***The letters discussed may change by region, kingdom, and groups. Some groups may be more or less formal in their requirements. ***
This past week I spent a bit of time researching and working on a letter of intent – something I found out I needed to supply to my shire at our meeting on Sunday. Elections for offices are in November. Now I had a general idea of what a letter of intent looked like for a job application and for grad school applications but, like many things in the SCA, I wondered if what they wanted was that formal. So I went turned to trusty Google. Despite my Google-fu I was unable to find examples of letters of intent of offices other than for Baron/Baroness and Crown Tourney applicants.
Stumped, I fell to habit and went with a more formal version of the letter. So, for anyone new or who hasn’t had to write one before, a list of general requirements for a letter of intent:
- A standard greeting (Include day, date, and greeting like in a resume letter.)
- An opening paragraph stating the office the letter is for and what accomplishments you have under your belt that apply to the office.
- Follow that by a bulleted or numbered list of goals to fit your office. (In mine I did, 3, 6, 9 months, and 1 year+) Try to make these simple, straight forward, and as clear to those who may not be familiar with the terms, lingo, and acronyms of your office. No more than two or three goals per time allocation.
- A closing paragraph. Make sure you thank the other officers and populace for their consideration!
To show you what all that looks like I’ve pasted my letter of intent for the office of the shire webminister below.
Saturday, October 17th, 2015
To the Officers and Populace of the Shire of Quintavia,
I, Perronnelle de Croy write this letter of intent for re-election to the office of Webminister. Over the past year I have rebuilt the Shire website form scratch and have added a number of features that are of benefit to the Shire as a whole and to the webministers that will follow me such as moving us to WordPress, adding an easy redirect plugin, and integrating our calender, newsletter sign-up, and Facebook page. If re-elected I have a number of goals which I would like to accomplish in the following timeline:
3 Months
- Prepare our website for the upcoming audit (beginning in Jan. 2016)
- Add logins for the other officers so that they may write blog posts.
- Add content to the Seneschal, MOL, and Rapier pages.
- Create a Dance Page
6 Months
- Promote use of the forums as an alternate to Yahoo Groups
- Add more pictures to the gallery page from the most recent events
- Make a new banner for the site, something clearer and more mobile friendly.
1 Year
- Complete changes required from audit results.
- Continue creating/changing event pages as necessary
- Put together a class on WordPress usage and audit standards.
1 Year +
- Make the page more mobile friendly overall.
- Continue to search for more ways to make the email more accessible.
- Establish a maintenance routine for the site.
I have gained a great deal of experience within the past year and hope to put it to use for the Shire for another two years. I look forward to the results of the election and to serving the Shire in any capacity.
Yours In Service,
Madame Perronnelle de Croy
As I mentioned in my italicized disclaimer at the top double check with what your group requires for stating intent to run for an office. Likewise this in just my way of writing a letter. I’m hoping that some people I’ve asked will be willing to share theirs but if not at least there is one example.