Language matters. It’s an obvious thing to say: how we choose to express ourselves gives an insight into how we think about the things we do, see and experience.
Take the word acquisition and think about its definition.
Acquisition: the buying or obtaining of assets or objects.
Buying or obtaining.
Assets or objects.
It's a word taken from the corporate world where customer acquisition is a thing. We'd argue that we should reject the term because we are not in the business of selling products or services. It’s a word that depersonalises the public and presents them as commodities rather than people.
Acquisition perpetuates an Old Power mindset of ownership:
My donors.
My supporters.
My staff.
My ideas.
My clients.
We believe in a New Power mindset of collaboration and sharing.
So we use the word attraction.
Attraction: the action or power of evoking interest in or liking for someone or something.
Rally works with clients, and the sector more widely, to champion an attraction-based approach. Together we develop strategies that help achieve our clients’ goals by using their values as a magnet to attract all who share them.
The focus is simple: to inspire like minded people who share our values to join us and actively participate in the change we all want to see.
And while we are on the subject of language. Here is the definition of another widely used sector term.
Retention: the continued use, existence, or possession of something or someone
Possession. Nice.
Main Photo by Marl Clevenger on Unsplash