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What would you hear in this sentence?

Thank you for your contribution, in any capacity.

a) Thank you for your contribution, no matter the size ("for both big and small donations").

b) Thank you for your contribution, no matter how negligible (there's a connotation of "even a small help helps") .

c) Thank you for your contribution, no matter if you put your time, money or ideas into it (no matter the way you helped).

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    Your option c) comes close. Better than "no matter" here would be whatever. Whatever you contributed: time, money, ideas, etc. "No matter" is not quite idiomatic in this context of an expression of gratitude. "No matter what" dismisses the unknown thing as irrelevant.
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    Nov 6, 2018 at 21:32
  • We are grateful for any contribution, no matter how small.
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    Nov 7, 2018 at 21:14
  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo Thank you. So how could I express the meaning indicated in a) and b)?
    – Probably
    Nov 14, 2018 at 12:44
  • I've already given you the answer to a) in the comment above. There you can use no matter. But with respect to various forms of contribution: We are grateful for any kind of contribution, whatever it may be— time, money, ideas. There I suppose you could say no matter what it is but I think whatever is the better choice stylistically. no matter dismisses something as not a concern, and you would not say **no matter how big a contribution**— not on grammatical grounds, just on the common sense basis of asking for contributions .
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    Nov 14, 2018 at 13:09
  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo Ok, I meant to ask for an alternative of "in any capacity" but thank you. There probably isn't an equal phrase for the other meanings, right?
    – Probably
    Nov 14, 2018 at 13:10

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I personally hear (c) when reading the phrase: 'Thank you for your contribution, in any capacity'. I think this is because capacity in terms of a contribution would mean the role that you played rather than the size of a donation or that every little helps.

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  • Thank you. So how could I express the meaning indicated in a) and b)?
    – Probably
    Nov 7, 2018 at 12:40
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"Capacity" has several definitions. See https://www.thefreedictionary.com/capacity You're thinking of definition 1a, the maximum amount that something can hold. Like, "The capacity of this fuel tank is 17 gallons." That's not the definition that is applicable here. The writer here is using definition 5: position or role. He means, thank you for your contribution, no matter what role you filled. Like if he was talking about a political campaign, he means: You might have helped by giving money. You might have helped by making phone calls. You might have helped by stuffing envelopes. You might have helped by voting. Whatever you did to help, thank you.

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  • I agree about the role, and therefore think that any should be whatever.
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    Nov 6, 2018 at 21:30

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