Me and Mayde (her username is mayde) have been stuck with the task of writing formal thank-you letters for our team’s sponsors, but I’m not quite sure how to start. I want to write letters that are personalized for each company, as doing any less seems like a cop out, but I think having some sort of outline or standard introduction would make the proccess move along much smoother.
So, I was wondering if anyone would be willing to post their general out line or a few helpful hints and tips? Any help is much appreciated!
I’ll look to see if I can post a copy of the thank you letter we send at the end of the season, but I’m sure it’s pretty standard with a section thanking them for their support and includes a summary of our results of the year.
To help build excitement for our sponsors, we send them a newsletter on a regular basis telling them what the team has been doing. Here is a link to our January, 2010 newsletter Rolling Thunder January 2010 Newsletter
While it doesn’t replace the need for a fomal thank-you letter, some of our sponsors have indicated that they like it more than the thank you at the end of the season.
Make sure this isn’t limited to W/L record or awards won. While those are good things and sponsors appreciate the shiny trinkets as much as anyone else, that’s not the primary reason companies should be sponsoring teams. Be sure you give examples of how team members have been affected by being on the team - things like scholarships won, career decisions, things learned, personal development, etc.
What we do is write about a full page thanking the sponsors for their support towards the team. As well as including what awards and success the team has had this season and past seasons. We also include the progress of the team to date, including what was done over build season. If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.
Cee,
If you want to make an impression, include how their donation has helped your team begin to make career choices. Maybe you can point to one or two significant students that are succeeding or have turned their lives around. Tell them how you will inform others of their great company and the products they sell/manufacture/supply/service.
We assigne each student on our team to write 2 letters, so that each sponsor gets 2-3 different letters. Beside all the other good advice already given here, we suggest that the students say a little something about themselves - I am a student of sucha nd such HS, and something they enjoy about the program.
We also separately send each sponsor a team picture.
What we do is set up a “Thank-You Presentation” with our main sponsor at the end of the season to present to them a recap of what happened, what we learned, how we dealt with problems, etc. We also bring home baked cookies, team buttons, and a few T-shirts to hand out. It’s a lot more personal than thank you letters, and it gives us the chance to bring the robot and show it off to the engineers. :