20160811MBJ

August 11, 2016 • Vol. 7 No. 32This Issue:

Inside the Numbers, Part 2 ............................................................. P. 1Mid-America Students Respond to Alternative Container Design Challenge ........................................................ P. 6Voting Underway for NFDA Members to Elect Officers to Board of Directors..................................................................... P. 8The Notebook .................................................................................. P. 9From the Editor’s Desk ................................................................. P. 10

Inside the Numbers, Part 2 Taking a closer look at the findings of the

2016 NFDA Consumer Awareness and Preferences Survey

Editor’s note: Last week, we presented an overview of the findings of the National Funeral Directors Association’s 2016 Consumer Aware-ness and Preferences Survey on the topics of funeral home shoppers and why consumers may choose a particular funeral home. This week, we focus on the declining importance of religion in funerals and crema-tion.

By Deana Gillespie and Edward J. Defort

Brookfield, Wisconsin – Getting inside the consumer’s head becomes more challenging every year for funeral directors looking to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to trends and preferences about memorialization. Really, there is only one way to find out what someone wants, and that’s to ask them. Since 2012, NFDA has been asking consumers exactly what they want in a funeral service for a loved one or eventually for themselves. But the problem, sometimes, with asking people what they want is that they may tell you some things you didn’t want to hear.

This year’s survey is the fifth year in a row, and the numbers are fairly consistent. This consistency reflects a statistical sig-nificance and a high level of reliability.

Religious InfluencesBefore examining religious influence in funerals and me-

morials, a quick note on demographics. Twenty percent of re-spondents identified themselves as Catholic and a near equal number, 19.9 percent, stated they had no religious preference. Other respondents identified themselves as Christian (nonspe-cific), 14.8 percent; Protestant, 9.7 percent; “other,” 12.4 per-cent; Baptist, 6.6 percent; Jewish, 5.9 percent; Muslim, 4.0 per-cent; Lutheran, 3.4 percent; Pentecostal, 2.0 percent; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1.1 percent; Buddhist, 1.1 percent; and Jehovah’s Witness, 0.7 percent.

Of this year’s survey group, 60 percent have attended a me-morial service in the past five years.

The percentage of people who feel that a religious compo-nent of a loved one in a funeral is very important has steadily declined over the life of this survey – 42.1 percent view such a component as very important, which is down from 49.5 percent in 2012. This statistic has all kinds of implications for the fu-neral in terms of type of service, where and when it will be held and whether a celebrant will conduct the service.

“I think this is in line with the overall trend in America of less religious affiliation,” said Jake Johnson, president and CEO

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of Johnson Consulting Group in Scottsdale, Arizona. “I also believe it will continue to de-crease.”

Dan Isard, president of The Foresight Companies, noted that as this requirement de-clines, along with the number of consumers without a reli-gious affiliation, it will lead to less spiritual funeral needs and more funerals as social events.

David Nixon, president of Nixon Consulting and Heart-land Funeral Solutions, called the 7.4 percent drop in the number of respondents who feel it is very important to have religion as part of a funeral from significant. It reinforces the in-crease in “nones,” people who view themselves as having no religious affiliation.

But this is not to suggest that people have abandoned reli-gion. Despite the decline in the importance of a religious com-ponent in a funeral, the majority of respondents still feel it is im-portant – 42.1 percent feel it is very important and 24.8 percent feel it is somewhat important.

Bill McQueen agreed. The former president and CEO of Anderson-McQueen Funer-al Homes for nearly 20 years and a partner at McQueen & Siddall in St. Petersburg, Florida, suggested funeral direc-tors make sure that their practices don’t affiliate their offer-ings with religious overtones. “Quit calling the ceremony room a ‘chapel’ and instead call it a ‘Heritage Hall’ or a ‘Remembrance Room,’ etc.,” he said.

McQueen also recommended removing pews from cer-emony rooms and replacing them with comfortable seating that can be moved around or even removed from the room if necessary.

