Dan Gunderman

Sarah Durham is president of Big Duck, a New York City-based branding, marketing and fundraising firm for nonprofits. She serves on the boards of the National Brain Tumor Society and the New York Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).

President Obama is a stellar communicator, something even most people who disagree with his policies will admit. It goes beyond his abilities as a speechmaker. His campaign featured a message of change. And the message never wavered over two years, beyond that shift from the primary (“Change you can believe in”) to the general election (“The change you need”). The focus was always on “you,” his audience — supporters, potential supporters and even rivals.

Nonprofit staff and board members share a common passion for their organizations’ work and often speak to each other as “insiders,” using jargon or shorthand for the programs and issues they work on. For instance, social service organizations might talk internally about “at-risk” audiences or “partner organizations.”

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