Microsoft Corp.

Billionaire Warren Buffett said philanthropists must be prepared for some efforts to fail, and that major charitable initiatives are taking too little risk if they meet their goals every time.

“Intelligent charity, big-time charity should tackle things where it’ll fail,” Buffett, 80, said Tuesday at a press conference in Bangalore, India. “If you succeed in everything you’re doing in charity, you’re attempting things that are too easy.”

From a Lady Gaga prayer bracelet to special sushi rolls at restaurants, the disaster in Japan has led to a rash of relief efforts.

But as consumers become increasingly skeptical of cause-related marketing, celebrities, organizations and major marketers have to walk a fine line, trying to help without appearing to exploit the tragedy for profits.

With an estimated 440,000 people living in shelters following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan on Friday, contributions from corporations have outpaced those from individuals and are on track to surpass corporate support for disaster relief efforts in Haiti after that country was struck by a devastating earthquake in 2010, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center reports.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave out far less money in 2010 than anticipated because staff members were given the option of distributing some of their grant dollars in later years, according to the fund’s chief executive, Jeffrey Raikes.

The world’s largest philanthropy donated $2.6-billion last year, compared with $3-billion in 2009, because program officers decided to hold off on distributing about $500-million in grants. That money is now available for 2011.

When Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen pledged this summer to give away most of his fortune, he singled out brain science and biology as among the likely beneficiaries.

Now, the Mercer Island billionaire is following up with $9.4 million in grants to seven research teams, including two at the University of Washington.

The projects include efforts to build tiny microscopes that can peer into the living brain and to identify the neurons that control anxiety and aggression.

As the Iraq and Afghanistan wars drag on, a growing number of grant makers around the country, like the Wolslager Foundation, are paying closer attention to the vast and escalating needs of service members, veterans, and their families.

But experts working to shape and expand grant making to help service members and their families say the philanthropic response has been too small, slow, and piecemeal. They say reluctance to get involved with military causes and ignorance of the immense needs are among the reasons too few grant makers are getting involved.

Undergoing a fundraising technology upgrade or transition can be a tricky proposition. There are common traps many organizations fall into that complicate matters. The good news is there are ways to combat them.

Corporate philanthropy is changing.

Companies may allow their employees to volunteer while on the clock or reward customers for their volunteerism. Many give goods rather than cash and focus more on areas in which they have expertise. And, in what is perhaps the most profound shift, some companies are thinking more long term and aligning their philanthropy with their core business strategies looking for ways to do good at the same time they improve their bottom lines.

Microsoft is vastly expanding its efforts to prevent governments from using software piracy inquiries as a pretext to suppress dissent. It plans to provide free software licenses to more than 500,000 advocacy groups, independent media outlets and other nonprofit organizations in 12 countries with tightly controlled governments, including Russia and China. With the new program in place, authorities in these countries would have no legal basis for accusing these groups of installing pirated Microsoft software.

Microsoft has announced the expansion of Elevate America, a community initiative that aims to provide twenty-first century technology skills to people in need of employment.

Through the initiative, the software giant will provide $4 million in cash and $6 million in software and technology skills-training support over the next two years to organizations working to develop scalable programs that respond to the skills-training needs of people across the country.