Significantly, the survey found that slightly less than half of respondents, 45.3 percent, have planned or attended a funeral where someone other than a member of the clergy presided. The flip side of that is that 54.7 percent have nev-er experienced a funeral service that was outside the scope of the clergy. This is a big arrow that points to another area of consumer awareness that the funeral director can ad-dress with families in the community. If a family knows that

religion was not key to their loved one’s life, they might arbitrarily assume no service would be in line with their loved one’s final wishes, without knowing what alternatives are available. This information could have a domino effect with consumers as it pertains to cremation or burial, service or no service, celebration or memorialization in the funeral home or somewhere else.

Even though just 42 percent consider religion to be a very important component of a funeral service, McQueen pointed out that 37 percent of respondents would consider using a celebrant, 29.5 percent would not and 19.2 percent have never even heard of a celebrant.

“This has become an important factor for those funeral directors who embrace the concept,” Johnson said. “Unfor-tunately, most have not.”

McQueen agreed. “Seems like a big opportunity for fu-

neral homes to offer celebrant services to distinguish their firms and better match up with consumer preferences,” he

3Memorial Business JournalAugust 11, 2016


commented.

Nixon added that he doesn’t believe that the non-cler-gy/celebrant dynamic is universal and is another area that needs further promotion and explanation.

For some, the word “celebrant” itself has a religious con-notation because the priest at a Catholic Mass is often re-ferred to as the celebrant, which might be confusing some survey respondents.

When it comes to having the body and/or cremated re-mains present at a funeral, respondents remain split. Just over half (53.4 percent) feel it is important to have the body/cremated remains present at a funeral service, which is up slightly from 50.1 percent a year ago.

“We all need to work on this as it is very important to have the body/cremated remains present,” Johnson said. “If this continues to decline, you will see fewer families using the funeral home for their services.”

CremationWith the growing number of cremations taking place,

many consumers seem to be just making it up as they go along when it comes to making decisions on cremation – for no other reason than they are not fully informed.

Just over one-third of respondents, 36.6 percent, asso-ciate a cremation with a memorial service. Said Nixon: “It points to poor communication. In my thinking, we are still not communicating well enough about the possibility of having a memorial service with a cremation.”

Added Johnson: “We need to continue to pursue as much memorization as possible primarily because it is im-portant for the families we serve. It is also of benefit finan-

cially for funeral homes.”

Along the same lines, only 10.4 percent of respondents associate a cremation preceding a traditional funeral. “Same deal,” Nixon said, “a teaching moment.”

The message that the destination (cemetery vs. crema-tory) should not impact the service is still being lost among consumers. These are the numbers that have been coming back survey after survey, year after year.

Asked Nixon: “As a profession, are we happy with this?” Almost half of respondents, 45.6 percent (up 5.9 percent

since 2015), are aware that you can view a body that is pre-pared but not embalmed prior to cremation. “So perhaps funeral service is doing a better job of educating,” Nixon said.

However, only 32 percent of respondents who have at-tended a cremation had such a viewing. “This is another one of these educational opportunities for funeral directors to take into communities,” Nixon said.

“We need to keep explaining all of the options to the ar-



ranging family as we know this is an important factor in their moving on,” Johnson said.

McQueen suggested that there may be an opportunity for funeral homes to offer “Family Goodbyes,” where the family and/or close friends could view the unembalmed body but then a memorial service without the body pres-ent could be held immediately after that for the benefit of the general public.

Johnson views the fact that the percentage of consum-ers who are aware that you can view a body that is prepared but not embalmed as part of a cremation service has risen as very positive. “It suggests that funeral directors are more astute in explaining all of the options that are available for families choos-ing cremation. Not too many years ago, many funeral directors would just go through the motions when it came to cremation arrangements.

Respondents are split down the middle on the subject of a funeral home having an onsite crematory, a curious statistic given that many fu-neral homes that own their own cre-matories advertise the benefits of controlling the chain of custody and the fact that your loved one never leaves our care. But since this is still a 50-50 proposition, it doesn’t seem as though that message has landed yet with the majority of consumers.

“I find it interesting that 50 per-cent of respondents consider it im-

portant for the funeral home to have an on-site crematory if offering cremation services,” McQueen said. “For those who have their own crematory, this should be included in all of their marketing literature.”

