March 2, 2005

SKOLL FOUNDATION WINS COMMUNICATIONS AWARDS

PALO ALTO, Calif.—March 2, 2005—The Skoll Foundation has won two 2005 Wilmer Shields Rich Awards for excellence in communications. Sponsored by the Council on Foundations, the awards program recognizes effective communications efforts to increase public awareness of foundations and corporate giving programs.

The Skoll Foundation won the top award, a Gold Award, for its Web site at www.skollfoundation.org. The foundation’s online community for social entrepreneurs and members of the social sector, Social Edge, received a Bronze Award for its newsletter, which is sent to individuals who sign up for it at www.socialedge.org. Both awards were given in the largest category, which is composed of foundations with $250 million in assets or more.

Entries to the awards program included annual or biennial reports, newsletters, special reports, public policy campaigns and Web sites. This year 247 entries were submitted. The awards will be presented at the 56th annual conference of the Council of Foundation in San Diego on April 11.

Judges in the competition described the Skoll Foundation’s Web site as having content that is “clear, compelling and informative” and said the site is “well organized and easy to navigate” and “encourages feedback.” They said the site’s design is “top-notch, clean and easy to understand” and has a “warm, humanistic appeal.” In their comments on the Social Edge newsletter, they said, “It is great that you collect and publicize peer-to-peer learning.” They praised the newsletter as “a unique [way] to reach a lot of your audience, especially those in remote areas around the world."