Here’s Why Words Matter
The difference between condition-based language and aspiration-based language can change an organization’s beliefs and mindset for the better.
For decades the goal of fundraisers has been to pull on the heart strings of wealthy individuals to entice them to give large sums of money. This often includes the use of CONDITION based language. We have all seen organizational missions containing vague phrases like “under-served communities,” “at-risk youth,” or even more straightforward language like “homeless,” or “starving.” This language that focuses on the condition of the clients that the organization serves is ultimately detrimental to those clients. There have been multiple sociological and psychological studies over decades that confirm how powerful self-fulfilling prophecies are, and this messaging feeds directly into these negative prophecies.
When organizations use language that lessens the status of their clients from the start, regardless of the amount of support they provide, they are immediately putting their clients at a disadvantage. This also forgets about the whole point of the services they provide, the goal is to solve the condition these individuals are in. If people are simply assuming they are perpetually in this condition, there is no hope for change.
Instead… seek out organizations with ASPIRATION based language in their mission, vision, values, and other marketing materials. While this is not a guarantee that an organization is a strong organization, at the very least this shows that the organization does NOT view their clients as lesser. The aspirations of clients are more important and can be more powerful. While conditions can pull on heart strings, aspirations can inspire hope! I would rather learn about what someone wants to become than what their current difficult condition is, and I would be more likely to want to help someone if I knew their hopes and dreams.
A great example of aspiration-based language in a mission statement is Girls Write Nashville:
“To empower expression and build a creative music community and mentorship for girls.” This contains a much more hopeful message, but it also brings their clients into the mission, and treats them as equals with a common goal, and not as charity cases in need of our help and support.
With this mindset, organizations are more likely to ask for and actively use the advice and feedback of their clients when making decisions. For example, one of the suggestions of Community Centric Fundraising is to involve current and former clients as a part or even the majority of the board of directors. To some people this may seem obvious, but in the world of fundraising for nonprofit organizations this is incredibly radical, and counter to the way business has been done for decades.
Leading with Intent produces a study every year about common Board practices in the nonprofit sector. In 2021 one of the most worrisome findings of the study was that Boards are frequently disconnected from the communities they serve. According to the study…
Almost half (49%) of all chief executives said that they did not have the right board members to “establish trust with the communities they serve.” Only a third of boards (32%) place a high priority on “knowledge of the community served,” and even fewer (28%) place a high priority on “membership within the community served.”
In any other industry would any of that make any sense? Absolutely not… yet that is the way things work in the nonprofit sector. It is time for a mindset shift, and that begins with the switch from condition-based language to aspiration-based language, and to start believing that the people organizations serve are equal to those the organizations are funded by.