Johnson agreed with McQueen that if a firm does have a crematory, it should make sure to let everyone know. He acknowledged that having a crematory onsite is important, but many will not be able to do so. “If you do not have one, you should have some material for the family that explains where the cremation is completed and the quality of the organization performing the function,” he said.

Just over half (60.3 percent) of respondents would



choose a cremation for their own funeral, which is up from 58 percent a year ago. This figure matches what many fu-neral homes are seeing on their preneed accounts.

“This tells us the future,” Isard said. “Sixty percent of all people 40 to 65, when interviewed, said they prefer crema-tion. Sixty percent don’t want a funeral.” Isard wondered, however, whether the results would have been different if the survey was taken shortly after the very public funeral for Muhammad Ali.

Consequently, only 19.9 percent would choose burial

for themselves, down from 20.8 percent a year ago, and 12.5 percent are not sure if they would choose burial or cremation. “If people did a bang-up job with burials, you could also convince people in the cremation column to change as well,” Nixon said. “The key word here is ‘prefer.’ The message should be to not assume everything is cre-mation, but regardless of the method of disposition, what comes before that doesn’t have to be different.”

Of the 60.3 percent of respondents who would choose cremation, only 17.5 percent would like to have a complete funeral service with viewing and visitation prior to crema-tion. This is down 9.1 percent from 26.6 percent in 2015. This year, 22.9 percent are unsure whether to have a com-plete funeral service.

“This is a real negative as we all need to be much better in explaining to families what the various option are and the importance of the visitation,” Johnson said. “[Crema-tion] continues to increase as expected and is not likely to slow down soon. The key here is to make certain all fami-lies are aware of the various options when choosing crema-tion, along with the benefits of doing so.”

Nixon concurred, adding, “It seems like this is another area for community education on the value of the funeral

service.”

If funeral directors don’t tell this story, no one else will. Others may even tell quite a different story. So it all comes down to whom you want the members of your community talking to about the value of funeral service.

“People can put their heads in the sand all they want, but how many points in this whole survey… it is all point-ing toward cremation,” Nixon said.

Nixon suggested this statistic is worth following in sub-sequent surveys. “The 9.1 percent decline in one year is significant,” he said. “It could be an anomaly, but it bears watching.”

Survey respondents have given funeral service an 87.5 percent satisfaction rating, feeling that they had been dealt with openly and honestly. Not bad, but it shows that while the majority are doing a good job, a few bad apples are turning into 12.5 percent feeling they had not been dealt with honestly.

MBJ

Deana Gillespie is NFDA research manager.

Edward J. Defort is editor of NFDA Publications.

Our analysis of the 2016 NFDA Consumer Awareness and Preferences Survey continues next week with a look at the evolv-ing social media landscape.



By Lacy Robinson

Jeffersonville, indiana – Students at Mid-Amer-ica College of Funeral Service recently participated in a unique special project designed to spark their creativity and imagination while underscoring the importance of personalization in funeral service.

During the first week of August, Lee Gohmann, pro-fessor of funeral service sociology, presented to the gradu-ating class a stimulating assignment involving alternative containers. You know the containers – the ones usually made from cardboard and typically used for transportation purposes and/or cremation. While very useful, there’s not much flair to them.

Her idea for this teamwork exercise was to offer an opportunity for students to gain experience in designing memorable life tributes, which enabled the students to think about presenting merchandise in a different way.

Four teams of seniors were given differ-ent scenarios containing specific details of a person’s life. Their task was to personal-ize a cremation container that captures the essence of the deceased’s life.

According to NFDA’s 2016 Cremation and Burial Report, the U.S. cremation rate has now surpassed the rate of burial. As cremation continues to rise and person-alization requests and budgets vary from family to family, this activity proved to be an effective one to prepare Mid-America’s senior class for the real world of funeral service.

Each team tapped into its creative en-ergy and designed four remarkable alter-native caskets. One was for a University of Louisville Cardinals basketball fan, while others honored a brave fight against breast cancer, a Mickey Mouse fan and the life of someone who loved his John Deere tractor and Maker’s Mark whiskey.

