Quote of the week
What we know about the global financial crisis is that we don't know very much.
- Paul A. Samuelson.
Comment of the week
The global financial crisis has reduced the demand for talent but only temporarily. However, the market is predicted to go crazy in about 18 month’s time. The developed world is hungry for talent. A percentage of South Africa’s population is well educated, skilled and feels unrespected, unappreciated and constrained.
- Averile Ryder, founder of Averile Ryder Reward Specialists.
SN-Announce
SN-Announce is an e-mail advertising service with a readership of more than 10 000 people. Subscription to the SN-Announce service is free. For more information contact Nicolle Beeby on +27 11 403-4935 or nicolle@sangonet.org.za
Prodder Directory
Prodder is the most comprehensive directory of NGOs and development organisations in South Africa. To view the directory, click here. Order your copy of Prodder - NGOs and Development in South Africa 2008, here.
SANGOTeCH
SANGOTeCH provides software and hardware to NGOs at discounted fees in conjunction with ICT donor partners. It supports NGOs to make the most of their ICT purchases and infrastructure. For more information about SANGOTeCH, click here.
BackaBuddy
SANGONeT supports BackaBuddy, an online fundraising website which combines the power of sport and the reach of the Internet in support of NGOs in South Africa. For more information contact David Barnard or Matthew de Gale on +27 11 403-4935 or e-mail: info@sangonet.org.za
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NGO Crisis, Corporate Giving, Newsflashes…
In this week’s edition of NGO Pulse, we continue our focus on the challenges that the South African NGO sector is currently experiencing. Casting a historical eye on what he describes as the “roots of the NGO crisis” frequent contributor Frank Julie, writes that shifts in the power relations in South Africa post 1994 and led to the cooption of sections of NGO leadership “to a discourse that was detrimental to the interest of the poor and marginalised.”
He argues that “what was transferred (content) as part of leadership development in the SA NGO sector cannot be divorced from how (methodologies/form) it was transferred. A clear shift took place from … informal learning approaches […] dominated by activism to more formal approaches to learning[…] dominated by a discourse of ‘development’ and ‘good governance’ with a new trend amongst the leadership towards materialism and individualism.” Click here to read the full article.
As NGOs continue to feel the funding pinch, we also publish an article on South Africa’s first social investment 'stock exchange' - the South African Social Investment Exchange (SASIX), a project of GreaterGood SA, though which donors can invest in results-driven development projects. Manager of GreaterGood SA’s media portfolio, Roxy Mitchell writes that while corporate philanthropy in South Africa stands at roughly R5 billion a year and individuals give an estimated R12 billion from their own pockets, things are not getting substantially better for the poorest of the poor.
“There may be more money available for non-profit organisations (NPOs) than ever before, but it generally flows to big, well-connected organisations, while crucial, grassroots non-profits working at the coalface of poverty lose out. SASIX – www.sasix.co.za – helps level the playing field by giving small, pioneering NPOs the same access to funds and capacity development as the bigger, better-known causes’, she writes. Click here to read the full article.
This week we also reintroduce the popular SANGONeT poll question. Given our focus over the last few weeks, we thought today's poll question, suggested by Pirowshaw Camay, director of the Co-operative for Research and Education, would be particularly relevant.
Over time some organisations have built up a reserve of funds for themselves for use in emergencies. At the same time, there are instances in which organisations require funds to start projects, fulfill contracts or start work on a tender but have to wait several months before the contractor (normally a government department) pays for services rendered. Today's poll question asks if organisations which have a surplus of funds agree to pledge a portion of that surplus to create a National Civil Society Organisation (CSO) Fund which would then leverage further funding from a bank or development fund to source funds not timeously received for work undertaken on contract. Click here to vote or access the poll question from the front page.
Look out for our special 2009 Budget edition next week and remember to diarise the SANGONeT roadshow which will be in Durban and Cape Town from 9-13 March.
Janine Moolman
Editor, editor@sangonet.org.za
New Jobs, Proposals & Events
Employment Opportunities
- Networking AIDS Community of South Africa, a NGO that represents over 300 government, non-government and community based organisations, seeks to employ a Senior Administrator/PA to be based in the Western Cape. The application deadline is 8 February 2009. For more information, click here.
- Khanya-African Institute for Community-Driven Development invites applications from suitably qualified candidates for the position of Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist. The application deadline is 13 February 2009. For more information, click here.
- The South African Institute of International Affairs, an independent, non-governmental international affairs think-tank, seeks to appoint a Programme Administrator for its Development through Trade Programme to be based in Pretoria. The application deadline is 19 February 2009. For more information, click here.
Proposals, Grants & Awards
- The University of the Witwatersrand’s Investigative Journalism Workshop, in conjunction with the Valley Trust, is calling for entries for the Taco Kuiper Award. The award carries a cash prize of up to R200 000. The submission deadline is 27 February 2009. For more information, click here.
- The African, Caribbean and Pacific’s Science and Technology Programme is calling for proposals for projects that focus on environmental research activities, energy, transport, agriculture and agro-industry and sustainable trade. The submission deadline is 27 February 2009. For more information, click here.
- The International Women’s Media Foundation is calling for applications for the 2009-10 Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship. The fellowship recognises journalists working in human rights and social justice and is open to women journalists whose focus is human rights and social justice. The submission deadline is 15 April 2009. For more information, click here.
New Events
- The Computer Education Community Society is conducting a two-day course on Web Design Training Using Joomla from 17-18 February 2009 in Johannesburg. For more information, click here.
- Southern Hemisphere Consultants is conducting a five-day training workshop on Project Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation using the Logical Framework Approach from 23-27 February 2009 in Cape Town. For more information, click here.
- The University of Pretoria's Centre for Human Rights is conducting a course on Gender Equality from 7-11 September 2009 in Pretoria. For more information, click here.
Training
- The Western Cape Provincial Development Council in partnership with the South African NGO Coalition Western Cape is hosting the Western Cape Civil Society Summit on 21 February 2009 in Cape Town. For more information, click here.
- The Community Development Resource Association, a NGO that works with development practitioners, organisations and movements who are engaged in social transformation with marginalised communities is hosting its Biennial Practice Conference from 12-15 May 2009 in the Western Cape. For more information, click here.
- eLearning Africa is hosting a conference entitled “eLearning Africa 2009: 4th International Conference on ICT for Development, Education, and Training” from 27-28 May 2009. For more information, click here.
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Non-profit Analysis and Opinions
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