How to Address a Business Letter to Multiple Persons

Business letters serve as formal communication between the sender and the recipient. In the case of multiple recipients, the sender must address all recipients by mentioning each recipient’s title and name. Names should always be included, but the absence of a title is acceptable if you are unsure of a recipient’s title. An effective and acceptable business letter requires adherence to formatting. Deviation from the norm can cause the recipients to disregard the sender’s comments and requests.

1. Determine the title of each person you’re sending the letter to. Make sure the title you find is the person’s highest title. For example, ensure that “Mr. Smith” isn’t also known as “Dr. Smith.”

2. Format the letter so that it appears as:

· Date

· Sender's Address

· Recipient’s Address

Skip one line after the sender's address and date. Purdue University states that you can use block format, modified block format or semi-block format. For block format, align all text to the left. For modified block format, center the date and keep the sender's address and recipient's address left justified. For semi-block format, align all text to the left, center the date and indent each paragraph in the body. All formats require single-line spacing for each section.

3. Skip one line after the recipient’s address and write “Dear.” Do not include the period.

4.  Add the first recipient’s title, followed by the recipient’s last name, and then add the second recipient’s title, followed by the second recipient’s last name. This only applies if you are addressing two people with separate titles. If you are addressing three or more people, or two people of the same title, group recipients according to their title. For example, suppose you were addressing two women and two men. Write “Dear Mrs. Jackson and Smith and Mses. Jones and Taylor.” Group recipients in alphabetical order.

5.  Add a colon after the last recipient. Skip one line and begin typing the body of the letter.