“We all know that cremation rates are on the rise,” Gohmann said. “For some families, it’s a matter of choice, but for some, it’s all they can afford. We want to give families the opportunity to celebrate their loved one’s life by personalizing the humble alternative container.

“The students love this project; it allows them to get creative,” she added. “The final step in the project is that each team had to write and present a eulogy for their dece-dent. Some of them were hilarious and some quite touch-ing. The best part of this project was hearing from a for-mer student who actually suggested this to a family, and they loved it.”

Lauren Budrow, president of Mid-America College of Funeral Service, suggested to Michael Moeller, admissions representative and social media coordinator, that a contest on Facebook would add a bit of fun for the students and spark conversations among those not in funeral service.

From August 4-7, these ultra-personalized alternative containers hit social media for a contest. Whichever con-tainer garnered the most likes was the winner of a trophy and pizza (but, more importantly, bragging rights). In to-

To help students understand the importance of personalization in funeral service, seniors at Mid-America College of Funeral Service were tasked with personalizing alternative containers in their funeral service sociology class. Instructor Lee Gohmann (lower left) is pictured with the team that designed the most popular alternative container – for a University of Louisville Cardinals basketball fan.

Mid-America College Students Respond to Alternative Container Design Challenge



tal, there were 280 likes with 32 shares. The University of Louisville Cardinal Basketball container was declared the winner with more than 100 likes. Second place went to the breast cancer awareness container.

Andrew Imel, a senior at Mid-America from Greenup, Kentucky, led his team to create the winning container. “With hard work and determination, we successfully went over and beyond displaying our alternative container with having a life-size picture of a student inside the alterna-tive container,” he said. “I believe being in this business, you have to set yourself apart from the rest to be the best you can be. This was a great idea by professor Gohmann to put students in groups to work together to complete the assignment. That’s an everyday thing at the funeral home – working together with colleagues to complete a task.”

Moeller reported that the contest had an organic, un-paid reach of more than 2,200 people. One comment re-garding the breast cancer awareness entry called the proj-ect “clean, class and not over the top,” which proves that this contest generated some interesting discussions along the way.

“Our goal is to reach beyond the community of funeral service,” Moeller said. “We want people to feel comfort-

able enough to talk about death and dy-ing, funeral plans, burial and cremation. That’s the positive engagement we like to see with our social media posts.”

From a marketing perspective, this contest clearly helped the college. “It’s not that people don’t want to come to Mid-America, it’s that they don’t know it ex-ists,” Moeller said. “Using social media to engage users has resulted in develop-

ing our brand and communicating our mission on a much larger scale.”

Now that this alternative container contest has wrapped up, what’s next for the graduating class?

Studying for final exams, of course – and the highly an-ticipated assignment of creating a wax head in their restor-ative art class.

While studying and practical application of materi-al keep students plenty busy, many will still find time to volunteer for Hildegard House in Louisville, Kentucky, a home for individuals facing death with no loved ones. Stu-dents will also participate in cleanup efforts at local dis-tressed cemeteries.

And it doesn’t stop there. Students will also be hosting Girl Scouts from Louisville and southern Indiana in Octo-ber for a day of learning about women in funeral service.

MBJ

Lacy Robinson is director of member development for the Na-tional Funeral Directors Association and a graduate of Mid-America College of Funeral Service.



Voting Underway for NFDA Members to Elect Officers to Board of Directors

Brookfield, Wisconsin – Voting is underway for members of the National Funeral Directors Association to elect the individuals who will serve as officers on the NFDA Board of Directors for the coming year. This new election pro-cess is the result of changes to the NFDA governance structure adopted last year.

Under the new structure, all NFDA members are responsible for voting for the officers – president-elect, treasurer and secretary – on the Board of Directors. The NFDA Policy Board continues to elect at-large representatives.

“This is an exciting and historic moment in NFDA’s history,” said Bob Arrington, NFDA president. “I encourage you to visit the NFDA website and learn about the fine candidates we have running for office and vote for the indi-vidual you feel will best represent your voice on the Board of Directors. Your vote will help shape the future direction of NFDA – your association – for years to come.”

