Show your appreciation

Writing your thank you letter

Alumni, their families, and friends of the College of Arts and Sciences generously donate the funding and provide the inspiration for many College of Arts and Sciences scholarships, fellowships, and awards. In response to their kindness, we ask that student recipients prepare a letter of thanks letting them know how their gift will be beneficial to you in your academic and future career endeavors.

To avoid delays, follow the guidelines on this page to ensure your letter is formatted correctly and includes all of the required components!

Deadline

Email your completed thank you letter to cas.scholarships@wsu.edu by the deadline listed on your offer letter. Note: failure to complete this step, follow the content and format guidelines, and include all required components in your thank you letter may delay the disbursement of your funds.

Start Your Letter

• Introduce yourself by name
• Include your scholarship, fellowship, or award by name in bold (do not include the amount)
• Use words such as “thank you”, “I am grateful”, and “I appreciate”
• Let them know how this scholarship, fellowship, or award has impacted you and your pursuit of higher education
• Include a photo of yourself

Other ideas you could include

• Where you are from, your high school, and your general family background
• Why you chose to attend WSU
• Your academic interests and class standing at WSU
• Things you enjoy in your spare time
• Other awards or honors you received
• Are you in a RSO or student club? Tell them about it!
• Your community engagement, leadership, and service activities
• Your future career plans, goals, and aspirations

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Why write a thank you letter?

• By writing a thank you letter, you are letting donors know that you are the kind of person they hoped would be the recipient of their generosity – a sincere, responsible, and grateful student whose life has been enhanced through a scholarship, fellowship, award, or travel/research support.
• As a recipient, your hard work has been recognized, and it has been made possible by the generous support of WSU alumni and friends.
• A thank you letter is a great way to let a donor know how much you appreciate their generosity and how their investment is making a difference.

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Before submitting your letter

Proofread your letter thoroughly to ensure spelling, grammar, and punctuation is correct and all components are included.

Personal Photo

Insert a high resolution photo of yourself. If taking your own photo, dress appropriately and make sure there is a nice background.

Electronic Signature

Add a personal touch by including your electronic signature. Sign a piece of white copy paper in blue ink and scan it, or take a picture of it and insert it into your letter like a photo.

Multiple Report Recipients

The fund background that accompanies your offer letter lists all individuals to thank and their preferred salutation. If you have been asked to thank more than one individual, please provide a separate document for each household, using their preferred salutation.