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NOVEMBER 2014
FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS
S ec t i on A
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funeral services are paid for first.
Second, funeral homes can also make
money from offering crowdfunding to
families, as much as 2 percent of the
amount that was raised.
Third, once the funeral home is set up
for crowdfunding, it is very easy to of-
fer it to all families, not just those in
dire financial straits.
“People still want to help even if the
family doesn’t need it. And few peo-
Taking Business Mobile:
Crowdfunding—An answer to
Funeral Home Receivables
By Steven Holland
Steven Holland
ters worse, because fu-
neral service tends to be
very local, there’s a good
chance you’ll run into the
people who didn’t pay in
your daily life, creating
animosity and discourag-
ing potential future busi-
ness.
Receivables are often a
main source of director’s
angst. A new way to alle-
viate receivables stress is
to use something called
“crowdfunding.” It’s ba-
sically raising money us-
ing the internet.
Crowdfunding has been around for
about 10 years, but only in the past 4
years or so has crowdfunding begun to
take off.
Crowdfunding can be very useful to
funeral directors because it can be an
easy way to help families raise funds for
funerals. Instead of (or in addition to)
setting up a payment plan (which may
or may not ever be paid in full), funer-
al directors could offer families needing
financial assistance crowdfunding as a
way to raise money for funerals.
There are a couple of concerns to con-
sider. First is the tone of the request for
financial contributions. There are some
families that need financial assistance,
tributions being made to
the funeral home or to
the family? It’s not un-
common to hear about
families successfully rais-
ing enough funds to pay
for the funeral and then
not paying the funeral
home in full even though
they have the money.
There are several crowd-
funding sources to choose
from, just Google “crowd-
funding websites.” Two
of the
sites ar
an
The cost of crowdfunding usually
ends up being eight to ten percent of
the amount raised, meaning for every
dollar raised, 90 cents would go to the
funeral costs.
Michael O’Neal,
founder and CEO
of
Funeral Fund,
Inc.,
says his com-
pany offers several advantages to funer-
al homes. First, all funds collected, less
the eight to ten percent fee, go to the
funeral home. If the fundraising goal is
exceeded, it’s the funeral home that will
cut a check back to the family, ensuring
an easy way to express their condolenc-
es financially,” states O’Neal.
The next time you have an indigent
family, crowdfunding may be the an-
swer.
One of the worst things to experience
in the funeral business is the feeling
you have when you provide a quality
service and then you don’t receive the
agreed amount or receive nothing at all
for the service you provided.
As funeral directors, this is something
most have experienced. To make mat-
while there are other families that want
to give mourners a way to express their
condolences through contributions.
Pride can be a pitfall for families need-
ing financial assistance, so the request
for donations has to be tactful.
Another factor to consider is to whom
the contributions are made. Are con-