Lwati April 2008, Number 46

* LWATI *

The monthly e-newsletter of the Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT)

April 2008, Number 46

www.sangonet.org.za

"Lwati" is an isiSwati word meaning knowledge.

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<> EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS
<> CIVIL SOCIETY INFORMATION
<> ICT SERVICES
<> NETWORKING AND OUTREACH
<> CONTACT DETAILS

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<> EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS

Welcome to the 46th edition of SANGONeT´s monthly e-newsletter!

The worldwide growth in Internet use and fundraising by NGOs has been phenomenal. Funds raised online have increased from $250 million in 2000 to more than $5 billion in 2006. Some predict that online fundraising will continue to increase at a rate of 30% percent each year. To highlight the growing impact and value of online fundraising, 13 million Americans made donations online after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Although online fundraising for and in support of NGOs is still in its infancy in South Africa, a number of factors will contribute to accelerated growth in this field in the next few years. These include the growing number of South Africans with access to Internet, reduction in Internet costs, more NGOs with their own dedicated websites and appreciating the value of online applications, a growing middle class and a significant expatriate community with an interest in supporting good causes back home.

One of SANGONeT’s strategic objectives is to promote the benefits of the Internet to NGOs in South Africa, including how this medium can strengthen and complement their fundraising efforts. As a result, SANGONeT and EasiGiving are pleased to announce a partnership in support of BackaBuddy (www.backabuddy.co.za), an online fundraising website which combines the power of sport and the reach of the Internet in support of NGOs in South Africa.

Launched by EasiGiving in early 2008, BackaBuddy provides intuitive and accessible online fundraising functionality to help anyone interested in raising money for a cause or NGO they care about. Essentially, it is a community platform which enables people (“Charity Champions”) who are participating in sporting or other events to link their efforts to raising money for their favourite NGOs.

No matter where they are in the world, South Africans can ensure that their charitable giving goes straight to helping NGOs back home. What’s more, they can support their friends who are taking part in sporting, commemorative or corporate events in South Africa by sponsoring their endeavours, so it’s a win-win - NGOs benefit and their friends have the satisfaction of knowing their efforts have been recognised!

Any NGO seeking to participate in this unique fundraising system is now welcome to apply for a free listing on BackaBuddy. Once registered, the NGO can communicate its status to a broad audience, encouraging potential “Charity Champions” to participate in fundraising events such as running, cycling, swimming or even something as simple as a shave-athon! The Charity Champion creates a free page on BackaBuddy, and e-mails the information to a wide range of potential supporters - nominating a specific NGO as the beneficiary. They can then make their contributions by credit or debit card - quickly, simply and securely.

BackaBuddy has been officially appointed as a charity collection and credit card payment portal for the Discovery 702 Walk The Talk, the biggest walking event in Africa. The event is due to take place on Sunday, 27 July 2008, and will attract over 30 000 walkers. Refer to the BackaBuddy site for information about how to support a charity or NGO through participation in this event.

SANGONeT will provide potential donors with detailed information, through our Prodder NGO Directory (http://beta.prodder.org.za), about the NGOs profiled for support on BackaBuddy.”

Organisations listed in Prodder will be encouraged to sign-up for BackaBuddy. When an organisation has signed up on the BackaBuddy site, and is already listed in Prodder, a BackaBuddy logo will be added to its Prodder page. Where an organisation has opted in to BackaBuddy from Prodder, there will be a Prodder logo on each organisation’s record (web page) with the words ‘View this Organisation’s Prodder entry’.

We welcome feedback and suggestions about how to enhance the website, and encourage potential Charity Champions to open their own (free) pages on BackaBuddy and start fundraising for their favourite NGOs!

Lastly, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to Janine Moolman, the new Editor of the SANGONeT NGO Portal and NGO Pulse. Janine is a feminist editor, writer and activist with extensive experience in the South African women´s rights sector. In recent years she has been associated with many prominent South African NGOs, including Agenda, Gender Links and Women´sNet. Under her leadership the NGO Portal will continue to grow from strength to strength, providing the NGO sector in South Africa with a dedicated news and information service.

As always, we are very interested in how you think we could best serve the NGO sector with relevant ICT products and services. Please send us your views, comments and suggestions.

Best wishes

David Barnard (dbarnard@sangonet.org.za)

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<> CIVIL SOCIETY INFORMATION (CSI) PROGRAMME

# SANGONeT NGO Portal

Over the past month, the SANGONeT Portal and NGO Pulse covered various feature articles about NGO governance, accountability, sustainability and impact. These articles have generated a flurry of discussion and debate, highlighting the importance of the issues covered and a need for these debates to continue - both within the portal and in other contexts - if we are to deepen and strengthen the work of the NGO sector in support of social justice in South Africa.

Capacity Building for Institutional Sustainability

Making Social Investment Decisions

What Do We Need to Know?

Africans Giving for Africa

Is Corporate Citizenship Making a Difference?

Other key articles produced by the CSI team during March 2008 include the following:

Racism Still a Threat to South Africa’s Democracy

Government Must Listen to its People!!!

Bigger Than a Mini Skirt…

CBOs and Development at Grassroots Level

NGO Profile - The Mvula Trust

The March 2008 poll aimed to determine if NGOs are doing enough to fight racism in South Africa. The results of the poll, which was taken by 176 voters, are as follow:

• 58% (102 voters) Yes, to a significant degree
• 21% (37 voters) Not at all
• 21% (37 Voters) To some extent

For more information about the SANGONeT NGO Portal, please contact Janine Moolman at SANGONeT on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or jan@sangonet.org.za.

