Web Jargon 2.0

I recently read an article by Rebecca Leaman at the Bonasource Wild Apricot marketing team and I was left a bit wanting.  First I have to say that reading the blogs at Wild Apricot are nice and often provide a lot of useful information after you choke your way through the in your face, over the top, glutinous self promotion, but moving on.

In Rebecca's article: In Defiance of Jargon (August 17, 2010) I had high hopes for a reference-able punch list I could refer our partners to, one that would help them (especially the less tech savvy) navigate some of the in's and out's of not just the "web," but more so the "speak" of the web.

Rebecca's article starts off with a big duh where a friend was angry at his supervisor for the use of the word "Ask" and not "Question".  Sadly Rebecca's friend (if he works in development) should be promptly fired.  We don't "question" our donors, we cultivate an "ask" and yes, while that may be noun, let's use this one as a verb and marinate on it a bit.

to ASK

With regard to the web and the individuals and organizations we interact with, we are not actually asking formal questions (not unless a survey is involved).  We are however cultivating a bigger "ask": the ask for a donation, gift, subscription, etc. 

No matter how we slice it, there are in fact some terms (or jargon if you prefer) that we inside the nonprofit community need to know and while the list can seem endless, this is not so much the case in point.  The following (albeit short) is a listing of some jargon I would have hoped to see covered in Rebecca's In Defiance of Jargon article but hey, I will go ahead and cover it now for all of us, especially all the technophobes afraid to ask!

Cultivate

Save this word for thinking about Development.  The Development team is often cultivating and building relationships with members and prospective members.  You may see this pop up from time to time when trying to determine how your website analytics may be able to help you cultivate new members or donors.

Web 2.0

To be honest I personally think this word is jargon and meaningless.  I am pretty sure we are on Web 53.8682.11 v.1 now.  But so many organizations say they are looking to integrate Web 2.0 technology into their new site and vision.  Often this comes out as nothing more than really wanting to take their site from 1998 to present.

Stakeholders

While this one may seem more like jargon, I guarantee you, I piss off and shock a number of Executive Directors when I tell them "I am not here to design your new site for you or your employees, it's for your key stakeholders."  After the shock wears off they often realize what is being said.  Your organization's key stakeholders are your visitors, members, donors, prospects and well, no matter what the ED may think, their needs matter more.

SPAM

Ok, so EVERYONE thinks that they know what SPAM is but did you know it has a legal and technical definition?  A message is SPAM only if it is BOTH unsolicited AND sent as a bulk email message such as a subscriber email newsletter, discussion list, etc.

Opt-In

So you think you have the permission of the folks on your email list?  Well time to think again.  We have opt-in, double opt-in and confirmed opt in (COI).  With regard to opt-in these are people to make a purchase or donate and per the terms of your site now permit you to communicate with them (be careful with writing your terms & such).  A double opt in is when someone joins your mailing list and receives that email confirmation and clicks to confirm.  Say 4-6 years ago this was becoming the main line standard but new policy brings COI.  One way to think of COI is that it is double opt in meets the check box on the join my mailing list form, but the key here folks is that the check box is UNCHECKED.  So many times we try and get a quick one by and just check that "I agree" box for them.  This is not COI and not considered acceptable.

Well there you have it, my stab at providing you some actual jargon that I hope you will find useful.  If you have any jargon you want me to take a stab at in a future blog, tweet me @jordandossett and just add jargon to the tweet!

Posted by Jordan Dossett on August 28, 2010 at 04:10 am EST

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