A thank you should be sent immediately, but can wait as long as a week. But no longer than that! Luckily, thank you notes are really quite quick and simple to write. A good format for a thank you note is:
- Salutation
- Thanking the person for the item, favor, experience, etc.
- Saying something specific about the gift, like how you will use it or how much you enjoyed it
- Thanking them again
- Signature
According to Emily Post, "it is never wrong to send a written thank you" and "people always appreciate getting a 'thanks' in writing." Since we live in a time when there are lots of different ways to communicate, here's some guidance on the mode of communication for your thank you:
- If the giver is a close friend or family member, it's okay to call or email your thanks (this does not apply to wedding gift, which will always require a written note).
- To acknowledge safe arrival of a gift, or if you want to send thanks before the official note, you can call, email, or text.
- An emailed or texted thanks is better than no thanks, but you can do better. The giver put time and effort into doing something nice for you, so they would likely appreciate the few minutes it would take you to hand write a note and mail it to them.
