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Deeply Scared posted 11/19/2013 11:48 AM

If you don't know the name of the person you're sending a letter to, how do you address them?

Dear....

Sirs...

To Whom It May Concern...

simplydevastated posted 11/19/2013 11:56 AM

I've always used To Whom it May Concern.

suckstobeme posted 11/19/2013 11:56 AM

I always say "Dear Sir or Madam" and I frequently don't know the identity of the letter recipient.

GabyBaby posted 11/19/2013 12:00 PM

I also like "Dear Sir or Madam".
For some reason, "To Whom It May Concern" always sounded weird and dismissive to me.

Undefinabl3 posted 11/19/2013 12:27 PM

I think it depends on what you are sending the letter about.

If you are looking for a specfic person (IE the General Manager, the President, the Controller) but don't know if they are male or female, then Sir or Madame would be best.

If you do not even know who the letter would address within the company and you are not sure which department would handle the request, To Whom It May Concern would be appropriate.

TattoodChinaDoll posted 11/19/2013 12:27 PM

Just remember that the proper punctuation after To Whom It May Concern is ":"

Tred posted 11/19/2013 12:33 PM

Wait, you mean it's not "Yo! Wassup!"? My bad...

Actually, I looked it up:
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/businessletters/a/business-letter-salutation-examples.htm

Definition: To Whom It May Concern is a letter salutation that is used in business correspondence when you don't have a specific person to whom you are writing.

It is appropriate to use To Whom It May Concern when making an inquiry, but you don't have a contact person to address your letter to.

When addressing a letter To Whom It May Concern, the entire phrase is typically capitalized, then followed by a colon:

To Whom It May Concern:

In addition

Business Letter Salutation Examples

Dear Mr. Smith
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Dear Ms. Jones
Dear Jane Doe
Dear First Name (if you know the person well)
Dear Dr. Haven
Dear Dr. and Mrs. Haven

Follow the salutation with a colon or comma, a space, and then start the first paragraph of your letter. For example:

Dear Mr. Smith:

First paragraph of letter.

When You Don't Have a Contact Person

If you don't have a contact person at the organization, you could either leave off the salatuation and start with the first paragraph of your letter or use a general salulation.

General Salutations for Business Letters

Dear Hiring Manager
To whom it may concern
Dear Human Resources Manager
Dear Sir or Madam

simplydevastated posted 11/19/2013 12:40 PM

Wait, you mean it's not "Yo! Wassup!"? My bad...

Deeply Scared posted 11/19/2013 13:02 PM

Thanks everyone!!

I'm going to go with Dear Sir or Madame.

I appreciate all the feedback!

lynnm1947 posted 11/19/2013 13:04 PM

Dear sir or madam:

tushnurse posted 11/19/2013 13:37 PM

I find that

Dear Tardbait, or Dear Fucknut work equally well. Oh wait we aren't sending this to the help line people that crahsed my system this week.

To whom it may concern is my go to.

Rebreather posted 11/19/2013 13:41 PM

I throw away everything that says TWIMC on it. It feels spammy.

I prefer Dear Title, or Dear Sir or Madam.