FUNERAL FACT Each year for the past 30 years, second graders in Elburn, Ill. have visited Conley Funeral Home for a lesson about death and the role of the funeral director. Children practice carrying a casket, learn about life and death from a puppet show, and draw pictures as part of a celebration banner. Owner Bruce Conley states, “We're just trying to show them that we're part of the community … and that we're really not that scary.” – Chicago Tribune

Timing is Perfect to Advance Funeral Service Issues in Washington
Your voice will make a difference; Plan to attend NFDA's 2005 Advocacy Summit

With a newly elected Congress, this is an influential time to make progress on issues that have significant financial impact on your business. Mark your calendar and plan to attend the 2005 Advocacy Summit, March 7-9 in Washington, D.C.

“When a member of Congress or legislative staff person meets face-to-face with a funeral director, it makes a real difference,” John Fitch, NFDA Sr. VP of Advocacy said. “NFDA members must take this opportunity to be proactive and relate first-hand stories about small business issues such as the struggle of affording health insurance for employees or paying high insurance premiums to cover estate taxes.”

NFDA members place a high value on government relations, and this March provides perfect timing to push forward our key issues, which Congress is likely to immediately address.

With its Capitol Hill office, NFDA is the only funeral service organization that actively, on a day-to-day basis, represents the interest of funeral service in front of Congress and the federal regulatory agencies.

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NFDA to Meet with Sen. Dodd to Discuss His Intentions with New Congress

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) recently introduced, during a lame duck session, his bill “to improve funeral, cemetery and crematory inspection systems, to establish consumer protection related to funeral service contracts, and for other purposes.” Details of the bill haven't been revealed, but it appears to be similar, if not identical to his earlier bill first introduced in 2002.

NFDA staff and Chairs from the NFDA Advocacy and Political Action Committees (both are from Dodd's home state of Connecticut) will be meeting next week with the Senator's staff to get further clarification on specifics and Senator Dodd's intentions for the bill next year.

The bill, which may come before the new Congress when it convenes in January, may involve the establishment of a “Death Czar” at the Department of Health and Human Services. This position could administer federal grants for states to strengthen their inspections of funeral homes, cemeteries and crematories, thereby amending the Funeral Rule to add some additional disclosure requirements in funeral contracts and to include all sellers of funeral goods or services to the public.

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Last-Minute Lobbying Efforts Prevail for Funeral Directors and Embalmers

Those of you following the overtime rules issue should know that NFDA scored a recent victory. Our advocacy efforts ensured that Congress did not pass a provision, which would have prevented the Department of Labor from using 2005 funds to administer and enforce the new overtime rules.

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IRS Provides Annual Update on 2005 Qualified Funeral Trust Limits

To qualify a preneed funeral contract that's entered during 2005 as a "qualified funeral trust" (as defined in section 685 of the Internal Revenue Code), the trust may not accept aggregate contributions by or for the benefit of an individual in excess of $8,200. This is a $200 increase from 2004. For more information, please refer to section 3.25 of Revenue Procedure 2004-71 at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rp-04-71.pdf.

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Celestial Burial Case Prohibited from Preneed Sales, Advertising
Update from T. Scott Gilligan, NFDA General Counsel

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office has brought charges against Celestial Burial Case, a third-party casket company, for failing to provide caskets after making preneed sales nationwide. Many of these sales took place by means of endorsement programs that Celestial had with the Fraternal Order of Police, the American Legion, and AMVETS. In response to the enforcement action being brought by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, Celestial has agreed to discontinue all advertising and preneed sales. In addition, Celestial will not accept any further payments on existing preneed contracts unless those payments are deposited into a trust. Celestial will also cease any advertisements regarding endorsement programs it formerly had with fraternal and veterans organizations.

Report third-party abuses

In addition, when you hear Celestial brought up you should take immediate caution. Inform your families of these problems if they've purchased a casket from Celestial. NFDA knows that there are many other defaults by third-party casket stores and retailers that have not been reported. As part of NFDA's continuing efforts to include all sellers of funeral goods under the Funeral Rule, NFDA is requesting members to report any defaults, breaches, or other instances where third-party casket companies have caused economic injury to consumers. NFDA members who have information or have encountered problems or losses suffered by consumers because of third-party sellers, should submit the information to NFDA General Counsel Scott Gilligan at Gilligan Law Offices, 3734 Eastern Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226 or to John Fitch, NFDA Sr. VP of Advocacy, National Funeral Directors Association, 400 C Street N.E., Washington, DC 20002.

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When Your Families Need You Most

As you know, holidays are an especially difficult time for grieving families. Showing that you are thinking of them can mean a lot and demonstrate the caring services you provide. Here are a few tips on what you can do to support families during the holiday season.

1. Make a monetary donation to a community charity in the names of those families you served in 2004. Then, send a letter to each family to let them know of your contribution.

2. Hold a candlelight “Ceremony of Remembrance” or a “Remembrance Tree Ceremony” at your funeral home, and invite your families.

3. Offer your families tips on coping during the holidays from NFDA's article, Coping with the Holidays after the Loss of a Loved One, by visiting http://www.nfda.org/files/bulletin/CopingHolidays.doc (Microsoft Word - 198KB) . The holidays also present a time for you to establish good community relations.

4. Work with your local armed forces units to send gift packages to soldiers serving in Iraq. You may want to collect wrapped items at your funeral home from the community to send to soldiers. You could also partner with a local church. Two helpful Websites for this activity are www.uso.org and http://usps.com/global/deliveryoptions.htm.

5. Volunteer your funeral home as the collection point for a holiday toy, food, or clothing drive for your community. Contact your local Toys for Tots program through the Marines Foundation at www.toysfortots.org or work with other local charitable organizations.

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Funeral Directors Split on Costco Threat, According to NFDA Bulletin Poll

The November 17 Your View poll results showed that funeral directors are split on the severity of Costco posing a threat to funeral service. Although unscientific, the poll may reflect opinions of those who may or may not already be affected by Costco's casket sales in their community. Here are the results (as of December 1, 2004):

How can you compete with Costco or other third party sellers? Read on.

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Business Tip of the Month

This past week, several funeral directors located near two Chicago Costco stores commented to the NFDA Bulletin on how the store was impacting their business. They stated that so far, Costco was only having a minor impact. While some mentioned they did receive one or two caskets from the retail giant, others have not felt any threat. However, it's still early, and while Costco's longevity remains to be seen, a different third-party casket retailer in Chicago seemed to be on the minds of several funeral directors. These funeral directors were concerned about the increase in casket sales from this company, and how that might affect their future business. Regardless of whether it's Costco or another retailer who's been selling caskets longer, here's how you can get consumers in your funeral home first.

1. Realize the value of your services. Many experts in the profession recommend that instead of relying so heavily on merchandise mark-ups, funeral professionals should price their services appropriately. This will allow you to be more competitive with your casket sales.

2. Incorporate a casket price list in addition to your GPL and/or add one to your Website. Educate your families about your casket prices being competitive so that next time they will choose your firm to handle everything, including the purchase of the casket.

3. Your firm provides convenience and caring service – get the message out! Advertise and educate your community on how you can take care of them and make the process easier. Also, recognize that you are a unique business and the best resource to help families. Costco or other third parties may appeal to a certain segment of today's society, but you have the opportunity to set yourself above these sellers. Win families over by providing service that rises above and beyond.

4. Come up with a tagline; a one-sentence statement about your firm that focuses in on how you're different. This will help stress the unique types of sources you provide that other competitors do not.

5. Provide a variety of price package options for your families so they can determine what they can afford. Having this will let them know they are getting a good value in their price range.

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