Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction Page 2
Avoid These Common Errors/Step 1: Draft Page 3
Template #1 Page 4
Template #2 Page 5
Template #3 Page 6
Step 2: Proofreading Check-list Page 7
Step 3: Check Your Signature Page 8
Step 4: Hard Copy Page 9
Step 5: Review & Step 6: Keep Writing! Page 10
Lined Paper Page 11
Page 1 of 11
Remember: Letters are due by 5pm at the Alumni Center on the last day of your groups session!
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for participating in The Stanford Fund Partnership Program. The Partnership
Program allows student organizations to earn money for group initiatives by thanking donors who have
contributed to The Stanford Fund (i.e. stewardship hours).
The number of stewardship hours your group is assigned is directly correlated to the amount of funding
your group receives. The Partnership Program offers multiple ways to fulfill stewardship hours. The
options include writing letters and postcards to thank donors, working at Stanford events, and more.
Members of your group decide how many of your group's stewardship hours will be fulfilled through
writing letters or postcards.
A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE
NEW THIS YEAR!
This year, we will be providing student groups with three templates from which to choose. The
templates are found in these guidelines. Each member of each student group should have an electronic
copy of these guidelines. Each student can begin as soon as he or she receives the guidelines, the list of
donor names and the stationary from his or her TSF Coordinator. Please read the entirety of the
guidelines before writing.
If you were a TSF donor, what would you like to read from a student?
Page 2 of 11
Remember: Letters are due by 5pm at the Alumni Center on the last day of your groups session!
AVOID THESE COMMON ERRORS
1. Failing to mention the three major categories that The Stanford Fund supports: financial aid,
undergraduate academics, and student groups.
2. Spelling and grammar errors, especially in the signature or salutation.
3. Dating the letter implicitly or explicitly.
4. Directly connecting a donors gift to your student group (ex: Your gift has allowed us to).
Such a statement is not necessarily true and falsifies your information.
5. The Stanford experience example isnt specific enough.
6. Writing below the caption or above the header.
7. Incorrect signature format.
8. Using a different pen for the donor name, or the donor name being obviously written in after
the rest of the letter.
9. Gift solicitation. Referring to a donors gifts, plural, can suggest solicitation of further gifts.
Mentions of future gifts or continued support will also result in denial of the letter.
10. Failing to capitalize the T in The Stanford Fund.
11. Failing to include the gift month (Your December gift to The Stanford Fund).
12. Illegible handwriting.
13. Cross-outs or excessive ink smudges.
Choose one of the following three templates. Type up a draft of your letter, including all of the
bolded text and filling in all of the red blanks with your personal information, stories, etc. Be
creative and authentic. Most importantly, be grateful!
Key:
All black bolded words should be included. FILL IN THE RED BLANKS WITH THE APPROPRIATE
INFORMATION. The italics provide additional information or suggestions.
Page 3 of 11
Remember: Letters are due by 5pm at the Alumni Center on the last day of your groups session!
TEMPLATE #1: ACADEMIC
Dear DONORS SALUTATION ,
Thank you again for your support of undergraduate life at Stanford. (Feel free to write
your own appropriate closing thank you).
Sincerely,
SIGNATURE (FIRST & LAST NAME IN SCRIPT) .
FIRST & LAST NAME PRINTED , CLASS OF GRADUATION YEAR , MAJOR (IF DECLARED) .
Page 4 of 11
Remember: Letters are due by 5pm at the Alumni Center on the last day of your groups session!
TEMPLATE #2: FINANCIAL AID
Dear DONORS SALUTATION ,
Thank you again for your support of undergraduate life at Stanford. (Feel free to write
your own appropriate closing thank you).
Sincerely,
SIGNATURE (FIRST & LAST NAME IN SCRIPT) .
FIRST & LAST NAME PRINTED , CLASS OF GRADUATION YEAR , MAJOR (IF DECLARED) .
Page 5 of 11
Remember: Letters are due by 5pm at the Alumni Center on the last day of your groups session!
TEMPLATE #3: TSF SUPPORTED PROGRAM
(ONLY if you participated in any of the listed programs)
Thank you again for your support of undergraduate life at Stanford. (Feel free to write
your own appropriate closing thank you).
Sincerely,
SIGNATURE (FIRST & LAST NAME IN SCRIPT) .
FIRST & LAST NAME PRINTED , CLASS OF GRADUATION YEAR , MAJOR (IF DECLARED) .
