Our client had never done a direct-mail appeal before. We pushed them to try. It netted a LOT more than they thought it would, and the next year, we repeated something similar again.

But for the same client…

We strategized a specific digital campaign, and it did barely okay-ish. It covered the “costs” of running it, but we realized that the specific format didn’t work well for this audience. We now knew that we could confidently shelve the idea and not try it again.

Both scenarios involved trying something new – which is scary.

If you try something new, it might fail. And in this case, one idea did.

But I want to make a case for failure – and why it might not be the disaster you think it is.

In the years we’ve been doing this, we’ve come up with new ideas for our clients to try.

Some succeeded.

And some flopped.

But we don’t regret a single one.

If you always play it safe, you’ll never stumble across the ideas and approaches that actually work REALLY well for your organization.

And, yes, you might have an epic failure. But then you know what didn’t work, and you know to erase that one from your list and never explore it again.

Knowing what DOESN’T work is extremely important. But often, you won’t know until you try.

Every attempt brings you places.

Over time, all your tweaks and no-that-didn’t-works will build a strong, strategic approach.

Trying new things isn’t something to be afraid of. Even things that don’t work will eventually lead you in the right direction.

Our agency helps multi-million dollar nonprofits with marketing strategy and copywriting that touches hearts. And gets people giving. See our NPO packages

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