SANGONeT Announces Winners of 2008 NGO Web Awards

5 December 2008

The Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2008 NGO Web Awards. The winning entries are:

Career Planet
Gender Dynamix
Women'sNet

Two websites also received special mention. These are:

South African History Online
Alzheimer's South Africa

In a tough selection process, 10 websites were shortlisted out of the 60 entries received. The top 10 entries reflect what judges described as an "increasing recognition of the value of using web 2.0 tools" to reach and "hold" their audiences. The top three websites were selected based on their compliance with the criteria developed for the awards which included marketing, accessibility, tone, aesthetics and relationship building aspects.

"The 2008 winners reflect a growing recognition amongst civil society organisations of the importance of having an online presence. Organisations are beginning to realise that it is not only about providing information, but how this information is presented, and whether it encourages feedback", says David Barnard, SANGONeT Executive Director.

The awards aims to raise awareness amongst South African NGOs about the benefits of having an online presence, stimulate interest in the application of web solutions and applications, and showcase best practices in website creation and maintenance.

The three NGOs each walk away with R10 000 worth of prizes sponsored by Torque IT.

The top 10 entries for the 2008 NGO Web Awards:

Career Planet
Parliamentary Monitoring Group
Feedback Food Redistribution
Gender Dynamix
Malamulele Onward
South African History Online
Women'sNet
Open Africa
Men on the Side of the Road
Alzheimer's Association

The winners of the 2007 NGO Web Awards were:

Afesis Corplan
Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa

Contact the winners:

Career Planet - Karin Chisholm: +27 83 254 8933
Gender Dynamix - Liesl Theron: +27 21 6335287
Women'sNet - Lebo Marishane: +27 79 312 5843

For more information contact Jan Moolman on +27 83 783 3094 /
editor@sangonet.org.za or Butjwana Seokoma on +27 73 066 6851 /
butjwana@sangonet.org.za