Our generation does not want its epitaph to read, 'We kept charity overhead low.' We want it to read that we changed the world.
Dan PallottaRead
When you prohibit failure, you kill innovation. If you kill innovation in fundraising, you can't raise more revenue. If you can't raise more revenue, you can't grow. And if you can't grow, you can't possibly solve large social problems.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Prohibiting failure stifles creativity and prevents growth, which is essential for solving significant social issues.
Dan Pallotta's quote emphasizes the crucial link between failure, innovation, and growth in fundraising efforts. By highlighting that the fear of failure can hinder innovative approaches, he argues that without the capacity to innovate, organizations will struggle to raise necessary funds, ultimately inhibiting their ability to address and solve larger societal challenges.
Themes
FailureInnovationGrowthFundraisingSocial Problems
In practice
Example use cases
In a presentation about nonprofit strategies, this quote illustrates the importance of embracing risk for greater impact.
More from Dan Pallotta
All quotes →We aren't upset when Paramount makes a $200 million movie that flops, but if a charity experiments with a $5 million fundraising event that fails, we call in the attorneys. So charities are petrified of trying bold new revenue-generating endeavors and can't develop the powerful learning curves the for-profit sector can.
Dan PallottaRead
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