|
|
| Daily
Feedback Forms |
Evaluation forms designed to give
trainers and managers valuable feedback on the trainees' satisfaction with
the training on a day-to-day basis. |
| Daisy
Chain |
A set of hardware devices connected
to each other in a series, where the first device connects to the computer,
the second device connects to the first, the third device connects to the
second, and so on. |
| Data |
In general, data is information:
factual information, such as text, numbers, sounds, and images that can
be processed on a computer. It also represents concepts and sensations suitable
for communication, interpretation, or processing. |
| Data |
Documented information or evidence
of any kind. |
| Data
Analysis |
The process of systematically
applying statistical and logical techniques to describe, summarize, and
compare data. |
| Data
Backup |
The process of storing your data,
can also refer to the media with which you chose to store your backed up
files.
|
| Data
Collection Plan |
A written document describing
the specific procedures to be used to gather the evaluation information
or data. The document describes who collects the information, when and where
it is collected, and how it is obtained. |
| Data
Packet |
Although your computer and modem
can send data one character at a time, when you're surfing the Internet,
downloading files, or sending email, it's more efficient to send information
in larger blocks called data packets.
|
| Data
Processing |
The steps involved in making rented
lists ready to mail and more effective for yielding increased response. |
| Database |
A computerized system used for
collecting information. A database allows the user to access collected information
in a meaningful way.
|
| Database |
An organized collection of information,
characterized by the use of data fields, it provides a foundation for procedures
such as retrieving information, drawing conclusions, and making decisions;
an electronic filing system.
|
| Database
Front End |
In the context of the Internet,
this is an interface that integrates web applications with sophisticated
database programs.
|
| Database
Marketing |
The on-going collection of information
about customers so that staff can better understand, and therefore meet,
that customer’s needs and desires.
|
| DDoS |
Distributed Denial of Service.
An attack in which a multitude of compromised systems attack a single target,
thereby causing a DoS for users of the targeted system. The flood of incoming
messages to the target system essentially forces it to shut down, thereby
denying service to legitimate users.
|
| DDR
RAM |
Double Data Rate Random Access
Memory. Memory that transfers data at twice the data transfer rate
of normal RAM or SDRAM. |
| De-Escalation |
The ratcheting down of the intensity
of a conflict which occurs as parties tire out, or begin to realize that
the conflict is doing more harm than good. |
| Deadline |
The time by which a reporter must
have completed a story to get it broadcasted or published.
|
| Debt
Funding |
Funding to cover debt or an unexpected
shortfall in the budget. Most foundations do not provide this kind of funding.
|
| Debt
Reduction |
Grant to reduce the recipient
organization's indebtedness. |
| Decentralization |
Significant decision making authority
is delegated throughout the organization to lower management levels. |
| Decision
Making |
The process of mapping the likely
consequences of decisions, working out the importance of individual factors,
and choosing the best course of action to take. |
| Decision
Tree |
A treelike diagram illustrating
the choices available to a decision maker. Each possible decision and its
estimated outcome are shown as a separate branch of the tree. |
| Decline |
The refusal or rejection of a
grant request. Some declination letters explain why the grant was not made,
but many do not. |
| Declining
Grant |
A multi-year grant that becomes
smaller each year, in the expectation that the recipient organization will
increase its fundraising from other sources. |
| Deep
Linking |
Linking to a particular Web page
external to that of the current site.
|
| Defamation |
The act of making untrue statements
about another that damages his or her reputation. If the defamatory statement
is printed or broadcast over the media it is libel, and if only oral, it
is slander. |
| Default |
A computer software setting or
preference that states what will automatically happen in the event that
the user has not stated another preference.
|
| Default
Browser |
The Web browser that you want
your computer to open automatically whenever a file is clicked on.
|
| Deferred
Charitable Gift Annuity |
A charitable gift annuity which
is to make its first payment more than twelve months after the gift is set
up. The annuity payments are based on the annuitants' ages at the time the
payments are to begin. |
| Deferred
Compensation |
Money that is deducted from income
prior to taxes and invested, much like a 457 or a 401(k) plan. Taxes are
paid when the money is withdrawn.
|
| Deferred
Gift |
A gift that is committed to a
charitable organization but is not available for use until some future time,
usually the death of the donor. |
| Deferred
Gifts |
Methods of giving which require
the wait of a year or more before being able to use the gift assets. |
| Deferred
Giving |
Methods of giving which require
the nonprofits to wait a year or more before being able to use the gift
assets. Deferred giving is only one part of planned giving.
