Sometimes nonprofit organisations and advocacy groups use language that’s hard to understand. This even happens when organisations work with people who have a hard time understanding the kinds of words they use. What do capacity-building and stakeholders mean? This is a list of words that these groups sometimes use. I’ve explained what these things mean in simple words. I will be updating this list every so often, so make sure to check back.
Best practices
Doing things that work. That’s what it’s supposed to mean, anyway.
Capacity-building
Teaching, training, education or mentoring. Sometimes “capacity-building” can also mean hiring more people in an organisation so they can get more done. Just say what you mean: teaching, hiring, and mentoring are much clearer than “capacity-building.”
Development
When organisations talk about development, they often mean raising money. When organisations raise money, they can hire more people and get new supplies. That way, they can help more people.
Dissemination
Sharing information with people or organisations.
Engagement
Getting people’s attention.
Interventions
Ways to help people. Sometimes these interventions really do help, but some can hurt. It’s important to listen to the people you’re trying to help.
Knowledge transfer
Teaching, training, or education.
Knowledge-translation activities
Making things easier for people to understand. Some examples of knowledge translation include plain-language versions of articles, webinars, videos, and infographics.
Stakeholders
People who care about what you’re doing, or vampire hunters. Stakeholder engagement just means talking to people who care about your project, or getting them interested in what you’re doing.
Strategic planning
Long-term planning.
Technical assistance
Answering people’s questions to help them run their organisations. Not to be confused with tech support. You won’t be able to call Microsoft Technical Assistance to fix MS Word.