Ask the Thank You Diva:
How to word a thank you note to a special group of friends who prevented the loss of a family home.
Cate asks the Thank You Diva for advice on how to word a thank you note to a very special group of friends who offered generous support when she and her family were in danger of losing their home.
Question:
Dear Thank You Diva,
I recently received help from a very special group of friends. Some are anonymous and some are not. I would like to write a very special thank you letter to all of them for their generous support on behalf of my family. Without their support we would have lost our home.
Thank you for your help,
Cate
The Thank You Diva responds:
Dear Cate,
Thank you for your message. What a wonderful thing for your friends to do for you!
I hope that the following suggestions will help you to compose a thank you letter that you are happy and proud to send to them.
Generally, I suggest that you keep your letter relatively short. For a 'big thank you' like this it can be tempting to keep writing and writing..., hoping that the more words you write, the more chance there is of expressing the true width and depth of your thanks and gratitude.
However, I feel that for a truly heartfelt thank you, a shorter letter or note is often more immediate and expressive of your feelings.
You may wish to write something along these lines:
To those whose names we know,
And to those whose names we don't know,
What can we say to thank you? Words are truly not enough to express our gratitude for what you - our dear friends and supporters - have done for us!
Without you all, and your amazing generosity, we would have faced losing our home.
[Perhaps add some details here. What, specifically, does that mean to you? Has your home been in your family for many years? Do you have children? And if so, can you express how much having a secure home means to them, and to you as a family? Perhaps something like: "It's so much more than a house. It's the place where we make our lives as a family, the place where our children are happy, safe and secure". etc.]
Each and every one of you will have a special place in our hearts always. We are truly blessed to have you in our lives. Again, we simply say: thank you.
With our love, appreciation and deepest gratitude,
[names]
or
Dear friends,
Thank you, each and every one of you, for everything that you have done for us - far, far beyond what we ever expected or dared to hope.
We are writing this with gladness in our hearts and tears in our eyes. Your generous and loving support in enabling us to keep our home means more to us than we can ever say.
We hope that it goes without saying that you will always be welcome in our home. Our doors are forever open to you. You are truly special people.
Thank you.
[names]
With my best wishes for a happy future for you and your family in your home,
The Thank You Diva
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