# Prodder Online Directory

The new beta version of Prodder is available at - http://beta.prodder.org.za.

We encourage NGOs and development organisations to review their entries and forward us information about changes and corrections that need to be made. Any feedback about the new platform in general, including additional features and information to be added, would also be appreciated.

The final switchover to the new system will be completed in May 2008.

Please forward your comments to - prodder@sangonet.org.za.

# Prodder - NGOs and Development in South Africa 2008

The 2008 Prodder directory is available from SANGONeT’s office in Braamfontein.

To order your copy, please refer to the information about the book on http://www.prodder.org.za or send an e-mail to prodder@sangonet.org.za, specifying your interest to order the book (R350 VAT inclusive plus R35 postage).

# SN-Announce

SN-Announce is an e-mail advertising service that provides an invaluable service to the NGO sector in Southern Africa. With a potential readership of more than 15 000 people, it remains one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to reach non-profit organisations, development practitioners, funders and others working in the development sector.

All members of the development sector can advertise on SN-Announce. The type of information distributed includes alerts for vacancies, events, campaign launches, conferences, meetings and services for the development sector. Subscription to the SN-Announce service is free.

Refer to http://www.sangonet.org.za for copies of past announcements.

For more information about how to subscribe to SN-Announce or post an announcement, please contact Neila Pillay at SANGONeT on (011) 403-4935 or neila@sangonet.org.za.

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<> ICT SERVICES

# SANGOTeCH Online Technology Donations Portal

SANGOTeCH assisted South African NGOs in saving over R1.8 million on Microsoft software, as well as R12 000 on Cisco networking equipment during March 2008. Nearly 30 donation requests were fulfilled during this period - the highest uptake to date in a single month.

To see how EngenderHealth, an international NGO with an office in Johannesburg, recovered from a fire that devastated its networking infrastructure thanks to Cisco and SANGOTeCH, refer to http://www.sangotech.org/casestudy/engenderhealth.

Our new donation product, Bytes of Learning Typing Tutor, is now available on SANGOTeCH. For more information about this market-leading product, which is ideal for organisations with computer and office skills projects, refer to http://www.sangotech.org/node/392.

Gold Peer Education Development Agency has become our second registration in Botswana. Donations of Microsoft software are available to qualifying non-profits from Botswana. For more information about the SANGOTeCH Botswana programme, please refer to http://www.sangotech.org.za/botswana.

The SANGOTeCH product catalogue can be viewed at http://store.sangotech.org/directory

For more information about SANGOTeCH, as well as to receive regular updates about new products and services, please refer to http://www.sangotech.org or contact us on 086 110 6443 or support@sangotech.org

# Citizen Journalism in Africa Project

SANGONeT and Hivos are collaborating on a project aimed at developing citizen journalism in Africa, with a specific focus on South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique.

The relevance of citizen journalism to civil society has been highlighted by the highly contested and controversial elections in Zimbabwe. For a selection of blogs, press releases and articles by CSOs in Zimbabwe, refer to http://www.citizenjournalismafrica.org/country/zimbabwe

For more information about the project, please refer to http://ww.citizenjournalismafrica.org

# Fourth Annual SANGONeT "ICTs for Civil Society" Conference and Exhibition

The fourth annual SANGONeT “ICTs for Civil Society” conference and exhibition will be held from 13-15 October in Johannesburg. This year’s event will be co-hosted with MobileActive.org and branded as “MobileActive08”.

The theme of the 2008 event is "Unlocking the Potential of Mobile Technology for Social Impact”.

The three-day conference will convene approximately 250 civil society, development and technology practitioners interested in the use and application of mobile technology in support of social impact.

SANGONeT invites anyone interested in participating in the event as a speaker or participant to register their interest at - info@sangonet.org.za.

# Technology Consulting

SANGONeT offers a range of customised online applications that include social networking portals, online directories, and constituent relationship management solutions. We also offer a linked technical support desk service.

For more information on how we can assist you, please contact Matthew de Gale at SANGONeT on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or matthew@sangonet.org.za.

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<> NETWORKING AND OUTREACH

SANGONeT hosted the first NGO CEO Circle of 2008 on 13 March 2008 in Johannesburg. The meeting focused on expected changes in the local ICT environment, and how these changes might impact on the NGO sector. Arthur Goldstuck, South Africa's top ICT analyst and commentator, was the guest speaker at the meeting.

SANGONeT’s Executive Director, David Barnard, attended the Nonprofit Technology Conference from 19-21 March 2008 in New Orleans, United States.

SANGONeT’s Information Coordinator, Butjwana Seokoma, attended the Business, Poverty and Development Conference from 18-19 March 2008 in Johannesburg. He also attended the City of Johannesburg 2010 FIFA World Consultation Workshop with NGOs on 25 March 2008, as well as the DITSELA Siyakhuluma Seminar, “Eskom Loadshedding - Job Shedding” on 28 March 2008, both in Johannesburg.

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<> CONTACT DETAILS

SANGONeT
P O Box 31392
2017 Braamfontein
SOUTH AFRICA

29th Floor, UCS Building
209 Smit Street
Braamfontein

Tel: (+27) (11) 403-4935
Fax: (+27) (11) 403-0130
E-mail: newsletter@sangonet.org.za
WWW: http://www.sangonet.org.za

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CopyLeft. 2008. SANGONeT.

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