Voting began on August 1 so all eligible NFDA members who have a valid, unique email address on file with NFDA received an email with their individual voting credentials and instructions on how to cast a ballot. Eligible voters who do not have an email address on file with NFDA will be receiving a postcard with their individual voting credentials and instructions on how to cast a ballot.

Each firm member will receive two votes for each election, which will be cast by the primary contact for the firm listed in NFDA’s current membership records. Each individual member will receive one vote for each election. A pri-mary contact for a firm member will be provided a vote as an individual member in addition to the two votes he or she can cast on behalf of the firm.

Votes must be cast by 11:59 p.m. C.T. on August 31, 2016.

Candidates for office:

Secretary • Alec S. Anderson, CFSP, CCO • R. Bryant Hightower Jr., CFSP • Stephen R. Kemp, CFSP

Treasurer • Charles T. “Chuck” Bowman, CMSP, CFSP, CCO

President-elect • Kenneth A. Cahall, CFSP, CCO

Election winners will serve one-year terms that begin at the conclusion of the 2016 NFDA International Conven-tion & Expo. The individual elected to the role of president-elect will move on to become president at the conclusion of the 2017 NFDA Convention & Expo; he will also serve a term as immediate past president following his term as president.

Information about how to vote and biographical information about the candidates for office can be found on the NFDA website at www.nfda.org/vote.

Individual and firm members in good standing as of July 20, 2016, are eligible to vote in the 2016 officer elections. International, retired and student/apprentice members are not eligible to vote.

In July, the NFDA Policy Board elected Jack Mitchell, Butch Mulhearn and Terry Reardon to serve as at-large rep-resentatives on the NFDA Board of Directors.

MBJ



The NotebookFoundation Partners Group has announced it has completed five acquisitions in six months and has pointed toward

its ShareLife multisensory platform as the impetus for sellers to join FPG. ShareLife offerings are now available to more than 10,000 families nationwide that will be served by a FPG location in the coming year. FPG also stated that the com-pany will continue its aggressive acquisition strategy for the second half of 2016 and beyond.

“Since receiving significant new funding last year, Foundation Partners Group has been actively looking for opportu-nities to acquire funeral homes, cemeteries and cremation centers,” said Brad Rex, FPG president and CEO. “These five completed transactions are the first fruits of our labor.” The operations that have been added include traditional funeral homes, cremation centers and cemetery combinations. Each of the newly acquired firms operates in environments that have embraced cremation, which is consistent with FPG’s objective of creating meaningful funeral experiences for both burial and cremation customers. The acquired locations include:

• Ballweg & Lunsford Funeral Homes, two funeral homes located in the greater Syracuse, New York, area• Pierce-Jefferson Funeral and Cremation Service, a funeral home and crematory in Kernersville, North Carolina• Simplicity: Lowcountry Cremation and Burial Services, a value-focused funeral home business in North Charleston,

South Carolina• Portland Management, three locations that operate combined funeral home and cemetery businesses in Portland,

Oregon• Funeral Alternatives, three locations offering value-focused services in the Olympia, Washington, area.“Completing five acquisitions in six months is one sign among many that firms like what we have to offer, including

our ShareLife multisensory experience,” Rex said. FPG’s proprietary multisensory memorialization experience provides families with a unique approach to planning a

remembrance. ShareLife captures the story of a person’s life through video, sound, scent, innovative technology, story-telling and an overall experience that leaves families and friends celebrating the most joyful and meaningful moments of a lifetime.

Johnson Consulting Group has named Jeff Casey as director of operations to oversee all JCG divisions. Casey brings more than 30 years of funeral home and cemetery management experience to the Johnson Consulting team, including service with Pierce Brothers Mortuaries and Cemeteries in Los Angeles, Prime Succession and Fred Hunters in the Hol-lywood, Florida, area. Casey joined JCG in 2015 to assist in its management consulting efforts.