|
| Deficit
Funding |
Funding to cover debt or an unexpected
shortfall in the budget. Most foundations do not provide this kind of funding. |
| Defined
Benefit Plan |
A retirement program under which
the retirement benefit to be paid is some percentage of final salary rather
than simply the return on investment of the retirement fund.
|
| Defined
Contribution Plan |
A retirement program under which
an employee contributes a percentage of salary and the return on investment
determines the retirement benefit.
|
| Delayering |
The practice of stripping out
a layer of management from the hierarchical business organization.
|
| Delivery
Point Barcode |
A barcode that reflects the delivery
address, the carrier route and the order in which the location falls on
the route.
|
| Demand |
The quantity of a product purchased
at a given price.
|
| Demo |
A term that refers to a short
display of a product's features and capabilities. It can be used in the
past, present, or future tenses.
|
| Demo
Software |
Often available for download at
the manufacturer's Web site, demos give you the flavor of the real full-blown
application, with some limitations.
|
| Demodulation |
The process of decoding digital
data into analog signals for transmission. Often used with radio or cable
TV.
|
| Demographics |
Shared characteristics held in
common by a group, such as age, sex, income, education, occupation, and
geographic dispersion that are used to identify target markets. Demographics
are an example of inferred data: data that is collected about a market through
market research and applied to everyone in that market. |
| Demography |
The distribution of age groups
within the population. |
| Demonstration
Grant |
A grant made to establish an innovative
project or program that will serve as a model, if successful, and may be
replicated by others. |
| Departmentalization |
The process of combining jobs
into work units and grouping similar work units. |
| Dependent |
Often used to refer to people
from poor neighborhoods, who are depicted as having deficiencies and needs
that make them dependent on social service and healthcare professionals.
|
| Deposition |
A discovery tool whereby oral
testimony is taken of a party or witness under oath, by an attorney of the
opposing party.
|
| Depreciation |
A deduction allowable to taxpayers
on depreciable assets used in a trade or business and which is intended
to reflect the fact that such assets wear out. Over the years, the rules
for deduction of depreciation have become increasingly complex.
|
| Descriptive
Data |
Information and findings expressed
in words, unlike statistical data, which are expressed in numbers. |
| Designated
Endowment |
Individuals, families, and businesses
may be particularly interested in a Designated Endowment when they wish
to create a separate, named endowment fund to support one or more charities.
It can also be used to name a secondary charity to receive support if the
named charity ceases to exist or is no longer a qualified charity. Designated
endowments can assure the contribution remains local to benefit other specified
or similar charities instead of forfeiting the contributed funds to a hierarchical
entity if the specified organization ceases to exist.
|
| Designated
Fund |
A type of restricted fund held
by a community foundation in which the donor specifies the fund beneficiaries. |
| Designated
Gift |
A gift, the use of which is designated
by the donor. |
| Desired
Outcomes |
The results or products that a
training program, process, instructional unit, or learning activity strives
to achieve, as defined in measurable terms. |
| Desk
Research |
The use of secondary data that
already exists and may be obtained from market or research reports, sales
figures by market segments, reports from sales staff, stock movements, and
other information. |
| Desktop |
A personal computer or professional
workstation designed to fit on a desk. This term also describes what you
see on your computer screen when no applications are running.
|
| Determination
Letters |
The letters provided by the IRS
stating that the organization has been determined to be a tax-exempt charitable
organization under section 501(c)(3) and ruling on its public support status
under section 509(a). Many foundations require copies of both letters to
be submitted with grant proposals. |
| Developing
Sector |
The factions of a community which
have yet to be formally organized, but which are potential sources for many
community leaders. |
| Development |
A term used to define the total
process of organizational or institutional fundraising, frequently inclusive
of public relations and (in educational institutions) alumni(ae) affairs. |
| Development
Board |
Refers to all dynamics of a continuing
fundraising program including annual giving, special gifts, planned gifts,
and public relations.
|
| Developmental
Assets |
Developed by the Search Institute,
this term is used to refer to 40 internal and external positive experiences,
meaningful opportunities and personal qualities that young people need to
be responsible, successful and caring.
|
| Device
Driver |
A program that lets peripheral
devices communicate with computers.
|
| Devise |
Technically, a testamentary gift
of real estate.
