How to Write Rejection Emails Applicants Don’t Resent (With 8 Templates)

Introduction

The short answer: a rejection email applicants don’t resent is personal, prompt and honest. Use their first name, thank them for their time, give the decision early, show how competitive it was with real numbers, be honest about feedback and invite them back. The best ones add a small gift.

Here’s the uncomfortable maths. Run an open call with 400 applications and 20 places, and 95% of the people who ever deal with your programme will receive exactly one email from you: the no.

Our own data says the same thing. Of all the messages organisations sent to applicants through Dapple so far in 2026, 78% were rejection emails. For every acceptance, waitlist update or reminder, there were roughly three or four rejections.

Think about it another way. That email isn’t admin but probably one of the most-read things your organisation will write all year.

Most of us treat it like admin anyway. We dust off last year’s “Dear Applicant”, swap the dates, and send it from a no-reply address on a Friday evening. Then we wonder why next year’s numbers are down and the group chat has opinions.

It doesn’t have to be that way. We’ve seen a lot of rejection emails. Some bad. Most OK. Some that are exceptional. Some so good that applicants screenshot, share and reply to with thank-you notes. This guide breaks down what those emails do differently, then gives you eight templates you can adapt today: for open calls, grants, awards, residencies, near misses, ineligible applications and more.

Why do rejection emails matter so much?

Rejection emails matter because the people you turn down are most of your community. They’re next year’s applicants, this year’s audience, and the people who tell their peers whether your programme is worth the effort. A cold or careless no costs you all three.

Start from the applicant’s side. A good application takes hours, often days: writing and rewriting the statement, photographing the work, building the budget, wrestling the upload button at 11pm before the deadline. Many have paid an entry fee too. The least they’re owed is a reply that acknowledges that time.

The research backs this up. Talent Board’s candidate experience research, covering more than 195,000 job seekers, found that resentment drops by 29% when rejected candidates receive feedback (HCM Technology Report). Funders see the same pattern. In St. David’s Foundation’s 2025 survey of 203 declined grant applicants, run with the Center for Effective Philanthropy, the lowest-rated area was how honestly the foundation explained its decisions (35th percentile), and only 47% of applicants who asked for feedback received it (St. David’s Foundation).

Put simply: people can handle a no. What they resent is being made to feel their effort went into a void.

What should a good rejection email include?

A good rejection email includes nine things: the applicant’s first name, a genuine thank-you for their time, a clear decision early on, the numbers behind it, reassurance that it isn’t a verdict on their worth, an honest line on feedback, an invitation to apply again, a small gift where you can, and a real human sign-off.

What does a really good rejection email look like?

A brilliant rejection email sounds like a person who has been rejected themselves. One of the best we’ve seen came from No Place Art, an independent artist-led open call, for its Edition Two exhibition on the theme of Materiality. Applicants didn’t just accept it. They replied in their dozens to say thank you, and asked how to stay involved.

Here’s what it does that most rejection emails don’t:

• It admits the email is hard to write. “This is certainly the hardest part for me, having to write this email.” The sender is on the applicant’s side of the table.
• It speaks as a peer. “Whenever I don’t get accepted, it sucks.” One line, and the power gap closes.
• It names the cliché before using it. “I know all these open calls write this next bit (I’ve read it enough times) but I do really mean this.” Self-awareness makes the “strong year” line believable.
• It explains how selection really works. “views and perspectives of this particular selection of judges. Selection processes are always shaped by so many factors, including the theme, the overall balance of the exhibition, the conversations between works, and the limitations of space.”
• It offers something concrete. Future, smaller exhibitions where past applicants get first look, “whether selected or not.”
• It makes them part of something. “You are a part of No Place Art (whether you like it or not!).” That line is why people forwarded it.
• It thanks them for the risk. “Thank you for… taking a risk on yourself.” It honours the act of applying, not just the application.

How should you start a rejection email?

Start with their first name and a genuine thank-you, then give the decision in the first two or three lines. Don’t open cold with the no, and don’t make them scroll to find it. Most people will read the email on their phone, braced for the answer; give it to them kindly and quickly.

The subject line matters too, because it’s the first thing they see. It should be honest without delivering the verdict before they’ve opened it.

How do you mention the numbers without it sounding like a brag?

Use the numbers to reassure, not to impress. “412 people applied for 14 places” tells the applicant the odds were long; “our most successful call ever!” tells them you’re celebrating while they’re not. State the figures plainly, then connect them to the care that went into the decision.

Three numbers do most of the work: how many applied, how many were selected, and how much time the judges spent. A ratio (“about 30 applications for every spot”) is easier to feel than a percentage. If you can, add a human detail: every application read by at least two judges, a shortlist argued over for a full day. Specifics are what make “it was incredibly competitive” believable rather than boilerplate.

Should you give feedback to unsuccessful applicants?

Offer feedback if you can, and say plainly if you can’t. For most programmes, individual feedback for every applicant simply isn’t feasible: a team of two can’t write 400 thoughtful notes. That’s fine. What damages trust is silence, or a vague “we’re unable to enter into correspondence” that sounds like a closed door.

Feedback doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Pick the rung that matches your capacity:

One warning: reviewer comments written for internal scoring are not feedback. “Weak budget, 2/5” needs rewriting before an applicant sees it. AI tools are useful for turning a pile of reviewer notes into a draft summary, but a person should read every word before it goes out.

Can a rejection email be funny?

