I think too many in the nonprofit sector fear failure.
Unfortunately, that paralyzes people. It prevents them from making decisions and thwarts innovation.
In most cases it isn’t the fundraisers fault.
They want to take risks. But, unfortunately the leaders, the board or the media make fundraisers feel like they can’t. They always seem to be lurking, waiting for failure so they can jump in shouting, “How dare you waste money!” and that thwarts risk-taking which leads to innovation.
But Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg once said, “If you’re going to fail, fail fast.” And, best-selling business author John C. Maxwell said, “Fail forward because mistakes are stepping stones for success.”
It’s really too bad that this is the way things are.
I believe, if you’re going to fail, fail fast and fail forward. Innovate quickly and use the learnings to grow and improve.
Is there hope?
My hope for the future is that board members and leaders of nonprofits will take the pressure off of fundraisers so they won’t be so afraid of failure because, sometimes, the repercussions from doing nothing are what everyone really should fear.
They should back-up their staff when the media play their gotcha’ games.
Don’t you agree?
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>>The Real Secret to Success Is Failure
>>Why Mistakes Are Awesome