|
| DHCP |
Domain Host Control Panel. A protocol
for dynamically assigning IP addresses to networked computers. |
| DHTML |
Dynamic HTML combines HTML, style
sheets, and scripts to make Web pages more interactive. |
| Dial-Up
Connection |
One of the cheapest and most popular
ways for a home user to access the Internet, this kind of connection uses
standard telephone lines to link your desktop to the host/server.
|
| DIALOG |
An online database information
service made available by Knight Ridder Information Services, Inc. The Foundation
Center offers two large files on foundations and grants through DIALOG.
|
| Dialogue |
A process for sharing and learning
about another group's beliefs, feelings, interests, and/or needs in a non-adversarial,
open way, usually with the help of a third party facilitator. |
| Dictatorial
Process |
Authoritarian decision-making
processes in which one person (or a small group of people) make arbitrary
decisions, supposedly on behalf of their people, but without any meaningful
input from the people, nor any institutionalized process for reversing the
decision if it is disliked by a majority of the people it affects. It is
the opposite of a democratic decision-making processes, in which duly elected
or appointed representatives or decision-makers make decisions based on
public input on behalf of their constituencies.
|
| Digital
Certificate |
A password-protected file that
includes a variety of information: the name and email address of the certificate
holder, an encryption key that can be used to verify the digital signature
of the holder, the name of the company issuing the certificate, and the
period during which the certificate is valid.
|
| Digital
Divide |
Describes the division between
individuals or communities that have access to digital mediums such as the
Internet, and those that do not.
|
| Digital
Signature |
A means of proving that a file
or email message belongs to a specific person, much as a driver's license
proves identity in real life.
|
| Digital
Signature |
A digital signature is an electronic
signature that can be used to authenticate the identity of the sender of
a message, or of the signer of a document. It can also be used to ensure
that the original content of the message or document that has been conveyed
is unchanged.
|
| Digital
Watermark |
A method for identifying an electronic
document, usually information placed in the code.
|
| DIMM |
Dual Inline Memory Module. A small
circuit board filled with RAM chips, prevalent on the Power Mac platform
but creeping into high-performance systems as well. Pronounced "dim".
|
| Diplomacy |
The interaction between two or
more nation-states.
|
| Direct
Costs |
Includes all items that can be
categorically identified and charged to the specific project, such as personnel,
fringe benefits, consultants, subcontractors, travel, equipment, supplies
and materials, communications, computer time, and publication charges. |
| Direct
Deposit of Payroll |
Making direct deposit of payroll
to employee bank accounts via electronic transfer rather than writing individual
paychecks.
|
| Direct
Gifts |
When donors select charities that
provide programs and services that reflect values similar to their own,
and make gifts of cash or other assets such as appreciated stock.
|
| Direct
Impact |
An effect of a program that addresses
a stated goal or objective of that program.
|
| Direct
Lobbying |
Defined under Section 501(h),
this refers to a communication made to a legislator, an employee of a legislative
body, or any other government employee who may participate in the formulation
of the legislation. It must refer to a specific piece of legislation and
express a view on it.
|
| Direct
Mail |
Solicitation of gifts or volunteer
services and distribution of information pieces by mass mailing.
|
| Direct
Marketing |
A method of distribution products
directly without the use of intermediaries such as wholesalers and retailers.
|
| Direct
Marketing |
Various ways that charitable organizations
generate revenue through connecting with potential donors and/or consumers
through the mail (direct mail), via email, or over the telephone (telemarketing).
|
| Direct
Marketing |
The field of marketing in which
individuals are reached at their homes or businesses, and directly solicited
and instructed to make purchases or take action. Direct Marketing includes
direct mail, telemarketing and e-mail marketing.
|
| Direct
Observation |
A less obtrusive method to gather
information about things that can be observed.
|
| Direct
Service |
Work directed at the achievement
of the agency's primary mission which often involves the provision of services
directly to agency clients. |
| Direct-Mail
Fund Raising |
Solicitation of funds by mass
mail.
|
| Director-at-Large
|
A board member not on the Executive
Committee.
|
| Directors
and Officers Liability Insurance |
Professional liability coverage
for legal expenses and liability to shareholders, bondholders, creditors
or others due to actions or omissions by a director or officer of a corporation
or nonprofit organization. |
| Directory |
A directory, sometimes called
a folder, often lists the following information about its contents: file
name, file size, creation date and time, file type, and author name.
|
| Dirty
Connection |
An abnormally slow or lagging
Internet connection due to heavy traffic or some other type of anomaly occurring
between your computer's connection and the ISP you're using. |
| Disability |
Not fully capable of performing
all essential functions of daily living, whether mental or physical. |
| Disarming
Strategies |
Actions that are designed to break
down or challenge negative stereotypes.
