March 4, 2019

A new dictionary for nonprofits

Sometimes, the words we use in our daily nonprofit life don't do justice to the way things actually work. So, we decided to take those words, and add, subtract, or change one letter to come up with a new, more accurate definition.

2 min read
1. Pain pint (n) (phrase)

The drink you get yourself after spending all day trying (and failing) to get around a particularly tricky kink in your programme.

2. Strutegic (adj)

The air of arrogance with which corporate sector crossovers walk around.

3. Key fake-aways (n) (phrase)

When you reach the end of writing a report, don’t really know how to conclude, and subsequently conjure up catchy sounding bullet points saying exactly what people want to hear (without any concern as to whether they say anything of substance at all).

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4. Passion(r)ate (adj)

The scale with which a development practitioner’s pay is calculated: p ∝  1/$ (where p = passion, $ = salary; and the two are inversely proportional to each other).

5. Workstop (n)

When you go to a workshop to avoid doing the work you’re supposed to be doing.

Related article: Social impact for dummies

6. Consulking (n)

When the advice you give to foundations never gets implemented.

7. Holistic(k) development (adj) (n)

All-round, multi-level change that sticks around even after the implementing organisation has exited.

8. Elevator snitch (n) (adj)

Someone who steals your elevator pitch and delivers it better.

9. Leanership (n)

When budget cuts hit and you hire one person to fill all senior management roles.

10. Egosystem (n)

When you think that your organisation is at the centre of an intricate system and is pivotal to its growth (when in reality it forms a very tiny, almost insignificant chunk of it).

Read part II here.

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India Development Review

India Development Review (IDR) is India’s first independent online media platform for leaders in the development community. Our mission is to advance knowledge on social impact in India. We publish ideas, opinion, analysis, and lessons from real-world practice.

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