So you’ve just received a scholarship– congrats! Your hard work has paid off! Now what? Well, your next step is writing a thank you letter to the generous donors. Here’s what to include in one.

Start off with a brief but sincere thank you, showing the purpose of why you’re writing to them. Here’s an example:

Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms. First and Last Name of Donor or Name of Donor Organization 

As a recipient of the Scholarship, I wanted to thank you for awarding me this scholarship! I’m honored and humbled that you’ve chosen to support me and my academic pursuits.

You want to show your gratitude here but you also don’t want to overdo it.

From here, you want this letter to be genuine in expressing your appreciation. The best way to do that is by making the letter personal. The donors probably don’t know much about you but are interested in learning about you. So in this next paragraph, introduce yourself. Answer questions like what year in school you are, major(s) you’re pursuing, where you’re from, any extra curricular activities you’re extremely passionate about, why you’re pursing the field you’re pursuing, any interesting facts about you that you would like for them to know, etc. Make sure not to give your entire life story but rather just a concise but welcoming introduction about yourself. This shouldn’t be more than one paragraph.

After introducing yourself, the next part should still be personal but link it to the scholarship. Acknowledge what this scholarship means to you. How is it helping you pursue your career? This helps make the letter not be simply a cookie-cutter but one that the scholarship donors might actually resonate with and one that will give them pleasure in reading because they can see the direct impact of their donation. After writing that, end with sincerely thanking them again to tie your letter up.

One other point to keep in mind is making sure your letter is grammatically correct and spelling error free. You want to show that you’re a serious student and silly grammar mistakes come across as otherwise. Proofread it a couple of times and maybe even have someone else go over the letter. There’s also no need to acknowledge the amount you’ve received but make sure to specify the scholarship name, again this makes it more personal.

Using these tips and ideas, writing a thank you letter should be a pleasant and gratifying experience. Good luck to everyone applying for scholarships!