SANGONeT Launches NGO Pulse Internet Portal

We are pleased to announce the launch of NGO Pulse, the new South African NGO Internet Portal. NGO Pulse represents an important milestone in the consolidation of SANGONeT’s online content services, the strategic alignment of SANGONeT’s programme activities, as well as the introduction of SANGONeT’s new corporate identity.

First introduced on 24 October 2005 as the SANGONeT South African NGO Portal, it has attracted more than 500 000 visitors in the past three years, providing NGOs with a strategic platform to communicate with each other and share information.

NGO Pulse takes this to the next level. Over the next few months we will introduce you to new functionalities which will allow you to participate in making the portal the kind of space that you feel is useful to you. You will, for example be able to post a discussion question, add your organisations’ profile, and, once you’ve set up a user profile, blog directly to the portal!

The feedback we have received from you over the years has been instrumental in the design and functionality of the new portal.

Our plans for next year include developing content partnerships with organisations as well as going on a NGO Pulse ‘roadshow’ where we will, amongst other activities, introduce the new portal and provide  training so that organisations can contribute to the portal directly.

SANGONeT’s Executive Director, David Barnard says, “in the next few months SANGONeT will work closely with NGOs throughout South Africa in building NGO Pulse into an online NGO community space and social networking platform.”

The NGO sector is often perceived as lacking cohesion, duplicating efforts and reluctant to share information about its activities.

NGO Pulse will respond to these challenges by connecting NGOs in South Africa using various social networking tools linked to “issue groups” representing the core work of the sector. These include issues such as education, environment, civil society, democracy and governance, fundraising, NGO management and technology.

NGO Pulse provides a gateway to the NGO sector in South Africa, raising the profile of South African NGOs both locally and internationally, and supporting the process of repositioning and strengthening the sector in response to the development challenges facing South Africa.

We welcome your feedback! Enjoy NGO Pulse.