NJ Spotlight, an online investigative news service focused on state policy issues in New Jersey, was recently honored with an award for General Excellence in Online Journalism at the 2011 Online Journalism Conference in Boston, Mass.

The full list of 2011 Online Journalism Award winners are available online.

The conference is held by the Online News Association, the world’s largest association of online journalists whose mission is to inspire innovation and excellence among journalists to better serve the public.

Earlier this month, Knight Foundation profiled how the Community Foundation of New Jersey exhibited leadership by partnering with NJ Spotlight to help ensure residents had information on statewide issues. The community foundation won matching funding from Knight to support the site through the Knight Community Information Challenge.

The profile was part of a larger series “Opportunities for Leadership: Meeting Community Information Needs,” which looked at how three community foundations invested in news and information to make an impact on issues they care about.

The foundation also did a three-part blog series following the release of the report. Part One focused on How three foundations strengthened their leadership by investing in news and information, Part Two on How a community foundation used information and technology to engage residents in community planning and Part Three on Why a community foundation took a leadership role in filling the void left by a shrinking local media.