The Objection Brainstorm Exercise
Most fundraisers prepare for donor meetings by thinking about what they’ll say. Successful fundraisers who handle objections most confidently do something different: they write down everything they’re afraid the donor might ask.
This brainstorm exercise won’t eliminate objections because objections aren’t bad. Objections are a sign the donor wants to continue the conversation. But this exercisewill take away the fear of being surprised by one — and that allows you to show up more confidently.
Why this works
There are only so many objections donors raise. They generally cluster into less than a dozen common themes. Once you’ve identified the ones that are likely to come up for your nonprofit, you stop dreading the question and start getting curious about it.
As Marc often says: when you’ve already answered an objection in your head, you can actually be with the donor in front of you instead of trying to manage your own anxiety. Donors sense that. And it makes a difference.
The Objection Brainstorm Exercise
This works for one fundraiser on their own, but it’s especially powerful with a team or a group of board members.
Step 1: Picture your “chicken list.”
Think of a specific donor you’re nervous about asking — someone you’ve been putting off, or whose potential objections keep you up at night. Hold that person in mind for the whole exercise.
Step 2: Write down the objections — one per post-it note.
What are the scariest things that person could say? Write each one down separately. Go until there are no more. Include the ones that seem embarrassing or far-fetched. Include the ones you don’t know how to answer. Get them all out.
Step 3: Put them on a wall.
All of them. Seeing them in writing starts to reduce their power. This step matters more than it sounds.
Step 4: Group them into common themes.
Have someone start clustering the post-its together. You’ll almost always find that dozens of individual objections collapse into just a handful of categories. The economy. Family finances. Organizational trust. Competing priorities. That’s it. You’ll see the list is shorter than it looked.
Step 5: Answer them together.
As a group, talk through responses to each cluster. You don’t need the perfect answer — you need a genuine, curious response that keeps the conversation going. You’ll see that the scariest objection to you is an easy one to answer for someone else. As you work through the objection areas, you’ll actually feel the confidence in the room rise.
What happened in Kansas City
Marc ran this exercise at a full-day Ask Without Fear!® training in Kansas City. As the group worked through the clusters and started answering objections together, something unexpected happened: the post-it notes started falling off the wall.
There were so many dropping at once it sounded like leaves falling in autumn.
And that’s when it hit the room: the objections were literally falling away.
It became one of those moments that sticks. Not because it was a trick — but because it was true. The objections that had felt overwhelming were answerable. Most of them were variations of the same few concerns. And once the group had answered one, they realized they could probably answer the others too.
What to do with the answers
Don’t let this exercise end with the meeting. The objections you surface — and the responses you develop — belong in your fundraising communications too. This is how you answer the objections even before they’re asked.
- Are donors saying the economy makes it hard to give? In your newsletters, feature a story of a donor who found a way to give anyway — and why they chose to.
- Are donors saying their kids are in college? Profile a donor who gave through that season and what it meant to them.
- Are donors saying there are too many competing fundraising drives? Share a specific story of a donor who felt that too — and why they chose to give to you anyway.
Answering objections before you get to the ask — in your newsletters, annual reports, and case statements — means donors arrive at the conversation already having worked through some of their hesitation. That not only makes the asking conversation easier. It makes the relationship stronger.
The Objection Brainstorm Exercise
This works for one fundraiser on their own, but it’s especially powerful with a team or a group of board members.
Step 1: Picture your “chicken list.”
Think of a specific donor you’re nervous about asking — someone you’ve been putting off, or whose potential objections keep you up at night. Hold that person in mind for the whole exercise.
Step 2: Write down the objections — one per post-it note.
What are the scariest things that person could say? Write each one down separately. Go until there are no more. Include the ones that seem embarrassing or far-fetched. Include the ones you don’t know how to answer. Get them all out.
Step 3: Put them on a wall.
All of them. Seeing them in writing starts to reduce their power. This step matters more than it sounds.
Step 4: Group them into common themes.
Have someone start clustering the post-its together. You’ll almost always find that dozens of individual objections collapse into just a handful of categories. The economy. Family finances. Organizational trust. Competing priorities. That’s it. You’ll see the list is shorter than it looked.
Step 5: Answer them together.
As a group, talk through responses to each cluster. You don’t need the perfect answer — you need a genuine, curious response that keeps the conversation going. You’ll see that the scariest objection to you is an easy one to answer for someone else. As you work through the objection areas, you’ll actually feel the confidence in the room rise.
The AI version of this exercise
You can also run a version of this exercise with an AI tool before a specific donor meeting. It won’t replace the team conversation, but it can help you think through objections for a particular ask.
I’m preparing for a major gift ask with [describe the donor — use initials or a general description, not their real name]. Here’s what I know about their giving history, interests, and any hesitations they’ve expressed: [context]. Here’s what I’m asking for and why: [details]. Help me brainstorm the objections they’re most likely to raise — and suggest how I might respond to each one with curiosity rather than defensiveness.
Privacy note: Use initials or a general description rather than your donor’s real name. Avoid including sensitive personal details or information shared in confidence.
Want to run this exercise with your board or team?
Marc has led this exercise with fundraising teams and boards around the world. If you’d like to bring it to your organization, request an exploratory call here.