It is important to understand the format of a donation thank you letter before sitting down to phrase your own letter. In this article, we discuss the format of a donation thank you letter and give you an example of the same.
Writing a letter to thank a donor who has responded positively to you when you contacted him or her asking for donations is extremely important. Not only do letters thanking an individual for their contribution acknowledge what they have done for the cause, but they also help build a personal relationship between the donor and the organization committed to the cause. A letter that has a mention of the amount that the person has contributed also works for income tax purposes. Letter writing in the case of donation thank you letters needs to have a personal touch. At the same time because it may be used for income tax purposes it needs to be printed on an organizational letterhead. A sample will enable you to understand how to draft a thank you letter for donation.
A thank you letter for donation received helps the donor feel like he is a part of the organization and has made a tangible contribution to the cause. A good thank you letter will also ensure that you build a successful relationship with your donor. This will ensure future support for other important causes.
Format
While a sample will serve the purpose of being the basis, it is always preferable to write a letter using a template as a guideline, as this will ensure that your letter is more heartfelt and personal in its tone. While thanking a person who has made a contribution to a cause that you are working for, it is important that your letter mentions how the donation they have made will help the cause. Given below is a format for such a letter.
| Your Name Your Organization Address of the Organization Date Name of Addressee Salutation/Greetings The first paragraph of the letter should thank the contributor for the donation they have made and tell them how much your organization appreciates the contribution. In the next paragraph, mention the mission of the organization and explain how the various activities that the organization undertakes helps achieve meet the goal that the organization has set out for itself. Also mention how the organization has grown in the past many years and the goals that have been achieved by the organization. Also mention how the organization is going to use the donation made by the addressee. The next paragraph will mention the continuing work that the organization intends to do and also explain how contributors like the addressee are solely responsible for the good work that the organization does for the cause. Then thank the contributor again for their donations Valediction/Goodbye |
Sample
Now that you are aware of the proper format for a thank you letter, it may be useful for you to refer to a sample addressed to a person who has donated to your cause in cash or kind. This letter follows the template given above.
| Carla Dorian Executive Director Edukids Oak Street, Devon California – 242527 Date: June 12th 2010 Ashley Hamilton Dear Ms. Hamilton, Thank you for your generous gift of USD 5000 to Edukids, California. Thanks to your contribution and commitment to the cause of education in third world countries, we are able to increase awareness and raise funds for kids from countries who are unable to provide even basic education to children, due to various factors. We appreciate your effort and all that you have done to ensure that more kids get educated and therefore, have a brighter future. Our mission as an organization is to educate those kids who have never even stepped into the hallways of a school, lacking not just the money to go to an educational institute but also lacking the infrastructure for a school. With the help of donations that we receive from patrons such as yourself, and other events that we organize like fetes, book collections drives, etc we raise money and collect books to donate to the cause. The money is used to build schools and buy books, primarily in areas in Nepal and Bangladesh. The money that you have donated is being used primarily to build a school in the Kathmandu district of Nepal. As we successfully fulfill our mission of educating more children in lesser developed countries, we also aim at educating their parents to enable them to help their kids cope with their studies. It is only due to the patronage of people like you that we have managed to work towards achieving our mission. Thank you again for all your contributions to our cause Yours sincerely, |
While working for a cause, it is not always easy to collect funds and when you have a contributor who is ready to donate for the cause, it is not only appropriate but also plain nice to thank him or her for helping with the mission that you are working for. Hopefully, this article has helped you understand how to write a thank you letter for a donation made by giving you the proper format for such a letter to thank an individual for their contribution to the cause.
