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Your Picks for the Worst Nonprofit Jargon

By  Cody Switzer
May 16, 2016

The nonprofit world, like any other group, can develop its own language that doesn’t make much sense to outsiders.

This can be especially damaging in fundraising efforts and communicating the importance of your work. After all, does a donor understand the meaning of a “strategic partnership working to leverage best practices for sustainable collective impact?” Do you?

Following our recent webinar that provided live critiques of fundraising appeals, we worked with communications consultant Erica Mills and asked readers to share the nonprofit jargon that bothered them the most.

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The nonprofit world, like any other group, can develop its own language that doesn’t make much sense to outsiders.

This can be especially damaging in fundraising efforts and communicating the importance of your work. After all, does a donor understand the meaning of a “strategic partnership working to leverage best practices for sustainable collective impact?” Do you?

Following our recent webinar that provided live critiques of fundraising appeals, we worked with communications consultant Erica Mills and asked readers to share the nonprofit jargon that bothered them the most.

Below are some of the answers. You can find more using the hashtag #npjargon on Twitter.

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Read other items in this Challenging Sacred Cows and Killing Jargon: Our Most Popular Articles of 2016 package.
We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
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