Lwati September 2007, Number 39

* LWATI *

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

September 2007, Number 39

www.sangonet.org.za

"Lwati" is an isiSwati word meaning information.

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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 39th edition of SANGONeT´s monthly e-newsletter!

In November 2007, SANGONeT will release an important publication in support of the South African development sector - PRODDER - NGOs and Development 2008.

Published from 1987-2001 by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), the PRODDER Directory established itself as the most comprehensive development publication of its kind in Africa, and became a much sought-after reference tool on the Southern African development situation.

In 2005 SANGONeT launched PRODDER (www.prodder.org.za) as an Internet-based information service, which is currently attracting more than 4 000 unique visitors per month. PRODDER is an integral part of the SANGONeT NGO Portal, the most comprehensive information resource about the NGO and development sector in South Africa.

Access to credible information is a strategic prerequisite for the success of development projects and processes. The printed directory will complement SANGONeT´s online approach to disseminating NGO and development information and expose a wider audience to our work. It will add a new dimension to our information services and represents an important step in expanding the focus and scope of our work.
In addition to covering directory information about more than 2 000 organisations, the book will also include information about trends and developments in the South Africa NGO sector. It will also cover highlights of the past year’s SANGONeT NGO Portal stories, the main findings from the “State of ICTs in the South African NGO Sector” research project and various reference and resource lists.

In line with SANGONeT’s core focus on the role of ICTs in support of the NGO sector, a key feature of the book is that the directory section will only cover organisations with their own websites. As a result, we will use the book (offline medium) to raise awareness about NGOs’ online information resources.

The focus on NGOs with websites will also contribute to our plans for the 2008 South African NGO Website Awards, as well as various new activities aimed at raising the online presence and activities of the NGO sector.

The ultimate objective of PRODDER is to disseminate information about the organisations and institutions involved in our country's development and raise awareness about their work. It will provide a reference point for donors and other stakeholders that want to engage with the NGO sector, and maps the scope and scale of NGO activities throughout South Africa.

As part of the preparations for the book, all entries listed in the online PRODDER Directory are being updated and transferred to a new open source web-based platform. The new online application will be launched in conjunction with the release of the book.

These developments represent the first phase in revamping the SANGONeT NGO Portal. We aim to unveil the new portal in early 2008.

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

The month of August was characterised by a concentrated effort by the editorial team to ensure that the information featured on the portal is of high quality and respond to specific needs of our readers. Increasingly, in the past few months the portal has covered a number of articles written by experts about the issues of NGO sustainability and capacity-building.

Going forward, we plan to have a stronger focus on capacity-building articles and news as this issue continues to plague the South African NGO sector.

The portal's August poll asked readers to reflect on whether the NGO sector is driven by profit rather than passion. The majority of voters held the view that circumstances force NGOs to be driven by the bottom line.

The results of the poll, which was taken by 165 voters, are as follow:

• 51.5% (85 votes) - Circumstances demand it
• 21.8% (36 votes) - Agree
• 10.3% (17 votes) - One doesn't negate the other
• 9.1% (15 votes) - To a limited degree
• 7.3% (12 votes) - Disagree

As always, the CSI team continued to produce relevant civil society and development-related content for the portal. Key articles produced during August 2007 include the following:

Is there Cause to Celebrate?

Hate Crimes and State Accountability

Media Strategies for NGO Sustainability!

A Trust Mark! Does your NPO have one?

Blogging for Civil Society

NGO Profile: Umcebo Trust

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

# SN-Announce

SN-Announce is an e-mail advertising and communication service dedicated to the development sector in Southern Africa. With a potential readership of more than 10 000 people, it remains one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to reach NGOs, development practitioners, grantmakers and others working in the development sector.

The type of information distributed through SN-Announce includes vacancies, conferences, training courses, new publications, funding opportunities, tenders and other services for the development sector.

For Subscribers - This service allows NGOs and other development practitioners to receive targeted news and information via e-mail.
Subscription to the service is FREE.

For Advertisers - To post an announcement, the rates as of 1 September
2007 are as follow:

* Non-profit organisations - R550 (+VAT)
* For-profit organisations - R650 (+VAT)

All SN-Announce messages are archived on the SANGONeT NGO Portal.

Refer to the SN Announce section on the portal - 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 Cathy Niken at SANGONeT on (011) 403-4935 or cathy@sangonet.org.za.

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<> ICT SERVICES

# SANGOTeCH Online Technology Donations Portal

Launch of TechSoup in India

SANGOTeCH Programme Manager, Matthew de Gale, travelled to Mumbai in August 2007 to assist with the implementation of BiG Tech (www.bigtech.in), the Indian partner of the TechSoup global technology donation network. The Indian programme is managed by the Nasscom Foundation. SANGOTeCH's role was to provide onsite technical and business process support in setting up the programme.

New Products

SANGOTeCH has a set of great new products from Microsoft in our catalogue this month. A key new offering is the Microsoft Dynamics CRM Small Business Edition. This Customer/Constituent Relationship Manager system works with Small Business Server, integrates into Microsoft Exchange server, and allows a unified view of all communications with the key contacts of your organisation.

Refer to http://www.sangotech.org/products/ms/crmserver.

Other new offerings - and great for those organisations that have the capacity to
undertake custom software development - are products from Microsoft's development range. These include Visual Studio, Visual Studio for MS Office development, and subscriptions to Technet.

Refer to http://www.sangotech.org/products/ms/new for a complete list of new products.

New SANGOTeCH Staff Member

We are also pleased to announce the appointment of Nonhlanhla Kunene as the SANGOTeCH Customer Service Support Officer. Nonhlanhla will be assisting Botswang Kgeledi in ensuring that SANGOTeCH service levels match the expectations of the NGOs that benefit from this programme.

South African NGOs interested in ordering software available on SANGOTeCH should first check their general eligibility for the programme at http://www.sangotech.org/eligibility.

For more information about SANGOTeCH, to sign up for the programme and 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 Project

SANGONeT and Hivos are collaborating on a project aimed at developing “citizen journalism” in Africa.

The project’s e-learning portal has entered its pilot phase, with 24 participants from the 12 'Country Focal Points' (organisations based in six African countries)  actively using the portal to access material, and to use the social networking tools to discuss issues relevant to organisations working across the continent.

SANGONeT has appointed the Art and Media Access Centre (AMAC) as the media skills training partner for this project. The first five-day training session on both the technical and substantive aspects of Citizen Journalism will be held in Johannesburg in late November for four organisations from South Africa and Zimbabwe.

# 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’s ICT Programme Manager, Matthew de Gale, conducted an IT policy process workshop at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) on 7 August 2007 in Braamfontein.

# SANGONeT’s Information Coordinator, Butjwana Seokoma, attended a roundtable discussion on HIV/AIDS organised by IDASA on 7 August 2007 in Pretoria.

# The SANGONeT CSI team was consulted by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) as part of its analysis of the changing roles that information, communication and knowledge play in positive social change. The consultation took place on 31 August 2007 at the SANGONeT office in Braamfontein.

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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. 2007. SANGONeT.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and modify this document. Please provide an acknowledgment to SANGONeT.

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