Email Etiquette

Email can be a quick and efficent tool for communication today.  We can jot off a quick note, forward jokes, and send replies. 

Yet, when we use email for communicating with our Friends group, we should take care and use etiquette.   This email represents not only who you are, it represents your organization!  So put your best 'send' forward.

Every email sent, should have a saluation to the addressee, the message and a closing.  Seems easy enough and of course it really depends on who you are writting/responding to.

Addressee - be sure that their name is spelled correctly.  Not a great way to get started if you spell their name incorrectly.

If this email is going to a multiple of individuals, like the board where everyone knows each other, then putting their names/emails in the "TO" or "CC" box may be fine.  Ask everyone on your Board their preference.  This will be especially true when the group is collaborating on a project or an event.

If this email is going to a multiple of people, then use your "BCC" box or a 'list' that will not disclose the individual's email address.

One tip I read about is not to fill in the Addressee until the end.  That way if you  inadvertently hit the 'send' button too quickly, you'll save yourself a possible embarrassing moment.

Salutation - While you may be best buddies, and Hey you, may be appropriate, remember that your email may get forwarded to someone else that may be interested in your group.  If it is the first time you will be writting to a person, it may be approprate to address them as Mr., Ms. etc.

Subject Line - this is an interesting area and a bit of contention with me.  I'm a believer of not putting more than one subject in an email.  That way, on forwards and replies the email thread stays relevant.

Message - keep the message brief.  Keep the tone polite and friendly.  If spelling or grammer  isn't one of your strongest skills, be sure to spell and grammer check.  If your email editor doesn't contain those two tools, you may consider typing your email in a word processing software and when you are sure that it is ready to go, then copy and paste it to your email for sending.

Since we are communicating about our Friends group, we need to keep the communication at a business level.

Post Script or P.S. - another great tip I just read about was to put your PS before your closing.  Depending on the length of your closing, your reader may never see the PS!

Closing/Signature - here is where we may need to be careful.  The 'sincerely' may be too formal, and 'see ya' may be too informal.  You could try 'best regards/wishes', 'kind regards/wishes', 'many thanks' are just a few to choose from.  Next, and in my opinion, do not leave this out.  You need to put your name, full name, title, name of your Friends Group, contact phone, email, website, and possibly a tag line.  The tag line is a great way for you to get some important information out to the reader.  Depending of the software used, you can have several different 'signatures' for email.  I keep a different one for each type of engagment I may be working on.  Just lately, I've been receiving email with the senders picture in it.  It's a nice touch.  Something to consider.

How is your email doing? Keeping the etiquette up will continue to reflect you and your group's professionalism.

PS.  Here is an example of my signature for my Friends group.

Best to you,

Patty
Patricia J. Foley, CPA

Membership Chair
Friends of the Lucy Robbins Welles Library
http://www.friendslrwlibrary.org/
Email info@friendslrwlibrary.org
Phone 860-667-0000

~~ Supporting our Library since 1961 ~~

My Blog - http://friendslibrarys.blogspot.com/