Here's how you can bounce back and rebuild after a philanthropic failure.

True honesty in any industry is hard, its why it doesn't happen often. In philanthropy its especially hard because its an industry that is aimed at achieving "impact" and then reporting its shimmer. The first part of being honest in philanthropy is acknowledging that in many respects the structures and bed-side manner of philanthropy are flawed and are pointing toward challenge. Is it failure to take a risk on a solution that is out of the box and it doesn't work. To many in philanthropy, it would be and therefore a number of structures are created to somehow prevent against this failure. Tedious application processes, an over-commitment toward program outcomes. As an example, these methods are a failure because of a fear of failure.

Sometimes even superheroes in philanthropy trip up. But here's how to dust yourself off and keep doing good: Don't sugarcoat it. Tell your team and supporters what went wrong. Pretending hurts trust. Figure out why things went south - bad plan, bad execution, or just bad luck? Every mistake is a chance to grow! What could you have done differently? How can you dodge similar stumbles in the future? Be open about the mess-up with your donors and the people you help. Rebuilding trust takes time, so show you're learning and getting better. Remember why you started! Reignite your passion for your mission and the good you're doing. Don't dwell on the past - use it to build a stronger organization.

My perspective is as a grantee. From this perspective, accountability is ideal however I have found it extremely helpful to use it as lessons learned to share with the philanthropic organization/donor and others. The reality is in many instances the failure can be traced to a capacity deficit which the philanthropy is in business to help. Often if an organization has the capacity they wouldnt have needed the philanthropic help in the first place. This perspective has allowed me to invite the philanthropic entity to support excellence in another organizational area that was not identified pre-failure.

To bounce back after a philanthropic failure, reflect on what went wrong, seek feedback, adapt strategies, communicate openly, refocus on impact, re-engage supporters, and maintain resilience in pursuit of your mission.

Take time to feel sadness or disappointment, but not too much time. It’s an important step, because giving disappointment space before moving forward, clears the path ahead. During your reflection, remember to look for what went right - there’s usually at least one positive element in the experience you can capture, to build into your next steps. (Also known as not throwing the baby out with the bath water ??.)

One of the difficulties of overcoming a perceived failure is getting back up on that horse. There are so many organizations already established, financially able to advertise and vying for limited funds that new opportunities of making a difference must always start small. Volunteers from your family and circle of friends. Also city, county and local businesses often give their employees incentives to assist in worthy community projects. Many larger established businesses are likely to make financial contributions, so selling your objectives and business plan with them may assist in moving you further down the road to financial viability. That will mean making sure your goals and objectives and 5 year plan are ready for sharing.

In my opinion, as has been often quoted by those who have truly found success ,?"There is no such thing as failure, there's just giving up too soon"? Jonas Salk. If you continue working toward your passion, goals and solving true needs in your community you are already successful at doing what others either don't see a need or have any desire for overcoming the problems.