News from Suppliers and Practitioners that you can use:

“Tribute Technology has announced a new partnership with Family Shield Credit, the first fintech platform designed by funeral professionals to offer flexible, budget-friendly payment options for funeral homes and their client families. This collaboration integrates Family Shield’s proven financing platform into Tribute Technology’s ecosystem, making it easier than ever for funeral homes to provide families with the services they need without the burden of immediate financial constraints.”

For more complete information on this announcement click here. 

Tukios has introduced the New Horizon Obituary Template, the newest addition to the Tukios obituary lineup. This thoughtfully designed template brings a fresh, contemporary look to online memorials while staying true to what matters most, celebrating a life well lived.

According to a Tukios release, New Horizon pairs beautifully with their new video obituary cover art, giving families and funeral homes a cohesive visual experience across both video and web. Multiple stock video options are available, making it easy to customize each obituary to fit the tone, personality, and style of every service.

For more complete information on this announcement click here.

According to a press release from CANA, a growing membership and an emphasis on aligning content strategy with CANA’s mission and values has resulted in new and reorganized staff responsibilities. CANA Board President Lindsey Ballard praises these appointments and invites you to offer “Congratulations to Brie Bingham and Sara Corkery in their new roles and welcome Kenjuana Hall to CANA! Brie and Sara have brought decades of experience to CANA, increasing our reputation and shaping CANA’s voice. Kenjuana will bring fresh eyes to membership initiatives in the newly created role of Membership and Operations Manager.”

With these moves CANA continues to widen its focus to help member businesses recruit and retain a vibrant, diverse, and well-trained workforce and educate and best serve their families.  CANA continues to promote best practices in cremation through education, innovation, and collaboration.

For more information from CANA click here.

According to a release from PR Newswire,  Fortitude Research and Marketing announced the launch of Guidant, a technology company pioneering digital commerce solutions for cemeteries and funeral homes. The patented platform enables families to purchase cemetery property and related services directly from cemeteries, completely online — what they say is a “first for the deathcare profession”.

To learn more about Guidant you can click here.

A press release from PR Newswire that ended up being picked up by Yahoo Finance announced “that DFS Memorials, a network for connecting families with local, licensed funeral homes offering low-cost direct cremation services throughout North America, and Canadian Funerals Online, a family-run Canadian funeral planning platform, announced a formal partnership to enhance access to affordable, transparent direct cremation providers for families across Canada.

To learn more about this relationship you can click here.  

In an article from Insurance Edge we learned that Golden Leaves Funeral Plans, one of the United Kingdom’s most trusted and established pre-paid funeral plan providers,  announced the landmark acquisition of Avalon Funeral Plans. This transformative deal represents a major milestone for the sector, positioning Golden Leaves as one of the leading funeral plan providers across the UK and Europe, and the only FCA-regulated (Financial Conduct Authority) company dedicated to serving customers in both domestic and international markets.

To learn more about this acquisition click here.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

I’ ve realized that over my lifetime I’ve had a never-ending compulsion to know what is happening in the world around me.  In my elementary school days our family subscribed to both the morning edition and the afternoon edition of the Minneapolis newspapers.  I can remember reading the sports section — that’s all that mattered to me at the time — of the Morning Tribune before I left for school and as soon as I walked home from school spreading the sports section of the Afternoon Star out on the living room floor to read while I watched cartoons or other shows.

I continue to have that unsatiable appetite for news . . . .and I’ve always had it.  During my working years I got up early to read the morning paper cover to cover before going to work.   Retirement has been great because I now have more time and the internet has been great because I’ve got all kinds of sources never before available to me.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

One of the things that I’ve come to learn is that decisions are best made when you have all the available information to make the decision.  And, news and what is going on around us is important information.  I don’t always get decisions correct, however I believe that I’ve made better decisions, even in the business of the funeral home, over time because I was aware of trends and topics happening in the secular world outside of the business of funerals.  While many people stubbornly believe Death Care work occurs in a bubble, I’m convinced that if you drew Venn diagrams you would actually realize the secular world and your funeral home world overlap.

