How to say no
- Andy King
- Jan 8
- 3 min read
This was the first year in a long time that I felt real resistance coming back to work. I absolutely love my job, but I also love not setting an alarm in the morning, and the change of pace feels particularly hard coming into 2026.
It’s not that I don’t want to work. It’s that I don’t want to overwork… again. It feels like there’s an expectation in the fundraising world to bite off more than you can chew and… chew it.
This year can’t be like that. Our bodies, minds and our loved ones deserve us to be rested. So it’s important that we say no more often this year.
The 'Nine Nos of Fundraising', developed by The Management Centre, are the nine ways a donor can say no to your fundraising ask. It’s a really powerful framework for handling objections, and I would really recommend, particularly if you're a high value fundraiser reading the article. You can read the article here.
But I'm not bringing it to you as a way to handle objections, instead I'm bringing it to you as a guide to framing objections yourself.
Saying no can be really hard. What this Management Centre article gives you is nine ways that you can say no, with only one that actually means no. You can say 'no, not me', 'no, not now', "No, not you", all of which are different to 'no, go away'.
No, not me
Fireside Fundraising is a three person business, and there are tasks that each of us delight in differently to each other. Lucy LOVES desk research, the hint of gossip in a company’s accounts, or to work out whether they even have money. Lisa LOVES getting into the nitty gritty, making an action plan and helping see it through. Andy LOVES workshops and big picture thinking. It’s a year of working out who’s best placed.
No, not now
I'm as easily distracted as a magpie surrounded by tin foil. I have so many ideas that I want to action and I want to do them all now. Actually practising prioritisation and saying 'I'll come back to that later' has been really powerful. Doing our research last year meant saying ‘not now’ to a lot of other ideas and investments, and they were some of the best nos we ever said. The goal is more of that this year.
No, go away
There are sometimes opportunities that just feel wrong in your gut. You're offered the opportunity to do something that yes, could lead to money for your organisation, but is going to suck before, during and afterwards. And you can just see it. It's more of a raging bin fire than a red flag of an opportunity. There's been one or two of those that I've had to say no to.
I should be clear, I'm not talking about anyone here. I've been offered sales opportunities outside the charity sector, and while I considered them, I just don't care that much about helping companies make money if there isn't any social good in it, and being able to own that and say no to it, has been really helpful.
It can be scary to say no, but I want you to know that I'm in your corner.