Metaphors can be very powerful tools to make complicated or foreign ideas feel simple and familiar to your donors, volunteers, partners, and other supporters. But they can also devolve into worn-out clichés that become too familiar and therefore lose much of their oomph.
Here are five of the Decrepit Dozen . . .
Building Bridges. This is probably the most common metaphor used to explain how nonprofits make connections between people or ideas. But it tells us nothing about the benefits of those connections or why we really need to make them.
Helping Hands. "Help" is just too generic. And much of the help that nonprofits provide isn't manual labor or physically in person, which "hands" implies.
Changing the World/Lives. Change isn't always for the better. Every one of us could argue that we change someone else's life every day. When a butterfly flaps its wings . . .
War on (Fill in the Blank). I don't think the military metaphors work all that well in the social service fields that most often use them. And with lagging public support for the real wars our nation is fighting, I don't think this metaphor conjures up the sense of common purpose and focus it once might have.
Making a Difference. If every nonprofit on the block can use the same phrase, that's a sure sign that it won't help you stand out in your marketing and fundraising. Every nonprofit is trying to make a difference. While the idea behind it is still relevant, this particular phrase isn't.
While these metaphors may still work at some level because they are very familiar, I believe they have been used so many times and in so many different ways in the nonprofit world that they are effectively meaningless now.
If you are using them, it's time to get more creative and search for phrases that are both clear and truly meaningful for your supporters today. I'll provide a really nice head start on that during tomorrow's webinar.
Interested in Learning More?
Earlier today, I posted an interview with Susan Strong, executive director of the Metaphor Project, on my blog, called Are You Speaking American?
Here are five of the Decrepit Dozen . . .
Building Bridges. This is probably the most common metaphor used to explain how nonprofits make connections between people or ideas. But it tells us nothing about the benefits of those connections or why we really need to make them.
Helping Hands. "Help" is just too generic. And much of the help that nonprofits provide isn't manual labor or physically in person, which "hands" implies.
Changing the World/Lives. Change isn't always for the better. Every one of us could argue that we change someone else's life every day. When a butterfly flaps its wings . . .
War on (Fill in the Blank). I don't think the military metaphors work all that well in the social service fields that most often use them. And with lagging public support for the real wars our nation is fighting, I don't think this metaphor conjures up the sense of common purpose and focus it once might have.
Making a Difference. If every nonprofit on the block can use the same phrase, that's a sure sign that it won't help you stand out in your marketing and fundraising. Every nonprofit is trying to make a difference. While the idea behind it is still relevant, this particular phrase isn't.
While these metaphors may still work at some level because they are very familiar, I believe they have been used so many times and in so many different ways in the nonprofit world that they are effectively meaningless now.
If you are using them, it's time to get more creative and search for phrases that are both clear and truly meaningful for your supporters today. I'll provide a really nice head start on that during tomorrow's webinar.
Interested in Learning More?
Earlier today, I posted an interview with Susan Strong, executive director of the Metaphor Project, on my blog, called Are You Speaking American?
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