Editor’s note: This guest post is written by non-profit consultant Amy Carol Wolff. In it, she argues for more straight-forward communication between social sector organizations and their stakeholders about the impact they achieve.
The social sector has gotten stuck. We have confused energy and vision with meaningless mission statements and empty slogans featuring words like “eradication”, “sustainability”, and “collaboration”. We promise our donors and investors that we have found the way to end pollution, disease, hunger, and social injustice. We paint these grandiose pictures akin to that of the millennium development goals (MDGs), and then we wonder why our donors are beginning to ask us where their money is going.
People are still poor. The slave trade is still thriving. Children are still hungry. Carbon dioxide emissions remain excessive. All realities that leave us with a question of, “Have we actually done anything at all?”
Yes, we have. We have developed ready-to-use-therapeutic-food to address issues of malnutrition. We have provided millions of dollars in loans to foster entrepreneurship in the developing world. We have used SMS technology to connect people to healthcare and food. We have even set up voluntary carbon markets to hone and incentivize environment-friendly processes. Those of us vested in the work of social development have been innovative and have implemented solid programs with tangible deliverables that have saved lives, developed community leadership, and created safe refuges for countless species.
We are doing good work. But we are growing increasingly lazy in the way that we tell our stories. In fact, I’ll take it one step further – we are lying. People are asking for measurements of success and many of us do not have them – at least, not the ones we promised. The upcoming generation, the famous Millennials, demands to see impact if they are going to donate, and more of the recent social impact investors are expecting organizations to prove they are actually achieving their goals.
It really is not going to matter whether we preach a sermon on eradicating poverty. It is going to matter that through our work we increased a community’s income by 20%. It is going to matter that we perfected a revenue-generating model that allows for the maintenance of the wells that we fund-raise for. It is going to matter that through our work, 27 women were rescued and protected from the sex trade in the last month due to the donated amount. The marriage of what we do, how we do it, and why we do it, needs to be our focus and message.
And for those of us who are donating, we have some work to do as well.
A professor of mine points out that business plans must “be realistic”. When he reviews business plans that promise the entire world is their market, out comes the red pen and the editing begins. A wise investor knows the age-old saying, “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” She won’t invest in a business that promises the world.
This is why we have to seek out organizations that can demonstrate how they are solving important social issues. Investors that do not require evaluations are doing the community a disservice. If we hand organizations a check, we are saying that we believe in the work they do. You wouldn’t buy into a product that promised you abs of steel without ever having to leave your couch (at least, I hope you wouldn’t). Why would you believe an organization that promises to eradicate poverty by 2015?
Using buzz words instead of using creative and honest ways to convey the work we are doing is disrespectful to the people and communities we serve. If you do in fact choose to promise to eradicate poverty, I challenge you to do this in front of an audience of children in the slums of Kenya. If you choose to promise to stop the international sex trade, do it while looking into the eyes of the young rape victims in your own city. And if you choose to promise a future for all children, I dare you to do so while sitting with a mother who knows that the AIDS that claimed her husband’s life will soon claim hers. They will all ask how. And they deserve a clearly defined answer.
(Photo by Vanguard1219)
Amy Carol Wolff is a freelance consultant currently working with 
Amy.
Well written post, and I applaud you for willingly stepping in front of the archers.
Living in China, we have been awash in ever buzz word used in the last few years, and lately that means sustainability, carbon, social entrepreneurship, capacity development, and so on. I am not sure what catalyzed this movement towards "key messages", but what is clear to me is that like a environmentalist can spot greenwashing.. a potential donor can see when a program is nothing more than key messages and mercenary marketing tactics.
… which, at least in China, has turned out to be a positive trend for those known for strong programming. Were they able to solve a macro issue like urban/ rural poverty gaps? No, but some were able to stand inside the classroom and say that they were going to improve the lives of those 75 students.
r
http://www.collectiveresponsibility.org
Thank you so much for commenting. And my hope is that potential donors will continue to act in that knowledge- showing organizations that measurable and realistic messages are crucial. I tip my hat to China.
Best,
Amy
Thank you for such a fantastic post.
Thank you, Pam for commenting!
Excellent post. As a development professional I have grown to hate the words you mention. If I have to put them in one more grant application I think I may scream.
Thank you, Mary Ann! I couldn't agree with you more. I'd encourage you to find ways to creatively inspire that accurately reflect what your organization is doing. Feel free to pass this along to your superiors. Perhaps they'll catch the vision!
Keep up the good work!
Amy, as insightful as always. We talk way to much as our new models of business and philanthropy as “sustainable” but so often fail to produce sustainable results. Our intentions are real, our actions are green/blue washing. Donations are not gifts, they are a transaction. I give you $50 and you show me the impact it had. That is the accounrabilty and transparency we need to achieve.