I also know that owners and managers of funeral homes are very busy and don’t always have the time to search out news that may affect them in some way.  For that reason, I’m going to periodically put out an Afternoon Edition of what I will call “The World Around Us“.  Hopefully, it will be an easily scanned opportunity for Death Care professionals to scan the news and read what interests them. . . .And, I’ll try to show how the news may be pertinent to some of the decisions you might need to make.   Here’s today’s try at it  —  Let me know if you like it:

Funeral Director Daily take — At least in my Midwest area, farm families are some of the best backers of “The Traditional Funeral”.  “Will the lack of soybean sales and resulting poor financial year have an effect on how families in the Midwest spend on necessities, including funerals?”

Funeral Director Daily take —  Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi takes a look at concerns over tariffs and the U.S. Government shutdown.

Funeral Director Daily take —  Ford Motor Company has 6,000 dealer service bays without a mechanical technician at this moment in time.  What’s at play here and is there a movement about technical skills vs. college educations?  If so, will that “educational friction” affect the future educational requirements of morticians, funeral directors, embalmers, etc?

Funeral Director Daily take —  The installation of the new bishop of the Evangelical Church in America (ELCA) last Sunday shows that tradition is rapidly changing in our nation’s religious institutions.  What will this continuing lack of tradition and heritage mean for funeral and cremation providers moving forward?

Funeral Director Daily take —  This article just reinforces the thought that “Nothing lasts forever”.  The recent bankruptcy of Publisher’s Clearing House means that many former winners of monthly or annual prizes for life will now have those payments stop.  To me it is a stark reminder that “Nothing lasts forever” and when you make that decision to sell your funeral business   —  make sure that the company that buys you can afford any payments that are set-up over time.  I’m guessing that there are very few things in life that would be more difficult to take than building a business for generations and then selling to a company that could not fulfill its obligations to pay you.  . . . .Remember the Loewen Group???

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

It always seems to me that when the calendar turns to October I’m in for reacquainting with many of my friends in funeral service and meeting many new ones.  I’m guessing that is because the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) annual convention rolls around in that time period and I also look for opportunities to catch up with my continuing education credits before the end of the year.

If you can’t be at the NFDA gathering in Chicago in late October, and even if you can, Tribute Technology is hosting what they call Summit ’25 in early November in Longboat Key, Florida.  The event to take place over the dates of November 10-12, 2025, will offer many topics led by industry leaders.

For more information about the event click here.

From the Milestone Funeral Partners website:

Click here to learn about this headline “Inspiration meets UrnSpiration:  A Maine funeral collaboration.”

The article is about how Milestone Funeral Partners teams with Mainely Urns to transform the funeral arrangement experience.

To get more information about Mainely Urns click here.

More and more funeral directors, funeral home owners, and retired Death Care executives are interested in learning about how philanthropy and the idea of helping others with donations and gifts can become a bigger part of their lives.

“Join Community Giving for a conversation on the 2025 tax law changes and what the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) means for your charitable giving, estate planning, and corporate philanthropy strategies. This session will equip you with insights on how planning techniques—such as donating appreciated assets—can help you reduce tax burdens while maximizing impact. We’ll also discuss forward-looking approaches, including bunching gifts and utilizing donor-advised funds, to help you in navigating upcoming deduction limits.”

This event will take place on Thursday, October 30, 2025 via Zoom.  To learn more and to register click here.  

From a press release in OpenPR:

“Funeral home owners and directors now have access to actionable insights for modernizing their businesses. In Episode 10 of the 6 Feet Ahead Podcast, host Oscar Guerrero sits down with Jonathan Kepner, Co‐Owner and Licensed Funeral Director at Raymer‐Kepner Funeral Home & Cremation Services, to discuss family legacy, operational innovation, and community engagement.”

To access this podcast click here

From an e-mail about the latest “2 Guys and a Question” podcast:

“In this episode of “Two Guys and a Question”, Alan Creedy and Danny Jefferson confront a hard truth: mediocrity is quietly shaping funeral service. Through decades of research and firsthand experience, they reveal how passive cultures, fear of change, and outdated habits keep funeral directors from achieving their true potential.”

