Helpful Hints

• Please do not date your letter. It will be included in a report that is sent to donor/s at various times throughout the year.
• Include the donor’s name in the salutation as it has been provided to you in the background information included with the notification of your scholarship.
• Mention the name of the fund in the body of your letter.
• Express your gratitude for the scholarship and tell the donor how the scholarship has helped you.
• Make it personal. Here are some suggestions…
  • You may wish to include information about yourself, your family and hometown, and any volunteer work or other activities you are involved in on campus.
  • Talk about what this scholarship means to you personally and how it will have an effect on your plans for the future.
  • Are you the first in your family to attend college?
  • Why did you choose to attend Vassar?
• Consider including a digital photograph with your letter.
• Consider including your return mailing address, either on campus or your permanent address, as well as your e-mail address. The College cannot provide the donor’s address to you, but you are welcome to initiate a correspondence with them. (Occasionally, a donor will write to the recipient of their scholarship by sending a note to the Development Office to be forwarded on their behalf.)
• Write clearly and concisely. Consider using words like gratitude, grateful, appreciate, and thank you, and be as gracious as possible.
• Proofread. Check and re-check spelling and grammar.