I get it. So much has changed in the way we communicate. Take a life event for example, such as wedding or graduation. No longer is the formal invite with tissue paper the norm (who remembers this? 🙋‍♀️). A friend of mine got a invite to a wedding recently and she thought it was a Save the Date. It was actually that and the wedding invite in one. There’s not a specific way anymore and that’s okay!

As a pageant coordinator and sponsor, I don’t give back and donate for the thank you. I know what I’m doing is making an impact and that’s the rhyme to my reason. However, everyone likes to be acknowledged and I can tell you from experience those that are thanked tend to give the next time.

Sarah Kelsey with Rhinestone Lipgloss mentions that giving thanks takes extra steps. It takes promotion on social media, marketing, and my two cents, a hand written thank you.

I do everything I can to make sure thank you’s are written. With my pageant, I make my own thank you’s, I give a list of sponsor’s contacts for contestants to write thank you’s, and I even purchase blank thank you cards in their goodie bags to get them going. That’s how important it is to me.

One study reported that 15 percent of Americans say they haven’t written a note to someone in more than five years and 33 percent say they haven’t gotten a handwritten note in more than a year. Yikes. There shouldn’t be an excuse, heck, there’s even a company that will physically do it for you!

A hand written note in the mail flat out makes people feel good. A study said that 75 percent of people who receive personal mail “made them feel special”.

So here is your challenge…. I challenge you to write a hand written note to someone this week. It can be your mailman, a friend, or a sponsor of yours from this last year. If nothing else, tell them that you appreciate them in your life. (ah, all the warm feels)

Alycia Darby with Win a Pageant says when she writes a thank you to someone, more generosity pours back into her life. (She’s also got some great tips here.) So, it’s a win-win.

Look, it’s easy. It costs pennies and a few minutes of your time. And remember that it is never, ever, ever too late to send a thank you note. Just do it.

Much love and….