Learning the common objections against the 1% Pledge and how to respond to them is an integral part of Pledge Conversation training. Here you will find general advice to handling objections, as well as a list of the three most common objections along with appropriate responses to them:

Contents:

1. General Advice
2. Money: Objection
3. Money: Response
4. Time: Objection
5. Time: Response
6. Cause/Charity: Objection
7. Cause/Charity: Response

General Advice:

• Understand the objection! Just because they have a reason to not take the pledge doesn’t make them a bad person.
• Relate to their objection
• Be kind! The more kind, courteous and understanding you are, the more likely they are to take the Pledge eventually. However, the more it becomes an argument, the less likely it becomes.

Money: Objection

• “I agree with the OFTW mission, but I’ve just taken over $200,000 in debt for my degree. How do you expect me to give out more money when I have given so much out already?
• “I’ll donate when I have disposable income or a job lined up. Just not right now.”
• “1% feels like a lot to give, especially when we’re just students without any income.”

Money: Response

Remind them of a few things:

1. Benchmarks - How much do they spend on transitory items? Bars, coffee, etc. Isn’t having a huge impact worth more than sacrificing a 3$ cup of coffee a day? (You can substitute in: one night out at a bar each week, one nice dinner a month)
2. Remind them of the amazing impact 1% can have each year: Help protect 720 people from malaria for 3 to 4 years, on average, or deworm 1600 children, or provide safe water to 640 community members for one year.
3. Remind them how little 1% is compared to the other 99%. If their job offer was for 1% less would they refuse it? ($75,000 to $74,250?)
4. 1% is low - The average American actually gives ~2.6% of their annual income to charity. The key here is that you can have a bigger impact with less money due to the OFTW proven effective charities profile.

Time: Objection

• “I totally agree with this mission. I just have a lot on my plate right now, so it’s hard to really think about this…”
• “This is super cool, but my priorities are around X right now. Can you reach out to me later?”
• “This is something I should look into after I graduate, move, and get my job settled. Why don’t I just take the pledge then? Why now?”

Time: Response

Remind them that:

1. The pledge only takes a few minutes to set! Feel free to walk them through it.
2. The pledge is non-binding and flexible! Sure, it may sound intimidating, but it’s entirely up to the person to change or cancel it later on.
3. If they agree, the earlier they join the movement and become an advocate, the more people can be saved from totally preventable causes
4. If you want us to follow up with you, that takes time and energy. That is less time and energy we could spend getting other people engaged with effective giving. Help us help more people. Pledge now!

• Make sure that tangible issues are holding up their commitment. If intangible, ask them to pledge!
• If you can’t answer a question make sure to provide them with the answer as soon as possible after the meeting / conversation.
• If they don’t pledge, make sure to set up a follow-up meeting
• You may need to push them:
  1. It can be easy to be distracted by regular life once you graduate
  2. Sign up now and they’ll thank themselves later

Cause/Charity Objection:

1. “I already give to other causes and easily meet my 1%.”
2. “I want to give back to my home country.”
3. “I already go on mission trips every Spring Break.”

Cause/Charity Response:

First and foremost, celebrate that they are already giving! Also, you can remind them that:

• It’s not an either/or scenario. Create a portfolio? Let OFTW be the safe and reliable part of your charitable portfolio - “guaranteed returns”
• Have they thought about actual impact? Are they confident that the charities they give to are a good investment in terms of impact? If the end goal for most giving is to positively impact lives of others, the OFTW charities profile will give them huge Return-On-Investment
• Training a guide dog vs. preventing trachoma (eg. between 400 - 1600 people)
• Structural/political causes - There are many causes where the impact of a donation is hard to measure or the probability of success is low.