Card ideas
What to write
in a thank you card.
Thank you cards go wrong by being polite instead of specific. The person already knows what they gave you. What they do not know is what happened next.
For a gift
- The blanket has not left the sofa since it arrived. It has been claimed by the dog and I have lost that argument.
- Thank you for the book. I read it in two sittings and then made two other people read it.
- You clearly listened to something I said months ago, and I have been thinking about that more than the present.
For help
- You gave up a Saturday for a house move that took four hours longer than promised. I have not forgotten and I will not.
- Thank you for sitting with me in that waiting room. You did not say much, which was exactly right.
- I would still be on hold to that company if you had not taken the phone off me.
For hospitality
- Thank you for the weekend. We have not slept that well in a year.
- You fed eleven people without once looking flustered, which I am choosing to believe was effortless.
Short and proper
- Thank you. Genuinely, it made a difference.
- Very grateful. Hope to return the favour before too long.
What makes a good one
Name the thing
Specifics prove you noticed. Generic thanks prove you wrote nine of these.
Say the effect
What changed because of it. That is the actual thank you.
Send it late rather than never
A late thank you is welcome. A missing one gets remembered.
Handwrite where you can
It is a small amount of effort doing a large amount of work.
Questions
There is no such thing. Acknowledge the delay in one clause and move on. Nobody has ever been annoyed to receive one.
Say what you are going to do with it, even if it is boring. 'It is going towards the kitchen' is far better than 'thank you for your generosity'.
Or do not use a card.
A card gets four names and no stories. Send one link instead and everyone writes properly, on their own, without reading what the person above put. Free, and nobody you send it to has to sign up.