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In an exclusive interview with Fortune, Apple’s human resources chief Denise Young Smith said the company is partnering with several nonprofit organizations on a multiyear, multimillion-dollar effort to increase the pipeline of women, minorities and veterans in the technology industry—and, of course, at Apple.

NPR and ProPublica have been investigating the increase in so-called "wage garnishment" by credit card and other companies. For this story, we looked specifically at nonprofit hospitals and found the practice widespread in five different states around the country.

Nonprofit hospitals get huge tax breaks. In exchange, they are obligated to provide financial assistance or "charity care" to lower-income patients.

Some nonprofit hospitals around the country don't ever seize their patients' wages. Some do so only in very rare cases. But others sue hundreds of patients every year.

In this season of giving, we are blessed to have such corporate friends. Never take for granted any amount of corporate support. It is needed and much appreciated.

On Oct. 29, an email claiming it was from Christopher Oechsli, president of Atlantic Philanthropies, said the New York foundation was planning to give away $1 million randomly. In reality, the foundation was victim of a phishing attack, a criminal attempt to use an established brand name to lure Internet users into providing personal information like Social Security or bank-account numbers. In the past 18 months, the foundation has dealt with seven such attacks.

What motivates your personal charitable philosophy? Have you ever received the help of time, talent or treasure from any charity? Do you need a season of giving to stimulate you? As the saying goes, to whom much is given, much is expected. Why not surprise yourself and a charity by giving your time, talent or resources this holiday season? I promise you that you will receive the greatest gift in the world when a child smiles with joy because of your efforts.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation operated on a modest budget in relative obscurity for nearly three decades. Then it won the lottery. Over the next five years, BP will give the foundation nearly $2.4 billion as part of the $4 billion settlement with the Justice Department announced Thursday stemming from BP’s disastrous 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Many of America’s biggest nonprofits have officially left the Great Recession behind, but the slow economic recovery continues to dampen results at even the most sophisticated fundraising organizations.

The 400 groups that raise the most from private sources achieved a median 7.5 percent gain last year, the third straight year of median gains for nonprofits in The Chronicle of Philanthropy's Philanthropy 400 rankings.

Charitable giving by America’s biggest businesses rose slowly last year and shows little sign of gaining in 2012, according to a Chronicle of Philanthropy study of 166 large companies.

(See an interactive table that pinpoints how much each company gave in cash and products and the causes they supported.)

Donations grew by 4 percent in 2011, according to the 115 companies that provided two years’ worth of data. That’s far less than the 13 percent rise from 2009 to 2010, when companies saw a sharp rebound in profits after the recession.

Here, a look at case studies on Stop Hunger Now's Haiti Relief campaign and the Salvation Army's annual Red Kettle Drive.

The Salvation Army says it set a new fundraising record with its 2011 Red Kettle campaign during the holidays, raising $147.6 million across the nation. That record is a 3.4 percent increase over 2010’s campaign, which raised a record $142 million. The Red Kettle campaign is now 120 years old, dating back to its beginnings in 1891 on San Francisco’s wharf. The donations support social services.