Phrases like “capacity building” and “fostering innovation” are like nails on a chalkboard to Kivi Leroux Miller.

Ms. Miller, author of the blog Nonprofit Communications, says these phrases might make sense in a nonprofit board room. But they turn off those who are reading a brochure or a fund-raising appeal, the author writes.

“Never cut and paste your grant-application language into a marketing brochure for a program and expect it to work as is,” Ms. Miller writes. “You are speaking to two different audiences who need to hear about the program in different words and ways.”

So which phrases should you avoid? Ms. Miller points readers to the Communications Network, which offers a list of foundation and nonprofit jargon.

Needless to say, phrases like “best practices,” “synergy,” and “throughput” are not likely to fit into the, um, “paradigms” of an organization’s “stakeholders.”

What nonprofit jargon words do you think should never creep into conversation or correspondence with donors and supporters? Click on the comments link below to share your nominations.