|
| Disbursement
Excess |
The total amount a "registered
charity" spent on its charitable activities and "gifts" to "qualified donees"
exceeds it's "disbursement quota" for the year. A registered charity may,
without obtaining departmental approval: spend a disbursement excess in
a year; and include that excess in calculating amounts spent on charitable
activities and as "gifts" to "qualified donees" for the immediate preceding
taxation year and up to five taxation years following as long as it has
not been previously used. |
| Disbursement
Quota |
The amount, generally 80 percent
of receipted donations received in the preceding year that, with certain
exceptions, a registered charity must spend each year on certain activities
or donate to qualified donees in order to meet the requirements for continued
registration. The amount a "registered charity" must spend each year on
certain activities or to "qualified donees" to meet the requirements for
continued registration. |
| Disbursements |
The grant funds distributed by
a Foundation to grantseekers. |
| Disc |
A round, read-only optical storage
medium made of nonmagnetic material. Read from and written to by laser,
discs include CDs, CD-ROMs, laserdiscs, DVDs, and more.
|
| Discipline |
Action taken against an employee
for misconduct or incompetence when other efforts fail, or when a single
incident is so severe as to warrant it. |
| Disclosure
|
The public dissemination of material,
market-influencing information. |
| Disclosure
Statement |
A statement which nonprofits give
to donors, at least in the case of some split-interest gifts. The purpose
is to explain in lay-language some of the possible risks. |
| Discovery |
Finding out or ascertaining something
previously unknown or unrecognized. |
| Discretionary
Funds |
Grant funds which are distributed
according to a donor or trustees discretion rather than by predetermined
priorities. |
| Discrimination |
The act of distinguishing between
and among different things. It is also a charge brought by people alleging
the operation of prejudice. When discrimination is done in a way that disadvantages
individuals because of birth or condition, it is unlawful. |
| Discussion
Board |
A common name for an interactive
message board, this is a place on the Web where users may post and read
announcements on topics of common interest. A person interacts with a discussion
board by submitting forms or sending in email messages to be posted.
|
| Disk |
The common name for a floppy disk,
this term refers to any type of portable disk, as well as to the hard disk
drive in your computer. It is rewritable, meaning one can add data to it
or replace existing data.
|
| Disparate
Effect |
The result of an employment policy,
practice, or procedure that, in application, has less favorable consequences
for an affirmative action group than for the dominant group.
|
| Disqualified
Person |
A broad category including contributors
to a private foundation, its managers, and certain public officials. Family
members of disqualified persons are also disqualified, as are corporations
and partnerships in which disqualified persons hold significant interests.
Financial transactions between disqualified persons and foundations are
in violation of self-dealing rules, except as specified by law. |
| Distance
Learning |
The method of obtaining training
without being physically present during the class. The class/seminar/workshop
or other training is viewed on a computer screen or by satellite broadcast.
|
| Distributed
Computing |
Any computing that involves multiple
computers remote from each other, where each has a role in a computation
problem or information processing.
|
| Distribution |
A controlled subset of recipients
for postings to a mailing list or newsgroup. A distribution helps organize
any topic-oriented messages for multiple recipients.
|
| Distribution
Committee |
The committee responsible for
making grant decisions.
|
| Dither |
A method that approximates color
by placing pixels close together in colors that the computer can display.
|
| Diversification
|
An attempt to minimize risk by
distributing assets among various asset classes or among managers within
the same asset class who have different styles.
|
| Diversity |
Full participation by members
of many different groups. |
| DLL |
Dynamic Link Library. When trying
to share functions/resources among Windows programs, they are generally
placed in DLLs. These libraries do all kinds of things, from holding icons,
to enabling Visual Basic programs, to creating network sockets that allow
you to hook up to the Internet.
|
| DMA |
Direct Memory Access. Hardware
devices attached to PCs designed to send instructions to and from main memory.
|
| DNS |
Domain Name System. When sending
email or pointing a browser to an Internet domain, the DNS translates the
names into Internet addresses (a series of numbers such as: 123.123.23.2).
