Three Thank-You Note Tips

“I try to avoid all words that evoke large, distant organizations or masses of indeterminate donors,” Schoewe wrote. “Every ‘you’ must be one person and one person alone — the donor reading the letter. And almost every ‘we’ should be crossed out and replaced with an ‘I.’”

3. Personalize it to the hilt. If you’re actually writing a personal note to a donor, put in as much information as you can that shows you know him. Does he have children? Ask about them. Has she been a donor for six years? Acknowledge and thank her for that.