Applying for a scholarship always remains at the top in the students’ priority list. However, you should never forget the generosity of donor after you have been awarded the scholarship. You should be gracious enough to write a ‘Thank You’ letter to the person/organization providing a scholarship that you need. Most importantly, never make the mistake of naively thinking that ‘Thank You isn’t necessary.

Remember, scholarships are usually given to well-deserving candidates and by sending a ‘Thank You’ letter to the donor(s) for their help, it only reflects the positively of your character. Chances are the person/organization, sponsoring your scholarship, would be interested in finding out more about you and what you are planning to study. Hence, it’s important that you show your gratitude via a well-written letter.

And, don’t worry about writing the ‘thank you’ letter. Remember, you don’t have to be a master of writing ‘thank you’ notes as your sincere words would mean a lot to a donor than your attempt to appear perfect. A scholarship Thank You letter/note is also a good opportunity to show the donor that you are serious and committed towards your studies and will be using the funds wisely. The best part about the scholarship Thank You notes is that it takes little time to compose and send.

Below are given a few suggestions on how to compose your scholarship Thank You letter that reflects positively on you:

1. Send Scholarship Thank You Letter Sooner: Once you have received the confirmation that you’ll be getting the scholarship, make sure you send the ‘Thank You’ letter to the donor promptly. Don’t delay it for months. The best option, sit down to write the thank you letter immediately after getting your scholarship confirmation letter.

2. Use White Paper: You can send a thank you email to the donor as it’s an easier and quicker method. But never make such mistakes as it’s a very impersonal way of saying thank you to someone who’s investing in your studies.
Consider handwritten letter or typed one. Also, make sure you write your thank you letter on white paper rather than on some fancy one. Make sure there are no grammatical mistakes and words are legible. If your handwriting is messier than type letter on the computer and then take a print out.
Take care of little things like: writing date on the left-hand side of the letter followed by your full name and address. Then write the subject of the letter. Also, keep in mind thank you letters are formal letters so don’t stray from your subject and use appropriate words.

3. Whom to Address: It helps to find out whether your scholarship is being sponsored by an organization or an individual, before writing a thank you letter. For example: address the letter to the entire organization/committee that sanctioned the scholarship instead of just the person who signed it. Or simple address as “To Whom It May Concern.” Use formal salutations along with appropriate prefixes to address individual donors—e. g. Dear Mr. Williams etc.

4. Express Gratitude in First Line: Start by sincerely expressing your gratitude to the donor/organization in the first line of the paragraph itself. Keep it short, 2 lines at most.

5. Tell The Donor About Your Plans For Scholarship and Yourself: If someone is investing their money in your studies, chances are they would like to know a little about you. So tell the donor about yourself but keep the information brief as thank you letter should be about what the scholarship means to you, how thankful you are and what are your plans for a scholarship. Don’t forget to mention your career goals and what college and courses you’ll be enrolling in.

6. Closing of Letter: At the end of the letter once again thank the donor for his/ her contribution towards your studies. Also before sending the letter make sure, you have covered all that you wanted to say to the donor and letter is free of errors. Let someone else check it for mistakes before sending it. Don’t forget to sign your name in the end.

Lastly, make sure you don’t copy from any of the sample thank you letters for scholarships provided online. As words that come from your own heart hold more weight than words copied from someone else letter.

Some sample links are given below. These sample links are there just to give you an idea how to write Thank you letter for the scholarship.

Methodist University – Scholarship Letter Writer
http://www.methodist.edu/financial_aid/scholarship_writer.htm

Scholarships – Thank You Letter — Writing Tips
http://scholarships.wayne.edu/thank-you-tips.php

Thank You Letters – San Francisco State University
http://www.sfsu.edu/~finaid/scholarships/thankyou.htm

Priyanka Sharma