The term refers to two things: the conventions for naming hosts and the
way the names are handled across the Internet.
|
| Do
Pass |
A favorable recommendation from
a committee; thus sending a bill to the floor for final vote
|
| Docket |
The packet of materials prepared
for a meeting of the foundation's board of directors or trustees. The docket
often includes staff analysis of proposals submitted to the board, full
copies or summaries of the proposals, lists of organizations turned down
at the staff level, reports on previously funded projects, and other information
on the foundation's investments or management.
|
| Docking
Station |
A platform into which you can
install a laptop computer. This typically contains slots for expansion cards,
bays for storage devices, and connectors for peripheral devices, such as
printers and monitors.
|
| Document |
Recorded information, usually
saved as a file.
|
| Document |
A legal document that states some
contractual relationship.
|
| Document
Review |
A technique of data collection
involving the examination of existing records or documents.
|
| Dollar
Value |
The amount a patron spends on
a solicitation. |
| DOM |
Document Object Model. Allows
all elements of a Web page to be manipulated and acted on by programs and
scripting languages.
|
| Domain
Name |
A term that refers to the name
used to access a Web page.
|
| Domain
Name Lookup |
The process of converting a numeric
IP address into a text name. You can do this by going to: http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois
|
| Domains
of Learning |
Classification of types of learning:
psychomotor (physical), cognitive (mental) and affective (emotional). |
| Domestic
Mail Manual |
This USPS-published manual contains
the basics regarding domestic mail services.
|
| Domestic
Partner Benefits |
An extension of benefits such
as health insurance, family leave, bereavement leave, and long-term care
insurance to nontraditional family members, sometimes referred to as spousal
equivalents.
|
| Domestic
Violence Education/Prevention |
These programs are designed to
educate employees on various issues related to domestic violence and/or
provide them with resources available within the community. |
| Domination
Conflicts |
Conflicts over placement in the
social hierarchy, who has more status and power in a society, and who has
less.
|
| Donee |
The recipient of a grant. |
| Dongle |
A device that prevents the unauthorized
use of hardware or software, it usually consists of a small cord attached
to a device or key that secures the hardware.
|
| Donor |
Individual or organization that
makes a grant or contribution. Also called a Grantor. |
| Donor
Advised Fund |
A fund held by a community foundation
or other public foundation where the donor, or a person or committee appointed
by the donor, may recommend eligible charitable recipients for grants from
the fund. The community foundation’s governing body must be free to accept
or reject the recommendations. |
| Donor
Intent |
The vision of the foundation’s
donor for its social mission. |
| Donor
Profile |
A description of basic information
about an individual donor through research. |
| Donor
Pyramid |
The graphic representation of
the hierarchy of donors by gift size.
|
| Donor
Recognition |
The policy and practice of recognizing
gifts, first through immediate acknowledgement by card or letter, and subsequently
through personalized notes, personal expressions of appreciation directly
to donors, published lists of contributors, and in other appropriate ways. |
| Donor
Relations |
Planned program of maintaining
donor interest through acknowledgments, information, personal involvement,
etc.
|
| Donor
Services Representative |
Staff person serves as a donor’s
liaison or ongoing point of contact.
|
| Double
Entry |
A practice of keeping financial
books and records so as to give a balanced picture at all times |
| Double
Join |
Language added to a bill that
makes its passage contingent upon another bill's passage to avoid one bill
chaptering out the other
|
| Download |
To transfer a file or files from
one computer to another, the opposite of upload.
|
| DPI |
Dots Per Inch. A measure of resolution
in printers and scanners, dpi ratings describe how many pixels such devices
can fit into an inch of space.
|
| Driver |
A computer program that interacts
with a particular device or software. A driver is a file that contains the
information a program needs to operate a peripheral.
|
| Drop
Date |
Date to deliver direct mail letters
to a post office for mailing.
|
| Drop
Shipment |
Mailable items transported by
the mailer to another city or post office for delivery in that town or delivery
area.
|
| Drop-Down
Menu |
A list of options, often used
in online forms, that "drops down" when you click on it.
|
| Drops |
Elimination of names from a prospect/mailing
list due to death, lack of interest, or other reasons.
|
| Dry
Promotion |
Refers to an increase in responsibility
and status without an increase in pay. |
| DSL |
Digital Subscriber Line. These
lines carry data at high speeds over standard copper telephone wires. With
DSL, data can be delivered 30 times faster than through a 56k modem. DSL
users can also receive voice and data simultaneously, so small offices can
leave computers plugged into the Net without interrupting phone connections.
|
| Dual
Aspect |
A practice of keeping financial
books and records so as to give a balanced picture at all times. |
|
Glossary information provided by the Nonprofit Good Practice Guide, a project of the Philanthropic and Nonprofit Knowledge Management Initiative (PNKM) at the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership.
|
