Last updated on March 1st, 2024 at 07:21 pm
You need an appreciation letter format when you want to praise someone in black and white. A ready letter format helps you write a letter of appreciation easily and quickly.
The purpose of an appreciation letter is to provide a ‘feel good factor’ that ultimately reflects in motivation and efficient work. It is also useful to foster good relations with someone, a team or an organization.
[Editable MS Word copies of appreciation letter format and two appreciation letter examples available for download before the FAQs section.]
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Who Needs Appreciation Letter Format?
A manager, a director or CEO may write an appreciation letter in individual capacity or on behalf of a company or organization. For example, the head of an educational educational institution may issue such a letter to one of the faculty members.
Naturally, those who issue such letters regularly will find it easy to write one if they have a ready-to-write appreciation letter format.
However, such letters do not necessarily flow downwards in the hierarchy. At times, even an employee may write a gratitude letter to the boss or a ‘thanks for support’ kind of letter. For that matter, students also sometimes write admiration letters to their teachers.
By this time, it is perhaps clear that employees, students, bosses, teachers, team leaders and members – or just anyone may write or receive a letter of appreciation.
Appreciation Letter Format and Choices Thereof
The following is an appreciation letter format. First, have a good look at the format and then focus on the alternatives you are going to choose from. For example, you may choose ‘Mr.’ and not ‘Miss’ as the need be.
Appreciation Letter Examples- Two Situations
Situation 1: Appreciation letter to a team leader for a job well done by his team
Your company has just delivered a tough project in time. A unit of the project was outsourced to a team from another firm which was supposed to finish the work, train your personnel and hand over the O&M to your organization. They delivered in time and as scheduled, handed over the part to your company.
As the lead manager from your side, you need to write an appreciation letter to the team leader of the firm and congratulate and praise him and his team members.
Situation 2: Appreciation letter for employee for good work
An employee of your office has delivered exceptional work during the last FY. As the boss, write an appreciation letter for employee for good work earmarking three of his special contributions to the growth and development of the company.
Occasions to Write an Appreciation letter- Examples
The following are some examples of situations wherein you may need to write an appreciation letter. The addressee’s designation is in brackets:
- Timely completion of a work or project (The project leader)
- Successful organization of events (The event manager)
- Continuous support of troubleshooting, maintenance and service (The O&M Manager & his team)
- Achievement of a record-breaking profit for a company or a unit (Unit head/ GM of the unit)
- Collective good performance of a class (The subject teacher)
- Mathematics Olympiad win (Coaching team/ the winners)
- Exceptional and innovative piece of technical work by an employee (The employee)
- Construction and hand-over of a residential colony before deadline (Builders and their team)
- Neutral reporting on an event of extreme significance (The editor/ The reporter of the concerned news agency)
- Completion of a successful training module (The trainer and the trainees)
Exercise on Appreciation Letter Writing for Students
Following are some exercises that test you on writing various kinds of appreciation letters. Use the aforementioned appreciation letter format and examples to write these:
- Write an appreciation letter to your class teacher praising the innovative ways she uses to teach and enhance the performance of students.
- Compose a letter of thanks/ appreciation addressing it to the organization that has awarded a scholarship for your higher studies.
- Write an appreciation letter to your boyfriend/ girlfriend specially mentioning his/ her qualities that have made your life happier.
- Write an appreciation/ thanks letter to your uncle for gifting you a new bicycle.
- You have been given the ‘best employee of the month’ award by your General Manager. Write a letter of thanks to reciprocate the good gesture.
- You are a wholesaler. Write an appreciation letter to your important customers/ retailers stating how their regular dealings have helped your business.
- You are working abroad. Write a letter of gratitude to your parents appreciating their efforts that led to your successful completion of MBA abroad and culminated in a job paying a handsome salary.
Visit for practice: Paragraph Writing for Top Students
Letters of Appreciation are Harbingers of Progress
Everyone needs appreciation to improve. Appreciation letters help boost spirits and translate into efficiency, bigger profits, improved grades and above all, better relations.
If you want to create a workplace encouraging hard work and creativity, you will have to learn welcome mail formats, appreciation note writing etc. no matter whatever rank you work at. For example, corporate coaches, while imparting team building skills for leaders, may include a 2-hour session on writing appreciation letters and ‘thank you’ letters.
Tweak the language that suits your need and occasion while crafting the letters of gratitude and appreciation. And see the world around you become better and more beautiful.
Download the editable MS Word copies of the appreciation letter format and examples:
appreciation letter format in English
appreciation letter for team leader
appreciation letter sample for employee for good work
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
1. How do you write a letter of appreciation example?
You can write an appreciation letter in 6 steps:
1. Pick a good appreciation letter format.
2. Fill in the sender’s address, date, and recipient’s address neatly.
3. Choose the correct the salutation. You may write ‘Dear Mr./Miss/ Ms. ….. 👉[Choose as per your requirement Mr. -for male, Mrs. – for a married woman, Ms. – If you don’t know about the woman’s marital status.]
4. While compiling the main body of the letter, use 3 paragraphs.
a) Write the purpose of the letter.
b) Attribute praise to the recipient.
c) Make a mention of recipient’s special contribution and praise her/ him.
5. Close the letter formally. Attach a sentence of gratitude.
6. Sign and give your particulars.
2. How do you write a good work appreciation letter?
The body of the ‘good work’ appreciation letter may be divided into 3 paragraphs as below:
I am writing this letter to thank you for your single-minded devotion and commendable efforts towards achievement of company’s targets during the last financial year.
We sincerely appreciate the innovative techniques you applied for the completion of two main work orders [Make a mention of the two projects] our company delivered this year.
The organization hopes to see you working at higher rungs of hierarchy in the time to come.
3. How do you write a self appreciation letter?
You may be asked in your class or examination to write a self appreciation letter or paragraph.
Here is a sample letter:
Dear Dad,
How are you, mom, Rintu and Abhi? Everything here in hostel-life, is fine by the grace of God.
In your last letter you had asked me to write a short self-appreciation account mentioning the good changes I have recently brought about in life. Here is an account of the same:
You remember? I was always a late riser. Now, I have started getting up early in the morning.
I do not waste time like I did earlier. I try to do things quite ahead of time.
Recently, I stopped drinking a lot of water just after the meals. Now, I know that drinking water only after about an hour of lunch and dinner is good for health.
I also take care never to skip breakfast like I did earlier.
One more thing I have changed – the way I used to write answers. You always used to advise me that I should write ‘to-the-point’ answers and I had a habit to describe them beyond the given limits. Now, I have improved quite a lot with that. You will be glad to know my class test marks have improved considerably since then.
With this, I’m going to close the letter. Please convey love to mom and best wishes to Rintu and Abhi for their exams.
Lovingly yours,
Oshin