Yes, a rejection email can be funny, as long as the joke is on you, the process or the impossible maths, and never on their work or the decision. One or two light lines are enough. Humour signals that a human wrote this, which is exactly what a templated no lacks.

Lines that work:

• “Our judges argued (politely, mostly) over far more work than we could ever hang.”
• “Every rejection email says the standard was incredibly high. Ours does too. The difference is that ours is true.”
• “We can’t send individual feedback. With 412 applications, our team of three would finish around next year’s deadline.”
• “Once you’ve applied, you’re one of us. There’s no unsubscribe from that. (There is from our newsletter. Legally, we have to.)”

Lines that don’t: anything sarcastic about the quality of submissions, jokes about applicants who missed the brief, or exclamation marks right after the bad news. Funny should feel warm, not flippant. If you’re unsure whether a line lands, read it as the person who spent last weekend on their application.

How do you make a rejection email inspiring?

A rejection email inspires when it treats the no as a chapter, not a conclusion. Remind applicants that rejection is part of every creative and funded life, point them at something concrete to do next, and leave the door visibly open. Specific beats sentimental every time.

“Every artist you admire has a folder of emails like this one” is encouraging. “Everything happens for a reason” is not. Likewise, “plenty of the artists in this year’s show have had this exact email from us before” is far more motivating than “don’t give up!”, but only use it if it’s true. The aim is that they close the email wanting to apply again, not wanting to give up.

What can you offer applicants besides a rejection?

Liberty London went one step further and attached a gift. Unsuccessful applicants to its beauty calendar open call were offered a custom Liberty sketchbook, “a place for all your future projects to take shape”, and simply had to reply with a postal address. Hundreds of artists did. You can offer unsuccessful applicants any small token that gives something back for their time: free tickets, a discount on next year’s fee, a book, or access to a workshop. It doesn’t need to be expensive. It needs to say “we valued what you gave us”, and it turns a rejection into the start of a relationship.

If you ask for postal addresses by reply, only use them to send the gift, and say so. It’s a small detail, but applicants notice.

Rejection email templates for every situation

These eight templates cover the situations programme teams face most. Each is written to be adapted, not pasted: swap in your real numbers, your real offer and your own voice. Anything in [brackets] is a placeholder. Keep a template only if every claim in it is true for your programme.

1. Open call or exhibition rejection (the one people forward)
2. Grant or funding rejection
3. The near miss: shortlisted but not selected
4. Award or prize: not longlisted
5. Residency or fellowship rejection
6. High-volume rejection with no feedback
7. Ineligible application
8. Repeat applicant

What should you never say in a rejection email?

Never use language that makes the applicant feel processed rather than heard. The worst offenders are stock phrases that every applicant has read a hundred times, and practical slip-ups that turn a disappointment into a grievance.

Two practical mistakes to avoid as well: never put every applicant’s address in the To or CC field (that’s a data breach, not just an embarrassment), and never let applicants find out from your Instagram announcement before their email arrives.

When should you send rejection emails?

Send rejection emails after your selected applicants have confirmed their places, before any public announcement, and on the date you promised in your call. Confirming acceptances first means you can still offer places to your reserve list. Sending before the announcement means nobody learns the news from social media.

Send everyone in the same batch, so no one’s left refreshing their inbox while friends compare notes in the group chat. A weekday morning in the applicant’s time zone is kinder than a Friday evening; nobody needs a rejection to sit with all weekend. And if your timeline slips, tell applicants before the promised date passes, not after.

How do you personalise rejection emails at scale?

You personalise rejection emails at scale by segmenting, not by writing hundreds of individual emails. Sort unsuccessful applicants into three or four groups (not selected, shortlisted, ineligible, repeat applicants), write one excellent template for each, and merge in their first name and the call name. Four thoughtful templates feel more personal than one generic email sent to everyone.

Then make the mechanics easy on yourself:

• Write your templates before the call opens. Outcome week is the worst possible time to be drafting from scratch.
• Move submissions into stages that match your segments, so each group is ready to message in one go.
• Send from a named person, and keep replies switched on if you’re offering a gift or feedback on request.
• Send all of each segment at once, and check one test email on your phone first.

This is the kind of admin that software should take off your plate, so your time goes on the human part: the words. In Dapple, you move unsuccessful submissions into a stage such as “Not selected”, tick them, and choose With Selected → Message to send a saved template to the whole group, with replies on or off as you choose. The same applies to your shortlist and ineligible groups. Growth and Pro plans can also connect Dapple to AI assistants such as Claude or ChatGPT, which helps when you’re turning a pile of reviewer comments into draft feedback for your near misses.

Frequently asked questions about rejection emails

How can a rejection email strengthen your organisation’s reputation?

A rejection email strengthens your reputation when it leaves applicants feeling valued rather than processed, because the people you turn down this year are your applicants next year, your audience at the opening, and the voices deciding whether a friend should bother applying. When No Place Art told applicants they were part of the family “whether you like it or not”, people replied asking how to get more involved. When Liberty offered a sketchbook, hundreds took them up on it. Neither cost much. Both turned a no into a reason to stay.

So write it like it matters, because to the person reading it, it does. Thank them for their time. Tell them the truth. Give them something back if you can. And ask them to come back.

If you’re sending outcome emails from a spreadsheet and a mail merge, see how Dapple handles applicant messaging: saved templates, bulk messages by stage and one place for every reply, so you spend outcome week on the words, not the admin.