• A former nonprofit director in Philadelphia is sentenced to a year and a day in prison for stealing $138,768 in federal program funds.  [Philadelphia Inquirer]

News Briefing: Actress and Muslim Philanthropist Promote Women

• Geena Davis, Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson, and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon join heads of foundations and corporate leaders at a U.N. event promoting gender equality.  [Associated Press]

• A holdout juror in the trial of Brooke Astor's son has told defense lawyers that she voted to convict him and an estate lawyer for crimes she did not believe they committed out of fear for her safety.  [New York Times]

• Roslyn M. Brock will become chairwoman of the N.A.A.C.P.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: Charity Backtracks on Brown Bullying Claim

• Two Penn State graduates are paying $9,000 for a chance to see through Hall of Fame football coach Joe Paterno's trademark glasses.  [Associated Press]

• The head of a British antibullying charity came under scrutiny Monday when she appeared to backtrack from her suggestions that staff members of U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown had complained to her charity about being bullied.  [Wall Street Journal]

News Briefing: Mount Vernon Receives $38 Million to Build Research Library

• Mount Vernon receives a $38 million grant - the largest in its history - to construck a research library on the grounds of George Washington's historic estate.  [Washington Post]

• The Philadelphia Orchestra, facing severe financial problems and searching for a music director, received some mixed reviews this week.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: U.N. Aid Chief 'Disappointed' with Haiti Earthquake Relief Efforts

• The United Nations' top humanitarian relief coordinator is "disappointed" with Haiti earthquake relief efforts.  [Washington Post]

• Google donates $2 million to the Wikimedia Foundation.  [Washington Post]

• Working with the Points of Light Foundation, Disney offers a free ticket to one of its six North American theme parks to anyone who completes a qualified day of community service.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: Citing Same-Sex Marriage Bill, Washington Archdiocese Ends Foster-Care Program

• The U.N. says that U.S. restrictions designed to stop terrorists in Somalia from diverting aid are hurting humanitarian operations.  [Associated Press]

• Honolulu may consider changing the property tax break for nonprofit organizations.  [Honolulu Advertiser]

• The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has ended its 80-year-old foster-care program in the District rather than license same-sex couples.  [Washington Post]

• The Barr Foundation will give $50 million to Boston-area nonprofits and efforts that fight climate change - one of the biggest gifts in recent years to that cause.  [Boston Globe]
  

News Briefing: University and Pickens Sue Over Fund-Raising Plan

• Oklahoma State University and T. Boone Pickens, an alumnus and one of its largest donors, have sued a life insurance company over a fundraising plan that out took policies on alumni with the aim of raising hundreds of millions of dollars.  [New York Times]

• Teach for America would lose its uncontested claim on $18 million in federal funding under an Obama administration proposal to launch a grant competition for teacher training programs.  [Washington Post]

• Federal prosecutors investigate the nonprofit group, the New Direction Local Development Corporation, and a related charity it set up to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: Small Fund-Raisers for Victims Start to Add Up

• Much of the money raised for Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake has not yet been spent.  [ABC News]

• Thousands of tiny fundraisers to gather donations for Haiti are taking place in bars, schools, and stores across the country.  [New York Times]

• Retired Goldman Sachs banker Chuck Harris brings Wall Street capital-raising methods to the nonprofit world.  [BusinessWeek]

• Reebok founder Paul Fireman sues his longtime accountant, claiming he stole $25 million from Fireman and his charity.  [Associated Press]

News Briefing: Two Charities Start Fund to Help Haitians in New York

• The Brooklyn Community Foundation and the United Way of New York City announce the start of the NYC Haitian Community Hope and Healing Fund.  [New York Times]

• The Boston Foundation raises $2 million in Haiti relief funds.  [Boston Globe]

• A federal investigation into the nonprofit group New Directions Local Development Corporation appears to widen.  [New York Times]

News Briefing: Iron Checkbook Shapes Cultural Los Angeles

• The Philadelphia Orchestra suffered unexpectedly weak ticket sales this fall, another blow in a spiraling financial crisis.  [New York Times]

• Eli Broad, billionaire philanthropist,is known to pull his support, resign from a board, or, in some cases, decline to fulfill his financial promises when a project comes together in a way he doesn't like. [New York Times]

• The weak economy forces some private colleges - including Dartmouth and Williams - to limit their student aid packages.  [Associated Press]

News Briefing: Haiti Disaster Puts Red Cross CEO to the Test

• Gail McGovern, Red Cross CEO, inherited the agency in a time of turmoil, but watchdogs say she has been a stabilizing force.  [Washington Post]

• The Chronicle of Philanthropy's list of top 50 philanthropists shows that total giving by the group plunged almost 75%.  [Wall Street Journal]

• A judge sentences Alberto Vilar to nine years in prison for his role in a $22 million fraud scheme.  [New York Times]

• Michelle Obama launches Let's Move, a nationwide campaign to fight childhood obesity.  [Associated Press]