The technical definitions assignment and peer review was really enlightening.

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I have been writing in a professional environment for many years, and most of my work involves communicating with non-industry people. Since I am the only native English speaker on staff, I rarely have the opportunity to get feedback on my writing, or to give feedback to others (they write in Hebrew). This assignment made me realize how much peer review can enrich my writing – and work life.

I chose to define Donor Development Cycle, a concept that is fundamental to the nonprofit world. I found it pretty easy to come up with the parenthetical, sentence, and two visual definitions. However, with the last two expansion methods, I realized that each stage of the cycle would need to be broken down further.

I attempted to create two expanded definitions using combined methods that included visuals; #3 included an example, and #4 was a FAQ document; both were meant to be stand alone definitions. Even as I posted the assignment, I felt that that they lacked something.

Christine’s peer review was so helpful. Her feedback confirmed my own impressions; expanded definitions 3 & 4 lacked coherency. She suggested that the addition of the same visuals that I had used for expanded definitions 1 & 2 was repetitive. She also suggested that I include titles and the expansion methods used for each; it wasn’t clear to her that I had attempted to combine methods. This made sense to me. I realized how much the audience needed clear headings and explanations.

I was so focused on the chosen term, that I didn’t notice that other undefined industry terms had crept into the donor development cycle definitions. Christine pointed out some examples. We become so used to industry terms that we don’t realize that they are unfamiliar to a non-industry audience.

Another challenge was to find quality reference materials. The study of nonprofits is not really academic and most of the resources online are commercial in nature. There were  a lot of visuals to choose from, but text definitions were often promotional materials.

I enjoyed reading Christine’s definitions and providing feedback. It might seem intuitive to provide positive feedback with criticism, and to communicate with the right tone. We have to be extra aware when we communicate in writing,rather than in person. I found that the guidelines in the text were a helpful reminder and, I think, I was able to convey feedback in a respectful manner.