How Important Is a Charity Chief Executive? Plus More: Thursday’s Roundup

* Is having a good chief executive even more important at a charity than at a business? The blog of New Philanthropy Capital, a nonprofit group in London that evaluates charities, discusses that question.

* Bob Ottenhoff, chief executive of Guidestar, a Web site that provides information on charities, says that nonprofit organizations need to get comfortable with the fact that they will not return to a period where their investments grow at the rates they did during the 1990s and until 2007.

* Tactical Philanthropy, a blog by the donor advisor and Chronicle contributor Sean Stannard-Stockton, is hosting a debate about Idealist’s recent plea for donations. Jacob Harold, a program officer at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, wonders whether it’s time to organize or consolidate the more than 50 online nonprofit job boards; Nell Edgington, president of a consulting firm called Social Velocity, asks whether Idealist has a bold plan to help it thrive over the long term.

* Why have contributions to Haiti been so much greater than after other disasters? Jeff Brooks, creative director at TrueSense Marketing, says certain characteristics—a high death toll, an accessible and sympathetic location, and natural as opposed to man-made causes—spark more giving.