I recently shared a post on my social media channels about a generally accepted operational definition of “capacity building”, which I think is a bit of mystery to many, including those who you use the term regularly. That got me thinking – are there other phrases and buzzwords that we throw around in our sector that are just as unclear even to the folks that use them? Here are a few that, admittedly, were puzzling to me for some time (so grateful for the fantastic, comprehensive internet resources):
Stakeholder: Internal stakeholders are people who are already committed to serving your organization as board members, staff, volunteers, and/or donors. External stakeholders are people who are impacted by your work as clients/constituents, community partners, and others. It is important to get the perspectives of both groups. (The Denver Foundation’s Inclusiveness Project)
Theory of Change: An expression of the sequence of cause-and-effect actions or occurrences by which organizational and financial resources are assumed to be converted into the desired social results. It provides a conceptual road map for how an organization expects to achieve its intended impact and is often displayed in a diagram. (Bridgespan)
Culture of Learning: A learning culture exists when an organization uses reflection, feedback, and sharing of knowledge as part of its day-to-day operations. It involves continual learning from members’ experiences and applying that learning to improve. Learning cultures take organizations beyond an emphasis on program-focused outcomes to more systemic and organization wide focus on sustainability and effectiveness. It is about moving from data to information to knowledge. (Center for Nonprofit Excellence)
Strategic Planning/Strategic Initiatives/Strategic Goals: A strategic planning process identifies strategies that will best enable a nonprofit to advance its mission. Ideally, as staff and board engage in the process, they become committed to measurable goals, approve priorities for implementation, and also commit to revisiting the organization’s strategies on an ongoing basis as the organization’s internal and external environments change. (National Council of Nonprofits)