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Testing strategy

A fundraising test strategy will explore what the objectives of a fundraising programme are and identify what the best ways are to achieve that objective by making small (or large) changes to the way a programme or communication is created. Example tests for a direct mail piece might be different ask levels, different introductory copy, different creative, different format, different mailing dates, different incentives. Tests should be measured against a ‘fallow’ cell or non-test segment and the results should be statistically significant or consistent over time for them to be taken on to improve the programme. A good test strategy does not test for testing sake, it identifies where the most gain will come from and starts testing there.