Sympathy cards for obvious reasons can be very hard to write.
Whether it is the death of a loved one, family member or friend, there is a balance between providing comfort to the grieving person and creating unnecessary emotional hardship. Following these tips will help you work through the writing process.
Follow these 9 sympathy card guidelines
- Be prompt. Send you sympathy as soon as possible.
- Be Sincere and don’t sweat the small stuff, Write naturally, your sympathy note doesn’t need to be prefect.
- Always hand write. Finalize your thoughts on the computer or scrap paper and then copy it to your sympathy card using a quality pen
- Keep your message short and stay positive. Don’t talk about how or why the deceased passed.
- If you are writing to an employee, client, business associate, or someone you have never met one or two sentences may be all you need.
- If you had a personal relationship with the deceased, adding a funny story or memory may be added.
- Be aware of the recipients religious beliefs before offering your prayers or other religious comments.
- Close your message with an offer to help. This can be specific or open ended.
- Sign your name
Avoid at all costs
- Clichés
- Don’t compare their loss to your own losses
- Don’t minimize the death by saying it will get better or it was their time…
- Don’t promise to help if you can’t or won’t