Let Us Know:
Regularly.
Occasionally.
Not enough!
Maybe too much?
How Often Are You
Testing At Your
Organization?

Digital Tests That Worked
(And Some That Didn’t)
123 Testing

Session Objectives
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This rapid-fire session will feature results from a variety
of digital tests for email, landing pages, mobile, and
digital ads.
We’ll learn which tests helped boost fundraising
revenue and engagement, which tests didn’t work, and
how to develop a culture of testing at your nonprofit.
You’ll walk away from this session with new ideas of
what to test and the encouragement you need to try
new things.

Brought to you by:
Caitlin Richard
Senior Email Marketing Manager
Heifer International
she/her/hers
Caitlin.Richard@heifer.org
Cathy Whitlock
Associate Vice President of Online
Communications
Parkinson’s Foundation
she/her/hers
cwhitlock@parkinson.org
Megan Buchheit
Digital Account Manager
Lautman Maska Neill & Co.
she/her/hers
mbuchheit@lautmandc.com

Creating a Culture of Testing
Be open.
Nothing is precious.
Test your assumptions.
You know your organization best.
Some tests are going to lose –
and that’s a good thing.
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How to Approach Testing
Make a plan and build on past test results for future testing.
Don’t test more than one thing at a time (in most cases).
Test … and then retest!
Work to optimize results in advance of important campaigns.
Consider capacity at your organization and be
realistic about what you can and can’t do.
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Making a Testing Plan:
Landing Page Examples
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Removing
Extra fields
1 page versus
2 pages
Ask string
Adding mobile
payment options

How to Evaluate Test Results
• Look for statistical significance.
• Focus on the metrics that matter.
For fundraising, we usually focus on response/conversion rate and
page completion rate.
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What If Test Results
Aren’t What You Hoped?
• Consider your organizational priorities.
You don’t always have to roll out with the winner of the
test if you have different prioritizes as an organization.
• Sometimes the test just helps you better understand and
contextualize results moving forward.
• Getting your audience used to something different can
take time.
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Parkinson’s Foundation
Rebrand Example
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vs

Types of Tests
Email Landing Pages Sustainer
Mobile Ads 11

Email 12

Email Testing…123
Sender
Subject line
Button color
Button copy
Send time
Messaging and
simple copy tests
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Renew Vs. Donate Button
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Control Test
Winner!
Increased page
completion rate
and raised over
2X the revenue!

Ask Amount: $20 vs. $40
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Winner!
Over 2x as
many gifts!

Email Send Time
Control: 9:00 a.m.
Test: 3:00 p.m.
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Winner!
Increased page
completion rate
and response
rate!

Personalizing Art With Donor’s Name
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Control
Test
Winner!
Higher revenue
and increased
click through rate!

Personalizing with Name
(Non-Fundraising)
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Tie!
The test didn’t
make any
difference.

Personalizing Email Ask by Past Gift
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Tie!
The test didn’t
make any
difference.

Recent Gift Amount vs. Highest Previous Gift
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Winner!
More gifts and
higher average
gift!

Invoice Email vs. Plain Text Email
Winner!
More than
doubled response
rate and revenue!

Landing Pages 22

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Ask string
• Regular vs. reverse ask string
• Number of ask amounts
(ex. 3 asks vs. 5 asks)
• Higher vs. lower ask string
Removing/adding fields
• Do you need everything you
currently ask for on your donation form?
Landing Page Testing 123

Mobile Payment Options
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Control
Test
Winner!
Increased page
completion rate
and average gift.

Covering the Transaction Fee
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Control
Test
Tie!
No difference
between control
and test

Landing Page Design
Control Test
Winner!
Had a higher
average gift and
2x the revenue

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Sustainers

Monthly ask string
Adding a dual 1x and monthly
ask to emails
Using a monthly-first ask
for active donors
Sustainer Testing 123
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Sustainer Ask String
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Control
Test
Tie!
No difference
between control
and test.

Sustainer First Ask
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Control: Test:
Winner!
Increased
sustainers but
lowered page
completion rate.

Naming a Sustainer Program
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Control Test
Winner!
Test had a higher
response rate and
average gift.

Naming a Sustainer Program: Part 2
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Control
Test
Winner!
Had a higher
response rate and
average gift.

Sustainer Segmentation
• Who are you asking to
become a sustainer? You
might consider looking at:
• Length of time on email file
• Length of time since most
recent gift
• Length of time that they’ve been
a donor
• Previous giving level
• First gift channel or program
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Mobile

Mobile Testing 123
SMS vs. MMS
Send time
Many of the tests that work for email
and landing pages also apply for
mobile.
Mobile is also a great time to make
your testing multi-channel and to
continue tests that you may be doing
in email.
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Art Design for Mobile Messages
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Control Test
Winner!
The control won
for the response
rate.

Premium Offer vs. Non-Premium Offer
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Control Test
Winner!
More than
doubled
donations and
had nearly 2x the
response rate!

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Ads

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Call to action button copy
Call to action buttons on ad creative
Copy & messaging
Including emojis in ad headlines 🚨❗🛑
Static vs. gif ads
Text treatment on ads
Channels for ads
Like mobile, many of the email and landing pages tests also apply here.
Digital Ads Testing 123

Ad Landing Page
Control Test
Winner!
Higher page
completion rate
and better
cost/result

One Time vs. Monthly Giving
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Control Test
Winner!
Higher ROI
on ad spend

Audience Testing in
Social Media Growth Campaign
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Ad Language
Control Test
Winner!
Higher
conversion rate
and lower
cost/result

As we wrap up, remember…
Start small.
Have a plan of action.
Don’t be afraid to retest. Things can get stale or
change as technology changes!
Have a procedure for keeping track of your test
results.
Make sure you are implementing your winning
tests!
Share your learnings with the rest of your team.
Don’t limit yourself. There are so many tests
beyond the ones we mentioned today.
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Questions?
Please reach out to us at any time!
MBuchheit@lautmandc.com | Caitlin.Richard@heifer.org | CWhitlock@parkinson.org
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