Personal Letter Materials

Personal letters can be divided into two broad categories, based on the intended recipient: person-to-person letters and person-to-business letters.

It is important to note that a lot of confusion exists as to what are true personal letters and what are NOT personal letters. For example, a "cover letter" used to transmit a report is NOT a personal letter - it is a business letter. On the other hand, a "cover letter" for a resume or c.v. IS a personal letter.
Letters that some people loosely define as personal letters which are NOT personal letters at all include: covering letters, employee letters, introduction letters, marketing letters, publicity letters, project letters, customer relation letters, financial and credit letters, order-related letters, sales and marketing letters, follow-up letters, announcements, fundraising letters, among others.

The links below will take you to typical sample letter templates for the two primary categories of personal letters:


Person-to-Person Letters

Person-to-person letters are letters that one individual sends to another individual that deal with personal matters, as opposed to business matters.

The following links go to real-life templates of the most commonly requested person-to-person letters:

Character reference letter - personal friend/colleague reference.


Church letter - to parents re: child's birthday.

Condolence letter - to an acquaintance or colleague.

Friendly letter - to a colleague and sports buddy.

Goodbye letter - farewell letter to co-workers.

Love letter - to someone you've known for a while.

Letter of apology - to a neighbor or acquaintance.

Letter of complaint - water damage complaint to neighbor.

Letter of congratulations - to a friend or colleague.

Letter of personal reference - recommending a personal friend.

Letter of resignation - resign from a committee.

Letter of sympathy - to family of a friend and/or colleague.

Letter of thanks - to friends or acquaintances.

Letter of welcome - to a new community member.

Romantic love letter - after a special evening.

Teacher letter to parents - beginning of year guidelines.

Thank you letter - personal thanks to a family member.