To access this podcast click here 

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

Funeral Director Daily distinguishes itself by being the Death Care “business daily” written by a life-long funeral home professional.  The goal is to bring news and thoughts that today’s Death Care professionals can use to move their current businesses forward.  That is accomplished by publishing thought provoking, original content on one subject per day.

However, there is also a necessary reason for letting those business leaders know what else is happening in the profession.  Funeral Director Daily has reached the point where almost all those who touch on the Death Care professsion supply us with information about their companies quite regularly.

We’ve decided, at least for a test period, that we will use one afternoon edition periodically to bring you some of that news.  It will be in simple one or two sentence formats with links available, when available, if you want to inquire further on a subject.  Today is our first day of trying this endeavor which we hope will allow you to keep even more up-to-date with the profession.

Foundation Partners Group names Leviathan Winn as Chief Financial Officer.  For more information click here.

Tukios is excited to share that it is releasing a new “Gift Snap Feature” – a much-requested feature designed to help funeral homes beautifully showcase tokens of love shared in memory of their loved ones.

Previously, gifts were only displayed on an obituary page only if they were purchased through a funeral home’s website. With Gift Snap, your staff can now add images and messages for any gift – whether purchased online, delivered locally, or handmade – making it easy to include every gesture of support for your families.

To learn more about the “Gift Snap Feature” and Tukios in general click here.

Security National Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: SNFCA), the parent company of Security National Life Insurance Company, will ring the opening bell of the NASDAQ Stock Market at 9:15 AM ET on Wednesday, September 24^th (tomorrow), in New York City.  Founded in 1965, Security National Financial Corporation has grown from its roots in Salt Lake City into a national leader in life insurance, funeral services, and mortgage lending. Over the decades, the company has stayed true to its founding mission: providing families with financial security, dignity, and peace of mind during life’s most important moments. 

To learn more about Security National Financial Corporation click here.

To learn more about Security National Life Insurance Company click here.

From Funeral Women Lead — Learn about their upcoming Women’s Leadership Academay

The Women’s Leadership Academy is a personalized, intimate experience designed to grow women’s leadership abilities. Through our customized curriculum, group gatherings, discussions and one-to-one coaching, we address the unique needs and challenges of you – a woman in the death care and funeral profession. The aim of this academy is empower women to become successful future leaders, managers and owners.

To Learn more about the Women’s Leadership Academy click here.

Starmark Funeral Products is pleased to announce a new partnership with Spencer, a global leader in casket handling equipment and body removal systems.

Spencer’s top-quality equipment is now available through Starmark, providing funeral professionals with access to Spencer’s industry-leading solutions alongside Starmark’s Guaranteed Best Pricing, Apples to Apples, Every Time products.

To learn more about Starmark Funeral Products click here.

To learn more about Spencer’s products available through Starmark click here. 

Continuing Education — As you look to secure your Continuing Education requirements for calendar year 2025 there are at least two organizations who can help you do so online.

For information from the Cremation Association of North America (CANA) and their online education programs click here.

For information from Wilbert and the WilbertEDU online education program click here.

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”

An article that was about a pilot program in America’s Veterans Administration (VA) cemeteries proved to be the most read article in the past thirty days on Funeral Director Daily.

The article dealt with this press release sent out by the Veterans Administration in late November.  The press release noted “the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced it is now piloting interments in green burial sections at three VA national cemeteries. This pilot provides Veterans interment options that minimize environmental impact”.

Other articles that rated in Funeral Director Daily’s “Top 5” from December 15 to January 14 include articles on acquisitions, growing case volume, the death of a Minnesota funeral legend, and an opinion on the Federal Trade Commission “Funeral Rule” implementation.  If you missed those articles, here they are:

1. Veteran’s Affairs Cemeteries to offer “Green Burial” pilot programs.
2. Funeral home adds two locations, tweaks their brand.  
3. More case volume:  Organic growth vs. Acquisition
4. Minnesota loses a legend in Death Care
5. My Opinion:  Federal Trade Commission should suspend potential “Funeral Rule” changes

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”