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Raising Our Image: Part 1 (Don’t Say “Sector”) |
| Written by Chuck Bean, on May 19, 2008 |
 Let’s stop saying “nonprofit sector”.
People don’t know what a “sector” is. It is jargon. It doesn’t add anything. In fact, it probably gets in the way.
The term “sector” usually conjures a place on a map. Google the word. The top definitional entry is from Wikipedia. “Sector: A fictional area of space-designation used in the Star Trek universe for interstellar navigation.” Ugh.
What’s better?
Let’s say “nonprofit community.”
The word “community” conveys the same meaning but it is much more human. More tangible. More active. Communications experts like Andy Goodman, Burness Communications, the Frameworks Institute, and Spitfire Strategies are pleading with us to put a stop
to jargon, to humanize our language, and to tell stories to advance social change more effectively.
I did not make this up. I learned of it through the Roundtable’s association with Independent Sector and their efforts with Harris Interactive and others to better communicate the value of the nonprofit community.
Try a quick experiment. How does the term “private sector” sound to you? Now, compare that with “the business community”? The different terms point to the same thing, but if you’re like me, private sector strikes me as abstract – I know it’s about business, but it sounds like a dry textbook. Yet, when I think of “the business community” I think of regional leaders like Bank of America’s Bill Couper and Calvert’s Barbara Krumsiek. Again, the word “community” is more human, more active, more concrete. I think it works even better for nonprofits than it does for business.
How can we – the nonprofit community – better raise our image? Let’s do a better job of reframing our value impact … one word at a time.
Don’t say the “S” Word. Are you with me?
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