Community Crowdfunding for Funeral Directors by Funeral Directors
Many funeral homes have experience with a young child passing away in their community.
The family inquires about services after this sudden, tragic death of a loved one. Many funeral homes offer to donate goods and services, but the funeral home still needs to cover cash advance items like published obituaries, cemetery open and close, death certificate filing, and more. Then the family and friends, with good intentions, set up a fundraiser using an online crowdfunding platform.
A genuine action to help the family inadvertently begins to reflect negatively on your funeral home, making it appear as if you didn’t help them out at all. All this, while the real story is that the funeral services have been donated. The general public most likely doesn’t know this and doesn’t consider what is happening behind the scene.
“When a community is coming together to help a family in need, that’s good. However, they should consider all needs of the family, not just the cost of the funeral”, shared Jimmy Altmeyer, President of Altmeyer Funeral Home and Founder of TreasuredMemories.us.
Similar scenarios encouraged Jimmy and his team to create Treasured Memories Community Funding (TMC Funding): an online fundraising platform created for funeral professionals, by funeral professionals. TMC Funding allows funeral homes to bring crowdfunding in-house while securing funds for families in need to better serve their communities.
Ultimately, this demonstrates your commitment to providing exceptional care while enhancing your firm’s public image.
Other community funding platforms exist by taking a portion of the funds raised. Treasured Memories has a 0% platform fee and we provide our services through donor tips. 100% of the donations will go to the family or charity of choice.
Treasured Memories Community funding not only helps a family pay for their loved one’s services, it can also be used to raise money for memorial donations, charitable events, sponsorships and other community organizations.
“When we built the platform, we were focused on families in need,” explained Jimmy. “What we actually found out is that only 30% of the fundraisers are for families in need. 70% of the funds raised are for successful community outreach and memorial donations.” Crowdfunding can help funeral providers with all types of fundraisers:
Family Support – Funds can be raised for families in need of assistance with funeral, medical and other unexpected expenses.
Memorial Donations – Charities and organizations in someone’s name or in
support a family.
Charitable Events – Raise funds for a specific event happening in your community.
Community Fundraisers – For a local organization in need of support.
Support for Veterans – Raise funds for Veterans’ medical assistance, housing or other necessities.
Loving Pets and Animals – Raise money towards furry friends that require medical assistance, shelter or other efforts.
Community fundraising opens the door for many funeral homes to support their communities. When a fundraiser is created, the funeral home has the opportunity to help share the family’s story.
Both the family and funeral home can begin sharing the fundraiser on social media. Once the fundraiser is complete, the funeral director can present the check to the family or the organization of their choice.
“Treasured Memories Community Funding has helped us build relationships in our community. It has given the funeral home an opportunity to show how families impact the charities in their loved one’s memory,” shared Craig Roe, Vice President and General Manager for Michigan Memorial Funeral Home in Flat Rock, MI.
The increased publicity will impact your funeral home’s reputation in a positive way .
Treasured Memories Community Funding presents opportunities to follow up with charitable organizations creating community engagement. Outreach events have the potential to create a cycle of education, community involvement and positive attention for your funeral home.
For more information regarding community fundraising or getting started
on our platform, please contact us at tmcfunding.com/contact-us.
A Little About Our Founder:
Jimmy Altmeyer, President of Altmeyer Funeral Home & Founder of Treasured Memories, graduated from Villanova University (BA, 1988) and Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science (Associate’s, 1989). He and his wife, Jocelyn C. Altmeyer, have three children: Simon Cameron, James Elijah, and Justine Virginia.