Sauder Funeral Products, Archbold, Ohio, has released its 17th unique casket, the Delaware, which will be on dis-play for the first time at this year’s National Funeral Directors Association International Convention & Expo October 23-26 in Philadelphia. The Delaware has the same textured finish as the Bridgewater casket, which was introduced in fall 2015. The Delaware and Bridgewater are made with the same proprietary wood finish technology as Sauder Funeral Products’ previous caskets. The Delaware’s spiced mahogany satin finish is the newest addition to the company’s color portfolio and provides a modern alternative to traditional, lighter wood finishes. Antiqued brass accents are another new feature debuting with the Delaware. The Delaware is 96 percent combustible and represents a growing category of fu-neral products – the crossover casket. As more families choose cremation, the demand has increased for crossover caskets that can be used for cremation services or traditional burial. Crossover caskets provide families with flexibility and enable funeral directors to reduce inventory with products that serve all types of consumers.

Capsule Urn has been selected to provide product for the upcoming film, The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, directed by Bill Purple that was recently featured at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. Two major motion picture stars, Jessica Biel and Jason Sudeikis, star in this film with roles of husband and wife. The entry to the plot of the movie revolves around Biel’s character, Penny, who suffers an unfortunate fate. Capsule chose to allow its product to be included in the film because the company believes it will raise awareness of modern memorials and the meaning they can offer families who have lost a loved one. “We are honored to be selected by such a well-considered film,” said Joyce Chua, Capsule Urn creative direc-tor. “Capsule Urn shares the contemporary design ethic with the film’s director and production design team.” The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea will be released this fall.

MBJ

From the Editor’s Desk…Memorial Business Journal

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EditorEdward J. Defort

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Memorial Business Journal is a week-ly publication of the National Funeral Directors Association. The mission of this publication is to provide objec-tive, comprehensive news and analy-sis to all providers and suppliers of goods and services to the deathcare

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A Reasonable ExplanationSometimes when confronted with a situation, we’re able to come up with a rea-

sonable explanation as to why it took place. But sometimes the explanation isn’t always easy.

For example, I’m frequently asked why, since I was born and raised along the New Jersey shore, I’m a Boston Red Sox fan. Yes, I grew up in the heart of Yankees and Mets turf, with some Phillies fans sprinkled in. But as far back as I can remem-ber, I rooted for the Red Sox; insisted that my parents get me Red Sox caps, jackets, T-shirts, etc.; and I always picked Red Sox players as my favorite players to emulate during my Little League years.

This was in the days before ESPN, and the only games I could watch were the aforementioned Yankees, Mets and Phillies (with the exception of the NBC Game of the Week). Exposure to Red Sox telecasts was infrequent. But they are my team, and I have no logical explanation why.

Another odd story for which there is no explanation was told to me by my par-ents a number of times. When I was about 3 years old, I came down the stairs and wandered into the living room where my mother and father where watching an old movie. At just 3, it’s doubtful that I had seen this old black-and-white film before, so my parents were incredulous when I walked up to the screen, pointed at the im-age and said, “That’s Jean Harlow.”

There was no apparent reason I would know that the woman in the movie was Jean Harlow, and my parents insisted they had not said anything that day, such as, “Hey, there’s a Jean Harlow movie on TV tonight.” Even if they had, they won-dered how I would connect the name with the correct actress on the screen. Plus, at age 3, I barely knew my own name much less the name of some actress on TV.

As my parents told my Jean Harlow story often, they dazzled and amazed their friends and other relatives, who always asked for a reasonable explanation. To this day, a reasonable explanation is still elusive.

So as I look at the data gleaned from the 2016 NFDA Consumer Awareness and Preferences Survey, I am basically charged with figuring out the reasonable expla-nations for some of these statistics.

When comparing the number of respondents who are finding religion to be a lesser part of a funeral or memorial with those of consumers who would engage a celebrant, there is an obvious disconnect. More than half of respondents have never planned or attended a funeral in which someone other than a member of the clergy presided over the service. With religion becoming less essential to today’s funeral services, consumers are often left wondering that if there is no clergy, then what else is there?

This information could have a domino effect with consumers as it pertains to cremation or burial, service or no service, celebration or memorialization in the funeral home or somewhere else. And consumers will be looking to the experts, their local funeral directors, for a reasonable explanation of the choices available to them.

Edward J. DefortEditor


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