photo; courtesy
What if people don’t fail to engage with nonprofit work because they don’t care, but because they don’t understand?
That question sits at the heart of a recent reflection by Wendy van Eyck, a nonprofit brand and communications strategist who helps organisations turn big missions into clear, usable messages.
On her LinkedIn, she shared a simple but uncomfortable truth: one of the hardest parts of nonprofit communication is not funding, not strategy, not even storytelling.
It is avoiding technical language.
The Words We Lean On Too Easily
Spend time in the nonprofit world and certain words show up everywhere. Impact. Empowerment. Transformation. Sustainable change. Capacity building.
They sound important. They feel serious. They make proposals look polished.
But they often leave readers asking, “Yes… but what does that actually mean?”
When a nonprofit says, “We create impact for children,” most people cannot picture what that looks like. Are the children being fed? Tutored? Housed? Mentored? Protected? The word “impact” carries weight, but it does not carry detail.
As van Eyck put it: “If you’re about to say something like: ‘We’re here to make impact for children’ — stop.”
Over time, nonprofits start using these words out of habit.
They show up in funding applications, annual reports, and strategy documents. Eventually, they creep onto websites and social media posts.
The language feels normal inside the sector, even if it feels vague outside it.
And that is where the problem begins.
Why Clarity Matters More Than Ever
People are overwhelmed with information. They scroll quickly. They skim. They decide in seconds whether something makes sense.
Reports such as the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer show that trust is closely linked to how open and clear organisations are.
People are more likely to support groups they understand. In the nonprofit space, understanding starts with plain language.
Another global study, the 2022 Global Trends in Giving Report, found that donors care deeply about transparency.
They want to know where their money goes and what it achieves. Not in broad terms in real ones.
If a nonprofit says, “We strengthen community health systems,” that sounds impressive.
But if it says, “We trained 120 community health workers this year,” the picture becomes clearer.
The second sentence shows real work. It gives shape to the mission.
Van Eyck reminds communicators that “Clarity is what helps people understand, remember and act.”
Clear language helps people trust what they can see.
Say What You Actually Do
Wendy’s advice is refreshingly simple: when you are about to use a big, abstract word, stop. Replace it with what you actually do.
“And replace the jargon word with what you actually do,” she wrote. “Instead of ‘impact,’ you say: ‘We help children eat three meals a day.’ That’s it. Take the abstract word out. Put the real action in.”
Instead of saying you “create impact,” say you serve 300 hot meals every day at a community kitchen.
Instead of saying you “empower women,” say you train women to start small businesses so they can earn their own income.
Instead of saying you “improve educational outcomes,” say you tutor Grade 4 learners twice a week to help them pass their reading exams and so on.
The difference is powerful. One version sounds important. The other shows importance.
When people can picture the work, they connect with it. They can explain it to a friend. They can decide whether they want to support it.
Simple Language Is Not Simple Thinking
Some nonprofit teams worry that plain language makes their work sound less serious. Social problems are complex.
Shouldn’t the language reflect that complexity?
Van Eyck addressed this directly: “Plain language isn’t dumbing things down. It’s respecting your audience enough to be clear.”
The truth is, clarity takes effort. It is easier to say “we drive sustainable change” than to explain exactly what changes and how.
But describing real actions does not make the work smaller. It makes it stronger.
It shows that there is a clear link between the problem and the response.
When People Understand, They Engage
Nonprofits depend on engagement. They need donors, volunteers, partners, and communities to believe in what they are doing.
Belief grows from understanding. Understanding grows from clarity.
If someone cannot quickly grasp what your organisation does, they are unlikely to remember it.
If they cannot remember it, they cannot repeat it. And if they cannot repeat it, your message stops with them.
Clear communication travels further. It makes it easier for supporters to talk about your work. It makes it easier for funders to justify backing you. It makes it easier for communities to see how you fit into their lives.
The shift Wendy van Eyck describes is small but meaningful. It is the habit of asking, every time you write: can someone picture this?
If the answer is no, rewrite the sentence.
Nonprofit work is often life-changing. It feeds families, educates children, protects rights, and restores dignity. That work deserves language that is just as clear as the actions behind it.
People may care deeply about the causes nonprofits serve. But they can only engage with what they understand. And understanding begins with saying, plainly and honestly, what you actually do.
Source: Wendy van Eyck, LinkedIn reflection on nonprofit communication and avoiding jargon, February 2026.
