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An appreciation letter is the ideal way to acknowledge someone’s time, talent, effort or thoughtfulness in your professional or personal life. On this page, you’ll find a letter of appreciation sample, a teacher appreciation letter example, and expert advice to format your letter and express your thoughts in the most effective way.
An appreciation letter is a formal letter to extend your gratitude to anyone including a business colleague, coworker, mentor, recruiter, supervisor or customer. You may have received a successful job referral, resume reference, guidance during a job search, some professional advice, a favor or a gift; in all these cases, someone went over and above to help you or make you feel special. Whether you’ve received a favor in your business or personal life, writing an appreciation letter is a thoughtful gesture of gratitude.
Here is a great example of a teacher appreciation letter that you can follow for any appreciation scenarios. This letter of appreciation sample can be copied, pasted and adapted for your own appreciation letter.
Build my letterWhether you’re writing for a business or personal appreciation, your thoughtful gesture and kind words of appreciation can make a lasting impact on the recipient. Here are five tips for writing your letter of appreciation.
When you experience a situation that warrants an appreciation letter, send it right away. The quicker you acknowledge the person, the more it will show the high level of your gratitude. You also want the recipient’s act of kindness to still be fresh in the memory, so the sooner the better. This is especially important if you’re sending a thank-you note as a follow up to a job interview.
If you’re sending a personal appreciation letter, it would typically be in the form of a handwritten note. However, when it comes to professional appreciation letters, a formal business letter that is emailed or printed on business-quality printer paper works best. You want your letter to be formatted professionally and look polished. If you prefer, you may word your appreciation letter in an email.
If you’re showing your appreciation to a busy business professional like a mentor, you want to quickly capture the reader’s attention by explaining your reason for writing an appreciation letter. It’s a good idea to remind the recipient who you are, what you’re appreciative about or why you’re appreciative, and when the act of kindness was received.
For example:
Key tip: Think of the opening of your appreciation letter as an elevator pitch. Use the first sentences to tell the reader why you’re appreciative and writing a letter.
You may not view a letter of appreciation as formal as writing a cover letter, but an appreciation for a business matter should still include a professional greeting and closing. Unless you know the recipient personally, use a formal “Mr.”, “Mrs.”, “Ms.” or “Dr.” salutation. The same applies to the appreciation letter closing. After you state your gratitude again in the closing, conclude with a formal “Best Regards” or “Sincerely” followed by your printed name and signature.
Key tip: If you’re sending an appreciation letter email, your typed name will act as your signature.
Now that you’ve crafted an impactful appreciation letter, take a few moments to read it over and correct any typos or grammatical errors that you find. Asking a friend or family member to review your letter can be helpful. You want your letter of appreciation to be remembered for your sincere words, so be sure it’s error-free before sending it.
Rather than send your letter in a business letter format or handwritten personal thank-you note, you can also choose to write your letter as an email.
Your email should include the following:
Here is another example of an appreciation letter that can be sent over email. As you will notice, there are similarities and differences from the other appreciation examples on the page. Follow this example for inspiration.
Subject Line: Jane’s Flower Shop article
Dear Mr. Jones,
I wanted to reach out to you today to tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time to interview me at my flower shop and write such a powerful article about our 50-year-old family florist.
Since the article was published two days ago, our online orders have nearly doubled and the foot traffic into our Mayfield location has us practically selling out our “cash and carry” bouquets daily.
Thank you again for sharing your time and writing talent with us. I would have sent you a “thank you bouquet” but I didn’t want to embarrass you by receiving flowers in the busy newsroom.
Best Regards,
Jane Doe
Now that you’ve reviewed our expertly prepared appreciation letter examples and writing tips on this page, here are some additional writing tools, examples, templates and other tips for writing other business letters and application-related documents you may need.
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When writing appreciation letters, you can be short and sweet. Get to the point of expressing your thanks without being too wordy. A letter of appreciation for a business purpose begins with a formal greeting (Dear Mr., Ms., Mrs. or Dr.) followed by an introductory paragraph stating your gratitude for something the recipient did or perhaps for a gift you received. The body paragraph will expand on the thoughtfulness of the recipient and further explain your appreciation for the gesture. Your closing paragraph will reiterate the reason for appreciation and sign off with a formal closing such as “Sincerely Yours.” If the appreciation letter is of a personal nature, you can direct the letter to the recipient’s first name and prepare a handwritten note.
The best way to express gratitude and appreciation is to find the right words to express in the form of a letter that truly captures the positive impact the gesture has made on you. Perhaps you received a formal job recommendation that led to a lucrative job offer or you were provided with a lead generation for a business opportunity or new client. Whatever the act of kindness was, send your sincere gratitude within days of receiving it. That way, the gesture is fresh on the mind of the recipient and shows your appreciation and respect in a timely manner.
There are many reasons to write a letter to praise someone. It could be in the form of a letter of appreciation, a teacher appreciation letter, a job referral, a resume reference or perhaps a congratulations letter for a recent hire or promotion. Take a few moments to think about the recipient and the situation and jot down some words to describe both. If it’s a teacher appreciation letter, for instance, remind the recipient of who you are and quickly describe the reason for writing.
For example: “Just a quick note to say thank you for the extra help you provided me with preparing my professional portfolio during your advertising copywriting class. That portfolio made a big impression on the hiring manager at company name and I was excitedly offered the junior copywriting position.”
The best words to show your appreciation for someone, whether in the workplace or personally, would be a combination of expressing “thanks” and “gratitude.” While every reason for writing an appreciation letter may be different, they share the common theme of making the recipient feel appreciated and special.
Here are some of the best words to use in your message:
Look at the appreciation letters on this page for inspiration to write your own letter.
