Foundation Jargon

Over the last several years, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation has made a concerted effort to call attention to the troubling use of jargon throughout the foundation world. Why? The use of jargon, and the confusion it creates, can damage or undercut even the most well-intentioned of foundation efforts–making it difficult for everyone to clearly understand and effectively discuss the ideas and issues that drive foundation grantmaking and related activities.

The Foundation enlisted Tony Proscio to catalog and comment on examples of misused words and phrases. His efforts have yielded three thoughtful, often humorous, but always hard-hitting, book-length essays:

• In Other Words: A Plea for Plain Speaking in Foundations
  
• Bad Words for Good: How Foundations Garble Their Message and Lose Their Audience
  
• When Words Fail: How the Public Interest Becomes Neither Public Nor Interesting
  

Columnist William Safire, who writes the On Language column in the Sunday New York Times Magazine, called Bad Words for Good a "gem," and named it one of his summer reading selections in 2002.

The Communications Network, whose mission is to improve the effectiveness and accountability of foundations by promoting and strengthening the strategic practice of communications, has compiled Tony Proscio's work into an online resource to help improve communications in the field called Jargon Finder. Tony Proscio continues to post new responses to reader submissions on Jargon Finder.

Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes, and Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes

Over the past several years, the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation has supported efforts by noted communicator Andy Goodman to raise the quality of communications by nonprofits and foundations. With support from the Foundation, Andy Goodman has written two highly received guides that analyze where nonprofits often go wrong in their communications, and provide tips for communicators on how to avoid these mistakes and better achieve their missions.

Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes

Andy Goodman shares the seven most important Print Ad Principles that all nonprofits and foundations should keep in mind when creating public interest print ads. His recommendations, based on a ten-year study of reader responses to print advertisements conducted by a leading advertising research firm, can help organizations rise above the cluttered marketplace of ideas to be noticed, read, and remembered.

To download this publication, visit Andy Goodman's website.

Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes

Based on unprecedented research into presentations given by nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies, Andy Goodman highlights the pitfalls many presenters fall into and why so many presentations fail to engage, educate, or persuade. The guide also provides helpful tips on how to avoid the most common mistakes and use tried and true methods that truly reach audiences.

To order this publication, visit Andy Goodman's website.