People or organizations outside of your community who have a vested interest in the community’s success, which may include benefiting from the activities of the community. Stakeholders might include funders, related communities, or special interest groups.†
Internal stakeholders are often team members directly impacted by the outcomes, while external stakeholders are not part of the organization but have an interest in the project (e.g., funders or related communities). Stakeholders is one of the building blocks of the People domain of the Project Canvas. (Chapter 6, pp. 98, 119)*
Use of the word “stakeholder” is currently a topic of debate, which you can read more about in this article.
† Citation: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2025) CSCCE Glossary: Scientific Community Engagement Fundamentals. Woodley, Pratt, and Santistevan doi: 10.5281/zenodo.15359413
*Terms defined for the Project Management for Scientists Bootcamp (PMB) include a chapter reference to the course text The Harvard Business Review Project Management Handbook by Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez.
Citation: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2026) CSCCE Glossary: Project management. Woodley, Pratt, Martinic, and Santistevan doi: 10.5281/zenodo.15052305