We’ve all been there: the latest reports show this one color donate button works best, everyone is blogging about shortening subject lines, our board is inspired by another organization’s successful campaign and suggests we emulate. We find ourselves at the crossroads of “Should we do that?” and “Will that work for us?” Steve MacLaughlin, VP of Data and Analytics at Blackbaud and the host of today’s episode, explains that the answer is almost always going to be “it depends”. It depends on your mission, your technology, your audience, your goals – it depends on each organization’s unique situation and circumstance. The only way to get your answer: Test.

Joining Steve for today’s episode, a true expert in the field, is Tim Kachuriak, the Chief Innovation and Optimization Officer for Next After, a research and consulting firm that helps nonprofits, NGOs, and businesses grow their research capacity. Tune in to hear Steve and Tim tackle everything from why you can’t afford not to be testing, a simple change that tests showed could increase online giving up to 20% and how to get started with simple data points.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• How the web works as our own behavioral laboratory
• Why testing is important for small organizations as well as large ones
• The challenges of determining what is and isn’t working and where testing is needed
• How data can demonstrate the changes in donor activity over time
• How best practices can provide diminishing returns as more organizations adopt them
• How to prioritize which areas to test using analytics
• The three components of creating online revenue
• Next After’s projects for 2018

Resources:

Tim Kachuriak

Next After

Blackbaud

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Blackbaud - Facebook

“The thing that I’m usually amazed by is how seemingly small things can make significant impact as it relates to getting more people to say “yes” to give a gift to you.”

“One of the ways that you can mitigate risk is by doing testing and finding out for sure, using data, what works and what doesn’t.”

“I love best practices, but I love them as a starting place, not a final destination.”