51 Ways to Say Thank-you in a Fundraising Letter for a Non-for-Profit (Includes Examples & Samples)

One of the hardest jobs in fundraising is crafting original thank-you letters. You want to be thankful. But you also want to be fiscally responsible. You cannot afford to write a unique thank-you letter for each of the thousands of donations you receive each year. Here are some ideas for keeping your appreciation original.

1. In response to your recent gift to MSF, I join with the people of Afghanistan in saying shúker, thank you, for your generosity.

2. We are so grateful to you for your recent gift-thanks!

3. I opened today's mail and found your generous donation. Thanks!

4. Thank you for your donation.

5. I had to simply praise the Lord this morning when I received your gift in the mail. Bless you!

6. Thank you for supporting our Move The Mountain appeal with your gift of $50.

7. Thank you for renewing your support. Here's how we are using your gift already . . .

8. Your gift of $100 arrived today and will soon be hard at work, helping us provide fresh drinking water to the people of Nanbitu. Thanks.

9. Thank you for your continued, faithful support of our hospital.

10. I have to admit I am overjoyed by your recent generosity. Thank you for your donation of . . .

11. What a delight it was for all of us here at The Wethered Street Mission to learn that you have included us in your Will. May the Lord reward you richly for remembering the poor and destitute with your bequest!

12. Two wonderful things happened this week. We won the Nobel Peace Prize. And we received your gift of $2,000. Thanks! I know the recognition that we treasure the most. It's your . . .

13. Thank you for your generous grant of $20,000 for our Brighten Up Campaign.

14. I greatly appreciate your kindness to our ministry.

15. Someone has said that the Inuit of Canada's North have over 100 words for snow. I wish there were that many for thank you, because I'd use every one of them in this letter.

16. We received your cheque today. What a blessing!

17. I put the phone down just now after talking with you, and simply had to put in writing how excited we all are to be receiving your grant for $100,000 toward our Living Hope Campaign.

18. Simply put, if it wasn't for faithful supporters like you, we wouldn't exist. So thank you for supplying the funds that we need to make a difference in the lives of teenagers who struggle with eating disorders right here in our own city.

19. For your generosity, I thank you.

20. Your gift of August 16, 2005 raised our spirits. Thanks to your generosity, we are now able to . . .

21. Your tax-free donation reminds me of how much we depend on your generosity and moral support to accomplish our mission.

22. Thank you for your gift. I did the math, and your kind gesture will help us lay 550 brick in our new school project in Bolivia. So I thank you today. The children will thank you in January!

23. Thank you for your bequest. It touched our hearts to know that . . .

24. Two things thrill me about your recent gift to Thorburn College. One is your generosity. And the other is your continued faith in our mandate.

25. Your gift, which arrived this morning, will help us plant 200 trees along the Pacific Coast. Thank you so much!

26. I was looking through our files the other day and realized that you have been supporting our group for 20 years come the end of this month. So this is a personal letter from me, and from the people we serve, thanking you for your faithfulness.

27. I suppose the word is "gratified." We are gratified that you believe in our work enough to give us a grant. Thank you for your trust in us.

28. This is just a quick note, but it comes from my heart as I head out the door for my flight to India. Thank you for your recent gift. Your generosity will make an immediate difference in the lives of mothers in Calcutta. I am going to make sure of that, and to keep you up to date on . . .

29. "Use where needed most." Those four words on your recent cheque have changed the life of one youngster forever. His name is Ahmed. And he is no longer blind, thanks to you.

30. The Bible says that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. And so do we! Thanks for your kind donation to our annual Beat The Streets Campaign.

31. Billy K. is serving life in San Quintin and can't thank you for your gift to our ministry. But I can, because I met with Billy yesterday. Your gift touched his heart. Here is what he said by way of thanks.

32. For your gift, for your prayers and for your steadfast commitment to the work of the Lord in Nepal, I thank you.

33. I shared Thanksgiving Dinner with 100 wonderful street people last night, thanks to your generosity. See the enclosed photographs.

34. Martin Luther said that if you want to change the world you should pick up your pen. I see from this morning's mail that you picked up your pen last Friday. Your gift has changed the world of one single mother here in Brisbane, who I will call Sally.

35. I showed your recent gift to the Head of Obstetrics, and you should have seen her reaction! She almost fainted in the lobby, she shrieked so loud!

36. Samantha loves her mom. She loves her bike. And she loves the person who saved her life. You. Because of your gift of December 18, 2005, we were able to buy Samantha a new . . .

37. You are a treasure to us all. Thanks again for standing with us.

38. Thanks to your kindness and generosity, one hundred blankets are being loaded on a plane as I write, headed for the New Hope Orphanage in Johannesburg. They have warmed many hearts around here already, because of you.

39. Thanks again for your gift. You are an example to us of a true servant spirit, esteeming others more than yourself, and putting Kingdom priorities ahead of your own.

40. I must dash. Let me conclude with a final heartfelt THANK YOU for remembering our friends who live with disabilities.

41. Next time you are driving down Princess Street, please take a look at the new wheelchair entrance to our food bank, and our guests who are using it, thanks to your generosity and commitment to our work.

42. You'll see that everyone here at the office has signed this thank-you letter. That's because we are so amazed by your faithful support over the years.

43. We are humbled by your recent expression of support for our work. Thank you.

44. I have a tune running through my mind as I am writing this thank-you letter to you. I learned it at camp. You probably did, too. Your gift brought it to mind, your generous gift.

45. When we started our Run For Their Lives campaign last year, some people said we would never meet our goal. But they did not figure you into their thinking, or your generosity. Because, thanks to your gifts this year, we have not only met our goal. We've surpassed it. Thanks!

46. Someone once said that whatever we possess becomes of double value when we share it with others. Looking around me at the difference your financial support has made to our organization, I know that to be true. So I'm writing you this brief note to express my thanks, our thanks, for you and for your donations in recent months.

47. Have you ever wondered if your gift to our ministry would arrive at a crucial time, and save the day, as it were? Well, I know that your gift of £100 did this week. Let me explain how.

48. Your gift of $5 put a smile on a boy's face yesterday. I was there to witness it myself. Here's what happened.

49. A friend of mine used to say that we should hem our blessings with gratitude lest they unravel. So this letter is my way of putting a hem around the generous gift you sent us last week. I don't want to ever forget it.

50. The nice thing about writing thank-you letters is that we are blessed twice. Once when we receive your gift, and again when we remember it in writing. I hope you are doubly blessed in the giving. You will be, when I describe the difference your gift is making in our . . .

51. Thank you for your gift.

© 2005 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the author" message).

Alan Sharpe is a professional fundraising letter writer. View free sample fundraising letters and sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.fundraisingletters.org.