It is one of the most difficult phases of your life when you lose someone near and dear to you. This is the time when your loved ones, family members and friends will definitely issue their condolences and sympathies.
During a time when you’re already in an emotional turmoil, it is hard to find the right words to thank them and also express your grief at the same time.
Thank You Notes for Condolence Messages
A sympathy thank you note just has to be a sentence or two. While writing it, you have to remember that you are doing nothing but acknowledging the fact that the other person thought of expressing his sympathy for your loss. Hence, your message has to be heartfelt and short.
There are many who include a personal note by using the pre-printed sympathy cards. You may even use a blank note card. You may purchase these ‘thank you’ cards from gift shops or funeral home, stationery stores, departmental stores or even get them printed from online printing services.
It is usually a part of good etiquette that you make the message personal and sincere. Your ultimate objective is to show your gratitude for the person’s kindness towards you and your family.
There is no need to plan out what you need to write as long as the short note is relevant to the situation. To let you get started, we’ve crafted few tips and examples of saying thank you for condolence messages.
Writing a Thank You note for condolence messages – Expert Tips
- Don’t worry if you haven’t been quick to reply: Although it is best if you could attach your sad notes to your email and send them to your family members within few weeks of the funeral, yet people don’t mind even if it takes you more than a month. They know that you’ll take time to recover before sending thank you notes.
- Seek help if needed: All of a sudden, there can be a soar in the number of thank you notes that you may have to write after the funeral. If you find it impossible physically and emotionally to do it alone, seek help if needed.
- Don’t handle the entire list at once: You should break down the list into smaller pieces as handling the entire list all at once can become a burdening job for you. Rather, if you break the task into smaller pieces, you can start off with it easily.
- Signature may include other family members: In case you are sending the sympathy note on behalf of your whole family, sign it by writing, ‘From the family of……….’ When there are other signatures included too, the recipient family will feel the gratitude expressed by all the members of the family. On the contrary, if the sympathies have been directed only to you, you should sign on it.
- Mention the full name of the deceased: When you’re replying to the not-so-close people, like the people from your new office or your boss, you should either include your last name or the full name of the deceased. This should be kept in mind when you’re a little late in sending out acknowledgements.
- Note should be meaningful yet short: A reply message to a condolence mail should be complete within 1-3 sentences. A warm thank you that comes straight from your heart is all that is needed. You may buy sympathy thank you notes with blank notes. However, make sure the message is brief and personal.
What to write in sympathy thank you notes
While there are numerous ways in which you can phrase your gratitude to the family member, here are few of the typical sentiments that you may utilize while writing the message.
- We deeply appreciate the fact that you’ve expressed your sympathy.
- Thank you for your kindness and sympathy.
- Thank you for your constant support during this trying time.
- At this time of sorrow, we are extremely grateful to have friends like you.
- Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.
- We appreciate your rock solid support during the toughest phase of our lives.
- Thank you for the comfort and support that you provided.
How to write Thank You note for cash donation
When someone has made a donation in the name of the deceased, it is necessary that you send him a thank you note.
It is not proper to state the amount of money that the person has given but you can definitely express your gratitude in a different manner. It is a bit awkward to acknowledge cash but here are few suggestions that you may find useful.
- Thanks a lot for your kindness in remembering………….(the name of the deceased) with your valuable donation. Your generosity and thoughtfulness are appreciated by our whole family.
- It was immensely kind of you to have made a donation to our family in honor of ……………. (the name of the deceased) that will help in funding the grave marker. Thank you from the core of our hearts.
- We are extremely appreciative of your generosity that you showed through your donation to the family of the deceased. We are more than pleased to pay it by sending a gift to the mentioned charity.
- Your donation in the memory of ……….. (the name of the deceased) touched us deeply. Thank you very much for your thoughtfulness and generosity. May God be with you.
- We appreciate your generous donation to ……. in memory of ……. (the name of the deceased).
- Thank you so for your thoughtful donation in the name of …….. (the name of the deceased). As you know he suffered for several years before he left us and hence this was the perfect gift in memory of his departed soul.
- Thank you so much for the donation in the name of …….. (the name of the deceased)). As you know supporting ………. (name of the charity) was his passion for several years. Your valuable donation is the best way to honor his memory and passion.
So, if you’ve lost someone close and have been flooded with condolence messages, take ideas from the above list to reply them back in the kindest way possible.