Jennifer Moore

In the latest Philanthropy This Week, a Chronicle podcast, you can hear top officials from Catholic Charities USA, the Humane Society of the United States, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Salvation Army speak about the state of year-end giving at their organizations and how they’re trying to encourage Americans to donate.

The Internal Revenue Service has announced its annual changes affecting charitable deductions when charities provide low-cost premiums to contributors in fund-raising campaigns, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Plus:

• The tax agency has released a “compliance guide” for charities that discusses the activities that could jeopardize an organization’s tax-exempt status.

• The number of charitable organizations that filed federal informational tax returns rose from 286,615 in 2005 to 301,214 in 2006, an increase of 5.1 percent, according to a newly released report from the Internal Revenue Service.

JPMorgan Chase & Company damaged its brand by not being more open about its $5-million Facebook contest for charities, writes the founder of a start-up Web company in San Francisco, as noted in Give and Take, The Chronicle’s roundup of the most-interesting posts about the nonprofit world.

Plus:

• Suggestions for improving online competitions for philanthropic money.

• Weighing the value of celebrity endorsements.

• The view that the Obama administration has overlooked small charities.

• How the social-media tool Twitter can help homeless services.

The Corporation for National and Community Service today released a long-awaited draft notice spelling out how it will award grants under the $50-million Social Innovation Fund, reports Government and Politics Watch, The Chronicle’s online column.

Data from the online fund-raising company Convio confirm what many nonprofit groups have long suspected: Donors make more online gifts on December 31 than any other day of the year, notes The Chronicle’s Prospecting column.