Page 6 of 11
Remember: Letters are due by 5pm at the Alumni Center on the last day of your groups session!
STEP 2. Proofreading Check-list
Content
DONT emphasize The Stanford Fund support of only your student group.
DO mention that The Stanford Fund supports many student groups, including yours.
DONT date the letter implicitly or explicitly; there can be a delay in sending letters.
DO use terms like recently, upcoming, and annual.
DONT connect the donors gift directly to your student group, as it may not be accurate.
DO use terms like donors like you.
DONT solicit gifts from the donor with terms like your continued support or by referring to
multiple or future gifts.
DO reinforce the importance of annual giving by thanking the donors for the gift they have
already given.
DONT simply state that The Stanford Fund directly funds travel for your group.
DO emphasize that you are representing Stanford.
DONT assume that the donor is an alumnus(a) unless the donor list identifies him/her as a
young alum. Some donors did not attend Stanford.
NEVER state the amount of money that you or anyone else receives or give the full name of any
financial aid recipient.
ALL information you write must be true.
Page 7 of 11
Remember: Letters are due by 5pm at the Alumni Center on the last day of your groups session!
STEP 3. Check your signature
Signatures must be aligned to the LEFT of the page and include your name, class year, and major. Follow
the format below, substituting your own information. The printed name, class year, and major should
take up one line unless the length of the major forces you to add an additional line.
Page 8 of 11
Remember: Letters are due by 5pm at the Alumni Center on the last day of your groups session!
STEP 4. Hard Copy
Now that youve written (or typed) your draft, write your first letter on the stationery provided. A typical
letter will look a lot like the one below. You may not copy this template word for word!
Letters must be handwritten. Print the lined paper on page 9 of this packet to help you write with
straight lines and reasonable margins.
The signature Fund. The group is like a family to me, and rehearsal never fails to put a If you make a
section must smile on my face. We have so much fun both on and off stage! mistake, use
be aligned one or two
Your gift has contributed to an incredible experience that is uniquely
with the left lines to cross it
margin. No Stanford. Thank you again for suport supporting undergraduate life. out. Then write
mistakes are Sincerely, the correct
allowed in Jane Doe word next to it.
this section. Do not use a
Jane Doe, Class of 2014, Earth Systems carat ^ to
Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center 326 Galvez Street Stanford, CA 94305-6105
T: 650.723.9618 800.227.8977 F: 650.723.7543 http://thefund.stanford.edu
insert missing
letters or
Do not write
words.
below the
caption.
Page 9 of 11
Remember: Letters are due by 5pm at the Alumni Center on the last day of your groups session!
STEP 5. Review
Now that youve written your first letter, double check it using the checklists on the previous pages so
that you dont write 30 copies of a bad letter. In addition, consider the guidelines about length below to
make sure that your letter meets the requirements. Lastly, check over your letter again using the list of
most common errors.
Length
If your letter is only one page long, the body should fill 75% of the page. Your signature does not count
as part of the body. If the body of the letter looks too short, then chances are there is not enough
content or your handwriting is too small.
If your letter is more than one page long, please write on the back of the first page. Do not use more
than one sheet of paper per letter. Your signature may not be the only thing on the back of the page. At
least one full sentence must accompany the signature.
THANK YOU!
We really do appreciate the work that you put into these letters. Sometimes we get letters back from
Partnership letter recipients. If we receive such a response to one of your letters, we will make sure that
it gets to you or your group contact.
Honestly, sometimes I find it hard to give money to Stanford because it is such a wealthy place in
many ways. It helps to hear how that money nurtures you and your classmates minds, hearts and
sense of self.
Im sure that you seldom get responses to your thank you letters, but we want you to know that
we appreciated your contact. Its nice to hear from beneficiaries of our gifts. It makes contributing
to The Stanford Fund that much more gratifying. Alum 62, M.S. 63
Delighted to receive your letter thanking me for contributing money to The Stanford Fund. I did not
expect such a fine letter, and your thoughtful hand will only encourage me to make future gifts.
I further appreciate that in todays ubiquitous utilization of computer-generated text (such as this),
she took the effort to write by hand.
Page 10 of 11
Remember: Letters are due by 5pm at the Alumni Center on the last day of your groups session!
LINED PAPER
Print this page and place it under your stationery. Itll help you write in straight lines and keep your
margins constant!
Page 11 of 11
Remember: Letters are due by 5pm at the Alumni Center on the last day of your groups session!