How to Raise Money to Pay for a Funeral
Funerals are incredibly expensive. With the average funeral cost of $9,000, many people struggle pay for them out of pocket—making an extremely difficult time even worse.
Fortunately, it’s becoming more and more common for people to suggest funeral donations in lieu of flowers. If you’re interested in raising money to help with funeral expenses, here’s a guide to help you do that.
Step 1: Set up a memorial fundraiser
The first thing everyone needs to do is set up a place for people to donate money. Ever Loved makes it easy to collect donations via a memorial website. In addition to collecting funds, you’ll also be able to share your loved one’s obituary, funeral details and more.
Step 2: Help others understand how their donations will help
Use the story section of your fundraiser to explain what the donation will go to and how they will help you and your family. In general, fundraisers that include more information tend to raise more money overall. Families want to know how their donations are being used and it can help them feel as though they're making more of an impact if they know where their funds are going.
Step 3: Set a target
Do some math to understand how much money you’ll need to cover costs and set that as your target. For help determining the cost, check out our blog post, How Much do Funerals Cost?. If your'e still unsure how much money you should go for, you can set a rough estimate and adjust the goal at any time. Your goal is just a visual indicator to those who are donating, failing to reach the goal or surpassing the goal does not affect the fundraiser itself. You'll still receive any funds donated in any case.
Step 4: Set up your payment information
You’ll need to link a payment account on Stripe in order to start raising money. You can do this from your account and it will only take a few minutes. Stripe accepts debit cards or checking accounts, but does not accept savings accounts. If you don't have a checking account or debit card, many have found that asking a trusted family member or loved one can suffice in getting the funds over to them. Ever Loved uses Stripe because it's secure and easy, you can find out more about Stripe, here.
Step 5: Share your fundraiser with your network
We recommend posting the link on your Facebook and sending it to any community groups you’re involved in (e.g. religious groups, coworkers, neighbors, community centers and organizations, any clubs you or your loved one are or were a part of etc.). If you choose to also publish an obituary in a local newspaper, include a link to the memorial fundraiser at the end of the obituary. If you need help thinking of places to share the fundraiser, you can always reach out to the Ever Loved support team via chat, email (support@everloved.com) or phone (833-300-6840). When sharing, it’s always a good idea to include another short description on how donations will help.
Step 6: Ask others to share, as well
For maximum exposure, ask those close to you and/or those who have donated to also share the fundraiser with their communities. If they're able to share it with their work, any organizations they're a part of, their religious organizations, or any clubs they're in, it can be a great help. When you work together, you’ll be able to reach many more people.
Step 7: Find easy ways to lower funeral costs
The best way to get the most out of the money you’ve raised is to avoid unnecessary expenses. Simple things, like purchasing a casket, urn or headstone online can save hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. You can also choose to plan a celebration of life on your own, instead of going through the funeral home. Find more ways to save money on a funeral.
Find affordable funeral products
Step 8: Practice self care
Make sure you’re taking some time to acknowledge your feelings and consider what you need. Grief is a powerful emotion and, when combined with the stress of planning a funeral, many people get overwhelmed quickly. When you’re able to, allow yourself to take a break and do something for yourself. If you're stuck on how to self-care or what self-care looks like, check out What's Your Grief's article on ideas for self-care while grieving.
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