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I write emails to groups of individuals from time to time, and when I don't/can't address anyone in particular, I will begin the letter with

To Whom It May Concern,

Is this the best way to equally address a group of people, in a professional setting?

J.R.
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MDMoore313
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    It depends greatly on context. This is fine, but could potentially be better. Who are these groups of individuals you are emailing? – samuelesque Apr 25 '13 at 19:38
  • what about nothing? the list of recipients gives a list of people the email is addressed to – SeanC Apr 25 '13 at 19:44
  • @dotsamuelswan various groups, mostly that work at the same company, but I have no dealings with day to day. – MDMoore313 Apr 25 '13 at 20:11
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    For internal emails, it's really going to boil down to your company's culture. As @SeanCheshire suggested, nothing may be perfectly acceptable. If the content you're sending affects some, but not all of the people receiving the email, to whom it may concern probably makes the most sense. You may also consider something like "Dear Associates,". – samuelesque Apr 25 '13 at 20:22
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    Of course, emails don't have steadfast rules for composition. You may also consider popping over to the Workplace Stack Exchange site with this question. http://workplace.stackexchange.com/ – samuelesque Apr 25 '13 at 20:23
  • This is also a question of formality. For an email - especially internally - and double especially in the US - I would never start an email with "To whom it may concern". You could start the email with "Hi,", "Hi all," or just be done with it and launch straight into the body of the email itself and let the subject of the email introduce it. – Matt Apr 25 '13 at 22:22
  • Related: #2112, and, more recently, #112206. – J.R. Apr 25 '13 at 23:23
  • I will begin the letter, or, I will being the letter? – Blessed Geek Apr 26 '13 at 02:05
  • +matt, I am in the US, and no professional letters I have seen begins with "Hi" or "Hi All" and in the case of a general and respected audience, always begins with "To whom it may concern". – Blessed Geek Apr 26 '13 at 02:09
  • @BlessedGeek: A typo that obvious should just be fixed, don't you think? – J.R. Apr 26 '13 at 02:38
  • Yes +JR. Unfortunately, unless I am the author, this bletchy site won't me fix it unless it is a significant fix of more than 10 (15,25?) chars. – Blessed Geek Apr 26 '13 at 02:44
  • @Matt. In the UK also, I would NEVER start an email (nor anything else) with "To whom it may concern" - it sounds very officious, outdated, impersonal, and UNprofessional. I agree with your other suggestions. – TrevorD May 10 '13 at 16:19
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    The most common way I see for addressing a group via email is "Hi all" if they are all known to you and "Dear all" if it is to be more formal. – Sam May 21 '13 at 21:23
  • Related (capitalization): https://english.stackexchange.com/q/72406/216106 – Davo Mar 27 '19 at 13:33

1 Answers1

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The very very formal method seems to be "Sir(s) or Madam(s)," depending on whether you the number&gender of the recipients or not.

Simon Kuang
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