WALK-INS ARE NOT GUARANTEED A MEAL
CASH OR CHECK AT THE DOOR: $15
JOIN US FOR FOR OUR GENERAL MEETING
AUGUST 11
11:30 - 1:00 p.m.
Communities Foundation of Texas
5500 Caruth Haven Lane, Dallas
(Lunch Will Be Provided)
RSVP DEADLINE:
Tuesday, AUGUST 4 (5:00 p.m.)
MARY BUTLER
DIRECT MAIL ISN'T DEAD:
HOW TO CRAFT THE PERFECT APPEAL LETTER
With so many best practices, articles, webinars, and more out in the world geared towards helping you up your solicitation game, how do you know if you're hitting all the marks? What elements make up a successful letter, email, or communication? You'll walk away from this session with tools to grade and score your appeal letters and other donor communications to take your solicitations from good, to great. We'll go over real-life examples from idea concept, to first draft, to the final version sent through the mail and what it takes to get there.
Originally from Chicago, IL Mary Butler is a graduate from Texas Christian University and has over 10 years of experience in fundraising from special events, to individual giving, donor relations and stewardship, grant writing, and annual giving. She first began her career in animal welfare at one of Chicago's oldest and largest animal shelters working in special events, individual, and corporate giving. Thereafter she worked at Ravinia Festival, North America's oldest and largest outdoor non-profit music festival located on the north shore of Chicago. While at Ravinia she managed an annual fund with over 900 mid to major gift level donors. After falling in love with the city of Fort Worth from her time at TCU and enduring 30 winters in Chicago, she and her husband and two kids moved back to Fort Worth in 2020 where she joined Cook Children's Health Foundationas the Director of Annual Giving. Currently at Cook Children's Mary oversees operations of the direct mail program, digital fundraising, employee giving, mid-level giving, and manages a portfolio. Her passion is innovation and optimization and she's always looking for process improvement opportunities to move annual giving donors further down the funnel. When she's not driving her team crazy with strategic planning, mailing lists and A/B testing, Mary enjoys spending time with her husband, 6 year old daughter, 4 year old son, and two senior dogs. She and her family attend as many TCU sporting events they can fit in their schedules, and love exploring all the family friendly destinations of Fort Worth.
There is no continuing education credit for this presentation.
TO MAKE YOUR RESERVATION:
Click on the Link Below:
https://www.dallascharitablegiftplanners.org/event-6488375
PAYMENT IS DUE AT TIME OF REGISTRATION
NOTE: If the payment link is not accessible on a company computer, please use a personal computer
SPONSORED BY:
Children's Medical Center Foundation, The Dallas Foundation
and Farmers National Company
We Would Like to Thank All of Our 2026 Sponsors:
Bank of America - Philanthropic Solutions
Children's Medical Center Foundation
Communities Foundation of Texas
C3 Financial Partners
Dallas Jewish Community Foundation
Farmers National Company
Heritage Auctions
HighGround Advisors
McBride & Associates at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management
Merit Financial Advisors
Saville
Southwestern Medical Foundation
Texas Presbyterian Foundation
The Catholic Foundation
The Dallas Foundation
DALLAS COUNCIL OF CHARITABLE GIFT PLANNERS
P.O. BOX 38553, DALLAS, TX 75238 | 214-221-5170
www.dallascharitablegiftplanners.org | dallascharitablegiftplanners@gmail.com
