There’s a reason this blog is called M+R Research Labs, and it is only partly because of our penchant for wearing white coats and funny goggles while we draft copy.

We test constantly – everything from subject lines to donation page layout to effective social media promotion to the intricacies of multichannel monthly donor acquisition. It’s the heart of what we do. And when we get interesting, valuable, useful results – well, we can’t just keep that sort of thing bottled up.

But how to share the dozens and dozens of tests we run, without breaking the internets? That’s how we came up with 60 Tests in 60 Minutes: our superexciting session idea for 2013 NTC:

60 tests in 60 minutes!
Look, we know you don’t have a lot of time. With so much networking and compulsive snacking to do at NTC, every session’s gotta count. So this one cuts to the chase: 60 tests (that’s right, 60!) from groups like HRC, U.S. Fund for UNICEF, PPFA, AARP, Oxfam America, Wildlife Conservation Society, American Red Cross, Humane Society, and more. Specific results will ensure you know what effect these tactics really have – and which ones won’t actually make a difference.

Warning: This blitzkrieg of knowledge bombs may result in an overabundance of new ideas for your program.
Vote this session up or down

The deadline for voting is tomorrow (9/7) at midnight, so if you think it sounds like a party, don’t miss your chance to vote for this session and ensure we can share these awesome test results with you in April.

Are we biting off more than we can chew? Perhaps. But here’s a sneak snack of the kind of tasty nuggets of wisdom you can expect.

• Deadlines work. We’ve found that messages that were very close to the 12/31 deadline and those that mentioned being close to reaching a dollar goal performed best; in some cases, more than 5 times better than the worst performing messages.
• Offering discount memberships to your list (or a portion of it) is an effective way to get more first-time donors without sacrificing overall revenue – but only if you actually tell them it’s a discount!
• Removing donation page navigation increases conversion rates. Ok, that one’s obvious but we’re glad we tested it – and a number of other hunches – because we were wrong about some of them!

Of course, that doesn’t even begin to cover all the tests we’ve run. So if you’re interested in experiencing a 60-minute barrage of hypotheses, protocols, results, and conclusions, please take moment to vote for our session at NTC.

And check back here at M+R Research Labs soon as our perpetual online fundraising and advocacy science fair continues.