Plain language is not about simplifying your message. It's about communicating it clearly to people who don't already know your organization, your acronyms, or your framework. For nonprofits, those people are potential donors, first-time service seekers, community partners, and volunteers. They are the audience your website actually needs to serve.
Your visitors are not insiders
The people who built your programs, wrote your grants, and designed your theory of change are not the people reading your website for the first time. First-time visitors arrive with no prior context. They don't know what your program names mean, why your fiscal year structure matters, or what "systems-level change" actually looks like in practice.
When your content uses insider language, those visitors have to work harder to understand you. Some of them will. Many won't bother, especially when there are competing organizations whose sites explain their work more clearly.
Jargon creates distance
Terms like "capacity building," "theory of change," "two-generation approach," and "collective impact" are widely understood inside the sector. Outside it, they're confusing or meaningless. The same is true for acronyms that feel so familiar internally that no one thinks to spell them out.
Distance is the opposite of what you want. You want visitors to feel like they understand your work and want to support it. Jargon creates a barrier before that connection can form.
Plain language improves accessibility
Clear, straightforward writing is an accessibility issue as well as a communication issue. People with cognitive disabilities, those who are reading in their non-primary language, and people with lower literacy levels all benefit from plain language. For organizations whose mission involves serving vulnerable or marginalized populations, writing accessibly on your website is a direct expression of your values.
WCAG 2.1 accessibility guidelines include reading level recommendations. While these are not as strictly enforced as contrast or alt text requirements, they reflect a genuine commitment to making your content usable by everyone.
Plain language helps SEO
Search engines surface content that matches what people actually search for. People don't search for "two-generation programmatic intervention." They search for "job training for parents" or "childcare help while I go back to school." When your content uses natural, everyday language, it aligns better with real search queries and ranks more easily for the terms your audience is actually using.
In website audits, content clarity is one of the most common issues we flag on nonprofit homepages. It doesn't require a redesign to fix just plain rewrites of a few key paragraphs.
How to audit your content for plain language
Paste your homepage text into the Hemingway Editor (free, web-based). It highlights long sentences, passive voice, and reading level. Aim for grade 8 or below for content aimed at a general audience. For service seekers or people in crisis, aim lower.
Read your About page out loud and notice where you stumble. Any sentence you have to re-read is too complex. Any term you have to mentally define is jargon.
Common nonprofit jargon to watch for
- Capacity building
- Theory of change
- Collective impact
- Equity-centered / equity-informed
- Wraparound services
- Trauma-informed (without explanation)
- Two-generation approach
- Systems change
- Cross-sector collaboration
None of these terms is wrong. All of them need plain-language explanations when used on a public-facing website.