20 Direct-Marketing Ideas for Small Nonprofits, Part 2

10. Experiment with e-mail testing
Toles suggested testing everything from subject lines to headlines, ask strings, length and language in your e-mail campaigns to improve e-mail strategies and learn more about your online donors.

She shared an ask string test from Food and Friends. In version 1, the ask string in the e-mail simply read: "A gift of $25, $50, $100 or more will mean so much to so many."