Expert: Leslie - 12/23/2004

Question
I recently received a donation from a business for a trip I am taking to Washington, D.C.  I was planning on sending a thank you letter, however I have put it off until now.  Unfortunately it has been a few months since the donation was made.  I still want to send the owner a letter expressing my gratitude for his thoughtfulness, but I'm not sure what exactly to say.  Any advice?

Answer
Sorry, Shannon, for the delay in replying. Holidays have a way of interfering with my daily schedule...

By all means send the thank you letter! There are a few things you can do that may ease the embarassment of the late reply.

1) Hand write the note on a thank you card. The personal touch makes a difference.

2) Make the thank you letter more lengthy explaining something about the trip and the results. If you can add a photo in the card, all the better.

3) When you explain the results of the trip be sure to tell the person that because of their generosity, you were able to do the work. Give them credit for the results.

4) Apologize for the lateness of the t-note. Do it at the end, not the beginning. Give a reason, hopefully related to the reason they donated the money, for the lateness of the thank you. Example: I have been remiss in thanking you. All the activity from the trip prevented me from thanking you until now.

Try to put yourself in donors shoes. How would you feel if you had not heard anything? What would make you feel better about a late thank you note.

Saying thank you, even later than earlier, is always welcome.

Leslie