Dan
http://www.citizeneffect.org
Dan, thank you. I love what you said- "Donations are not gifts- they are a transaction." I think that if non-profits really understand the value of this, not only will they be more successful in their operations (as they will focus on how to refine and develop it) but their fundraising (aka sales) has the potential to grow as well.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Steve, Amy Carol Wolff, Amy Carol Wolff, Kyra Gaunt, Dan Elitzer and others. Dan Elitzer said: Let's Talk Straight and Eradicate Buzz Words http://bit.ly/9iQQs4 #socent #ngo [...]
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by jeffreysmetz: Great blog on communicating the mission – being honest about what we say we can do – http://bit.ly/boGZuO...
Well said. Blame it on the funders for their pretentiousness. The non-profit professionals know what needs to happen — its the confusion of the wealthy between their money and their brains (along with the silly MBA jargon) that blinds the perfect solutions from emerging.
Thanks for writing. I would actually say that there is no "perfect solution", but rather it requires seriously partnership across sectors to administer effective philanthropy and development.
Thanks again!
Forgive the typo it was meant to read: seriously strategic partnership.
[...] that springboards into sustainable, interconnected dependency for common goals? This article in Full Contact Philanthropy asks whether the social sector has gotten “stuck” in too much over-promise and rhetorical [...]
Thanks for writing this Amy – and linking to examples of accomplishments in the field. I often feel overwhelmed by the need out there and campaigns to end poverty, hunger, disease, etc… all seem so big. I like reading and hearing about what is actually taking place, the small steps that add to up to real difference. The details of HOW things are happening are much more interesting to me.
Thank you Sandy! It is encouraging to see the work that is being done. It's a shame that buzz words actually take away from that accomplishment. Thanks for commenting!
Bad language in the "service" of good causes can be very corrosive. If you want a helpful list of "bad words" to avoid, check out the Communications Network's Jargon Finder: http://comnetwork.org/Jargon_Finder
Thanks for the resource Bruce!
Let’s Talk Straight and Eradicate Buzz Words http://shar.es/mpbx3 Here here! "The marriage of what we do, how we do it, and why we do it, needs to be our focus and message"
As an undergrad political science/int'l relations student, thank-you for writing such a wonderful post about the good that is happening with our money instead of just the bad. Sometimes it gets overwhelming when collectively people bash NGOs and government programs that are not doing what "they promised." Just out of curiosity, what do you think of the Millennium Development Goals? Quite a few buzzwords in there…
Was offline today, so forgive the delay! Thanks so much for your comment. And in terms of the MDGs-you'll notice how i mention them in my post. You're absolutely right. While they aim at good things (I mean, who can argue that women empowerment is bad?) they set unrealistic goals and thus will disappoint. 2015 is right around the corner…and we have a lot left to do. So rather than promising poverty eradication, why not promise the development of 15 new methods of poverty alleviation?
And go Hoosiers!
…And also, go IU! I go there, too. ; )
Thank you for the encouragement, really enjoyed this read. I often feel like I need to create the buzz words and I am just not the creative nor do I seek to be. I just want to keep working each day, creating small changes and working hard where I am and on what I can.
Thanks Roxanne. The amazing thing is that we have the ability-with our language- to create beautiful stories that are both authentic and honest. You don't need empty words to tell your story. Keep up the good work!
Amy, excellent post! Thanks for taking the time to put this together!
Thank you! Keep spreading the word. Let's see some implementation!
people need a hand up not a hand out. Each is an individual, the common practice should be highlighting a person's strengths and showing them how they can use thier individual talent! People need encouragement, they need avenues of opportunity. I know I'm an author and spent years trying to get published. Visit me and leave a comment http://publishitorbust.blogspot.com/
You actually use a pretty typical phrase for microfinance- know much about it? Not sure where your post ties into my article, but best of luck to you.
This is quite profound, and something that needs to be said loudly in the aid/development world. I get tired of hearing people constantly talking about "eradicating poverty" and creating "sustainable businesses" and so on. No one organization or individual is single handedly eradicating poverty. We are doing all we can to lessen the presence and power of poverty over people in the developing world, but certainly not eradicating it.
And what is this about sustainable…everything? Sustainability is the least we'd expect out of a business in the west. Why is that the best we'd expect in Africa? We should be working with smaller numbers of people to create more solid and profitable businesses. But too often we are tied to our donors needs of immediate results and high volumes of people. It's a vicious cycle.
But I believe that due to the inherent transparency and accountability provided by the internet, times are changing. Lingo is changing. And ultimately the results are becoming more substantial.
Thank you Amy for this poignant post and the work that you do.
Thank you Jared! Appreciate the words!