Lost in Translation: Communication Between
the World of Business and Nonprofits
By: Marian Gryzlo, 05/21/04

"Nonprofits are unique in what they provide and how they provide it, and often in how they communicate it. With a little practice and patience, the business world can be more sensitive and understanding of the nonprofit world’s language. In return, nonprofits can learn to express their activities in terms that have real meaning to their corporate partners. Double meanings will then become single; ambiguity will turn into clarity; and funders and their partners will begin to say what they mean, speaking a common language that is mutually understood.
In the ever-changing world of philanthropy and community partnerships, there are common phrases that may have one meaning to a nonprofit and quite another for a business.  If "men are from Mars, and women are from Venus," then sometimes it seems corporations are from Mercury and nonprofits from Pluto when trying to communicate."