Letter Writers Alliance: Writing Thank Yous

'Tis the time for writing thank you letters and notes. Although most of the thank yous you will be writing this time of year will be regarding a present, I'm going to include other types of thank you letter formats as well so this can be a one-stop reference for you.
(Photo & information credit cited at end of post)

A thank you doesn't need to be long at all, in fact, brevity in this case is good. It should be sincere and express your appreciation without any ass-kissing. Obviously, saying anything rude or harsh will pretty much destroy your purpose for writing the letter.

Thank You format:
- State what the thank you is for
-Mention the appropriateness/how you are using it/how it has helped you
- Be pleasant and brief
- If appropriate, offer something in return

A great key to showing your gratitude in a thank you is to express how the object or info is being used.
Some examples:
The painting looks so wonderful in our living room
The gift certificate will be of great use in decorating my new apartment
I would have never heard of the exhibit otherwise
Your suggestion led to a fabulous job
The information is exactly what I need for my thesis

For those who love example letters, I found some from a book published in the 90s that you might find helpful, even though they are more focused to business (the ones with * are ones I made up):

Gift
John,
You have that rare ability to select just the right gift. The puzzle you sent kept me up half the night - I'll get it yet.

Dear Mrs. Orland,
Thank you for the wedding gift. I have the black ceramic vase on my mantel. It is always nice to receive an item unique to a certain part of the country. It has a history of its own, and we love it.

Visiting*
Katie & Jason,
We really enjoyed staying with you while we were in California last week. You two were more than accommodating to us and we really appreciate you rearranging your schedules to show us around town. Thanks for being delightful hosts, we would be more than happy to put you up next time you are in Chicago.

Information*
Dr. Arronson,
Thank you for your prompt reply to my inquiry regarding photographing a portion of your rare book collection. I would appreciate it if you will allow me to photograph the illustration plates from your Tom Finn book. Please let me know what times would be best for you.

Recommendation
Dear Ellis,
Just a short thank-you for the recommendation you gave me. Your well-chosen words were a big boost in getting me the transfer I wanted.
I sincerely appreciate your help.

Illness
Dear Fred,
Thank you for the flowers you sent while I was in the hospital. It really helped brighten my days.
I am now back to work on a half-day schedule, but will be working full-time next week. The operation went well and the recovery period gave me chance to relax. When you are in Los Angeles again, please stop by and we can share a couple hours over lunch.

- - -

I hope this info is somewhat helpful to you as you sit down to write those holiday thank you cards and when you sit down to write others in the future. If you weren't planning on writing any, I think you should reconsider. Getting a thank you card after bustling though the holiday shopping crowd is quite a nice treat.

With a bow on top,
Kathy

Photo by: ~bö~
Information from:Lifetime Encyclopedia of Letters, by Harold E. Meyer