How to Write a “Thank You” Card
When the postal service started out in the US hundreds of years ago, it was used as a communication medium between two people. Today it has evolved into a communication method between corporate computer systems and you. Hardly anybody ever sends personal mail anymore - which is truly a shame because everybody LOVES receiving hand written notes in their mailbox. You always feel a great level of excitement as you rip open the envelope to discover what message lies inside. Since receiving personal mail has become such a rare event, the impact that a hand written note delivers has greatly increased in recent years. With all of the communication options available to you - email, sms, chat, mobile, etc - people always feel very special when you go out of your way to send your message across via the most expensive and time consuming channel. 
What can we learn from all of this? We need to start sending more hand written mail. Since the absolute easiest piece of mail you can send someone is a “Thank You” card - lets start there. I’ll quickly lay out the basics.
When to Send
This one is easy - anytime anybody does anything special for you they are deserving of a “Thank You” card. I find myself sending out cards most frequently to say thanks for a gift I received or to thank someone for hosting me at their house for dinner or a weekend stay. If you are in doubt of whether or not you need to be sending a card for something, than yes you should be sending a card.
What to Say
I’ve received some really shitty thank you cards over the years. You know the kind I am talking about - when you open it up, the handwriting is extremely sloppy and the card only has one written sentencesaying in about five words “thanks”. These type of cards come off as if it was such a chore for the person to write. When reading one of these awful cards all I can focus on is how incensere the card was. If this is the type of card you are going to send - don’t even bother. I recommend following my three step approach to writing “Thank You” cards.
- Don’t start with thanks - Instead, you should start by saying something positive about why you are saying thanks without saying thanks. When writing about a particular gift someone gave you, be sure to state a specific reason why the gift was such a great idea - “I love the Ohio State shorts you picked out better than all of my old pairs in my closet! What a great idea!”. People love hearing that they picked out the perfect gift. If you are writing to thank someone for letting you stay with them for a weekend, start off by recalling a great memory from the weekend. In particular try to focus on something unique that you did that they spent time planning for you - “The Chicago Architecture cruise was really cool! I’d never heard of that before.”
- Now say thanks - After you write your first couple of sentences praising the gift/experience/help that someone gave you, it is now time to directly come out and say thanks.
- Sign Off - You should always end your card by looking into the future - “I had a great time hanging around Boston this weekend. You’re more than welcome to come stay with me in Chicago anytime - I’d love to show you around the city”.
Timing of the Card
If your “Thank You” card isn’t going to show up in someones mailbox within one-week after the event you are thanking them for occurred - don’t even bother. Sending your ”Thank You” card in a timely manner communicates to the receiver of your card how grateful you are and the importance you have placed on letting them know.
Bonus Points
If you want to go above and beyond, include a picture with your card. A picture of you using your gift or a picture from your stay with someone is a really great way to increase the quality of your card and you will certainly receive extra bonus points for doing so.
Where to Buy
“Thank You” cards are sold in many different places. My recommendation is that you passively shop for them, always looking for them to be on sale and stocking up when you find them. I make a habit to walk into every paper store (Papyrus, Crane, etc…) that I pass and take a quick look to see if they have any 50% off cards. You can also find lots of thank you cards on the internet. For Females - here, here, and here. For Males - here.
Make it Easy
Finally, you should always have a reserve of cards and stamps in a drawer next to your desk. If every time you wanted to say thanks you had to go shopping for a card and stamps - you would never get around to it.
I hope I’ve given you a few ideas and that you will start being more diligent about sending these out to friends and family. “Thank You” cards take less than 5 minutes to write and cost very little. Stop making excuses and start putting smiles on peoples faces.
