Joyce Marter, a licensed psychotherapist and author of The Financial Mindset Fix: A Mental Fitness Program for an Abundant Life, recommended preparing a short and sweet response to have on hand for these situations, so you arenāt caught off guard. āAvoid long-winded excuses that can inadvertently cause a window for you to feel pressured to give ā i.e. āOh, that was for a different organization, so maybe you could also donate through me.ā ā or cause the child more feelings of rejection ā such as saying you only support kids you know.ā She suggested using a compliment sandwich ā i.e., compliment, rejection, compliment ā to soften your ānoā response. For example, she said you might say, āThatās fantastic that you are raising money for your school. Iām so sorry, but Iām not able to [give] at this time. I wish you the best of luck! Iām sure youāll do great.ā