Memorialization

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to increase the average number of deaths in the United States by 494,000 in 2020 and 445,000 in 2021, according to the 2021 Cremation and Burial Report, released by the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA).

A funeral service shouldn’t be a one-time performance. It’s important for families and guests to be able to watch a service recording in their own time — either because they couldn’t congregate at your funeral home to attend services in person, couldn’t watch live, or they want to watch the service again at a later time as part of their grieving journey.

This past July, MKJ Marketing’s video production team traveled to Woodlawn Cemetery for a multi-day shoot, which is when MKJ President Marilyn Jones Gould spoke with Woodlawn President & CEO Mitch Rose about his keys to success as a leader.

We’re still healing. Central to our healing from traumatic events is continuing to talk about them openly and support one another.

COVID-19 has hit the funeral profession hard, and the hits keep on coming.

When Caitlin Abrams cleaned a headstone for the first time, she had no idea that her passion project would eventually result in a TikTok account with over 1.7 million followers.

We know a video is powerful enough to stand the test of time and has the ability to live on through generations, but how can you utilize this power for your funeral home in a similar and long-lasting way?

Life Forest is the first cemetery to legally offer burial of human and pet composted and cremated remains in a deed-recorded cemetery plot where the bereaved can plant a tree to serve as a memorial marker.

Today, it is more important than ever to understand the wishes of the people arranging the funeral and help them plan personalized tributes that honor the life lived.

We are beginning to see a much-needed shift in the way our profession thinks about, talks about, and sells cremation services to families.