Acknowledgement Letters are simply a response to a recipient for some action they or an organization they represent have performed. Beyond the response provided in the letter, Acknowledgements do not have to offer an opinion or provide any information. For example, an Acknowledgement Letter sent to a job applicant who is requesting a status of his job application needs only to acknowledge the fact that an application has been received and is not required to suggest any decision on hiring. An Acknowledgement sent to a customer who has registered a complaint must only acknowledge that the complaint has been received and not accept or deny culpability. When writing these letters, be careful not to divulge more information than you are completely prepared to honor. At the same time, however, don't be curt or out of touch with the reader.
For an example of a completely written Acknowledgement Letter, take a look at?
Acknowledgement Letter of Receipt ~ appreciative of gift or donation.
To write and Acknowledgement Letter, follow this outline?
Format
1.) Use the Full Block format arrangement for Acknowledgement Letters:
a. to the left margin of the letter header place the return address
b. make two carriage returns
c. directly below the return address, place the date
d. make two carriage returns
e. directly below the date, place the reader's address
f. make three line feeds
g. if necessary, include a reference line
h. begin your letter
i. begin each paragraph at the left margin
j. place the closing, signature and typed signature at the left margin.
Wording
1.) Remove your emotions when writing this letter?but remain positive.
2.) Restate the basis of the event to which you are acknowledging, i.e., application for employment, request for information, etc. In our example, we are acknowledging with gracious words the receipt of the gift/donation.
3.) The second paragraph, as we described above, needs to convey a positive message without divulging too much information. An acknowledgement in response to a gift/donation given without any expectations can say almost anything without consequence. In our example, we used words that safely offered a positive message to the reader but didn't commit the writer to future dealings.
4.) We closed the letter by sending our appreciation.
Tone
1.) Be positive
2.) Remove emotion from your writing
3.) Depending on the situation, be formal or informal; formal is recommended.
Email
1.) With time being as critical to everyone as it is, sending an acknowledgement letter via email, once considered a faux pas, is now becoming increasingly more accepted.
a. Send your letter in the same format as you would for snail mail ? this conveys to the reader that you took the time to create a professional correspondence.
b. Depending on the circumstances, send the message from the appropriate email account: personal email account for a personal correspondence, professional email account for professional correspondence.
Printing
1.) Before printing, decide on what paper to use. For Acknowledgement Letters, it is best to use common bond paper and envelopes.
2.) Print your letter and envelope on the same printer using the same font and an envelope that matches the stationery.
Signature
1.) Make three carriage returns between the closing and your typed signature. Inside this space, sign your name for professional correspondence. For personal correspondence, there is no need for a typed signature. Simply, sign your name.
Visit www.LetterRep.com for Free Acknowledgement Letters, hundreds of sample personal and business letters and Online Tools for Addressing, Dating, Editing, Formatting, Printing, Emailing and Faxing.
by Robert Noyes
References and Bibliography
Rob Noyes owns and operates the Internet's premiere Personal and Business Letter-writing site. LetterRep.com. Contact Rob at admin@letterrep.com for answers and solutions to common letter-writing situations.