Maybe the New York Times should let reporter Katie Hafner cover philanthropy instead of the reporters who shot blanks at Wal-Mart. In one of the more insightful pieces about the "new" philanthropy, Hafner gives us an analysis of Google's approach:

By choosing for-profit status, Google will have to pay taxes if company shares are sold at a profit — or if corporate earnings are used — to finance Google.org. Any resulting venture that shows a profit will also have to pay taxes. Shareholders may not like the fact that the Google.org tax forms will not be made public, but kept private as part of the tax filings of the parent, Google Inc.

Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, believe for-profit status will greatly increase their philanthropy’s range and flexibility. It could, for example, form a company to sell the converted cars, finance that company in partnership with venture capitalists, and even hire a lobbyist to pressure Congress to pass legislation granting a tax credit to consumers who buy the cars.

Google's latest innovation: Rendering the charitable tax-exemption uncool.