Guidelines for departments and programs thanking donors

Gifts of $1000 or more trigger a thank you letter from the Dean. There are some exceptions based on donor preference or the nature of the gift. The Development Office manages this process.

Best practice: departments and programs should thank all other donors with either letters from the department chair or director, the faculty who received the gift, or from students in the department or program. We suggest using the following guidelines when thanking donors:

• Be personal: handwritten notes are best, address donor by their name, and write with your own voice/style.
• Be specific: tell the donor how the gift directly affects you/your department/your project/etc
• Be brief: only a few sentences are needed–make sure to put emphasis on the donor and their gift, rather than going on about your project
• When referring to our campus, please use “UC Santa Cruz”, not “UCSC”