Funeral donations

Funerals are often appropriate occasions to raise funds for suitable charities.

Guests and mourners should be advised as soon as possible to donate rather than buy flowers if you want the funeral to raise funds for a charity or good cause.  

Put the information on invites and also on the order of service/ceremony leaflets (order sheets).

Choosing the charity

A good way of selecting the appropriate charity is to consider the life and/or death of the person whose funeral is being organised.

Did the deceased regularly donate to a charity? Did he/she work for, volunteer or raise funds for a particular charity?

Was there a local good cause or community group that he/she would have supported?

If he/she did not have a particular charitable involvement, was there a more general support such as the environmental, education, overseas aid or animal welfare in which case a related charity would be appropriate.

Think of the cause of death. There are support groups for sufferers of most illnesses; suicide; road accident victims; child deaths.

This category also includes bereavement charities such as Cruse and the Samaritans.

Then consider the charities researching the medical condition that might have caused death.

Another deserving category will be where the deceased was given palliative care or the final medical treatment, so consider the hospice (or hospice movement) or friends of the hospital.

How to donate

Via the funeral director.  Administering the donations from the funeral is an increasingly popular service provided by the FD, and they will give the family and the selected beneficiary charity a reconciliation sheet a week or so after the funeral.

Co-ordinated by the family. Nominate a suitable family member to receive and reconcile all donations to the selected beneficiary charity.

Direct to the charity by each mourner. When inviting the mourners, and on the order of service/ceremony, inform people which charity and the address to send their cheques, or the charity's website address.

Plan it to raise money

If you are planning your own funeral wishes, make it clear whether you want family and other mourners to spend often considerable amounts of money on flowers or use your funeral to raise funds for a charity of your choice.

Make this decision one of your funeral instructions that you put in your Lifebox to be accessed by your executor on your death.