Obituary Pirates: What You Should Know About Your Obituaries and Online Revenues
December 1, 2022
At the Funeral Directors Association of Kentucky Mid-Winter Conference I recently attended, one of the speakers talked about obituaries as part of a presentation on funeral websites and social media as they relate to funeral homes. One point that was made numerous times in the presentation was the importance of obituaries as a link to your funeral home’s website, and the profit potential they represent. The presenter pointed out that often times the obituary that you write in conjunction with the family you are serving, can end up on another company’s website.
So what’s the big deal, you ask? Well, if someone from out of town (or even someone from your town) Google’s the deceased person’s name looking for his or her obituary and ends up on a website that has taken the obituary from your funeral home, a few things can happen:
- The person could leave a condolences message for the family THAT WILL NEVER REACH YOUR FAMILY. This happened with the death of my mother this past November. In researching this article, I ran across a number of messages that people had left on the Legacy website through our local paper that never showed up on the website of the funeral home that provided her services.
- The person who is leaving a condolence message or making another contribution on the obituary page may be asked to leave their email address. As the funeral home serving that family, do you know who is behind these companies that are asking for this data or what they could do with this data down the road?
- On these sites it’s relatively easy to order flowers – a potential source of profits for your funeral home. But these profits won’t come your way if the flower order is not made through your funeral home website, where it should be made. And what if the flowers show up at the wrong funeral home, or are never delivered? Who do you think the family that ordered them is going to blame? They will likely presume that your funeral home was involved in the flower order.
The real question is – why would a company take this obituary information? It could be the flower revenue that the company can generate from the obituary, or it could be the collection of email addresses happening and the value of that data. Who knows, but do you want to be “on the hook” for the release of information years down the road?
Here is what you need to know: The obituary that you (and your family) create together is in fact intellectual property and is protected under copyright law. Unfortunately, most third party companies who take the obituaries from the funeral home ignore this. Or worse, some of these companies have contracts in place with local newspapers that cause the obituary to appear on websites other than the funeral homes’.
In her presentation she recommended that you include a copyright notice with every obituary in your fax, e-mail or funeral management program that you use to send the obituary to the newspaper. You should also include this with the obituary on your website’s online obituary pages.
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Obituaries receive five times more traffic than other pages, with some funeral homes seeing up to 80% of their total website visits coming from these listings. But these visits are more than just numbers—they represent real families in your community. 60% of obituary visitors live within 25 miles of your funeral home, and 65% are in the same state. These are local families, many of whom will need funeral services in the future.
C&J Financial has helped over 925,000 families and funded more than $5.8 billion to funeral homes across the country. They take the stress out of insurance assignments, eliminating delays and ensuring funeral homes get paid faster—so you can focus on serving families and not on chasing paperwork.
Your website isn’t just an online presence—it’s a reflection of your funeral home or crematory and the services you provide. With Tribute Websites, you get more than just a beautiful website. You get a powerful tool that helps you connect with families, provide valuable resources, and offer the convenience they expect.
Finding the ideal website platform for your funeral home shouldn’t feel like an exhausting quest for the perfect match. You and your families deserve a website that does more than just look good—it should work for you, connect with families, and reflect the heart of your business. That’s where Tribute Websites come in. More than just a website, they create an engaging, interactive experience that showcases what makes your funeral home unique.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Feb. 11, 2025 Contact For Further Information: Tribute Technology 315 Raemisch Rd., Ste G Waunakee, WI, 53597 press@tributetech.com Tribute Technology and Chptr Partner to Launch Tribute Spotlights: A New Way to Honor Loved Ones Through Local TV Stations WAUNAKEE, WI — Tribute Technology, a leader in digital solutions for the funeral profession, has partnered with Chptr, a next-generation storytelling platform, to launch Tribute Spotlights, a first-of-its-kind service that allows families to honor their loved ones through local television broadcasts in over 200 markets. By expanding memorialization beyond traditional formats, this exclusive partnership provides a meaningful and far-reaching way to celebrate life, reinforcing the role of funeral homes as trusted partners in remembrance. "With fewer newspapers available, families have lost a way to share news of a death with the entire community and tell the story of their loved one through the obituary. Online obituaries are important as the home of condolences, but it's only useful if the public knows that the death has occurred,” said Courtney Gould Miller, president of commercial markets at Tribute Technology. “Tribute Spotlights broadcasts the deaths in the community and the event information, reminding the public of the value of commemorating lives lived and increasing attendance at the funeral." Funeral homes and families alike benefit from Tribute Spotlights. For funeral professionals, the service offers a seamless way to enhance their offerings without adding additional work. Each Tribute Spotlight prominently features the funeral home’s branding, reinforcing its role in honoring lives and strengthening its presence in the community. By airing twice daily for up to 10 days, these digital tributes are not just told, but shared far and wide, helping to inform communities of upcoming services and ensuring loved ones are honored with dignity and respect. For families, Tribute Spotlights provide a new and deeply personal way to memorialize those they have lost. Televised tributes allow for a visually compelling and shareable way to tell a loved one’s story. Families receive a lasting digital keepsake that can be revisited and shared, ensuring memories are preserved for future generations. The visibility of these broadcasts also encourages greater community support, increasing attendance at services and allowing more people to come together to celebrate a life well lived. With a simple and stress-free process, families can create a meaningful tribute without the burden of additional planning. “At Chptr, we believe stories should live forever,” said Rehan Choudhry, CEO and founder of Chptr. “This partnership allows families to share their loved one’s memory in a way that transcends time—through television, digital platforms, and the collective memory of their community.” Local television remains a trusted and widely watched source of community information. By featuring these televised tributes, stations can engage viewers with meaningful, locally relevant content while generating advertising opportunities that support their operations. Tribute Spotlights also creates a new revenue stream for local TV stations, providing valuable human-centered content that resonates with their audiences. Tribute Spotlights are now available to funeral homes nationwide. To learn more about offering this service to families, visit https://www.tributetech.com/tribute-spotlights . ### About Tribute Technology Tribute Technology’s mission is to bring the best technology to all funeral homes, to help communities around the world celebrate life, and to pay tribute to loved ones. Over 9,000 end-of-life providers already use Tribute Technology’s software and product offerings, including websites, marketing services, management software, online planning, personalized memorial keepsakes, payment processing, and other solutions. Tribute Technology is focused on innovating to help funeral directors save time on tasks, so they can focus more on connecting with the families who have lost a loved one. The company aims to give funeral directors everything they need to run their business in one place, making their lives easier. About Chptr Chptr is a storytelling platform for the modern age, dedicated to preserving and sharing legacies in ways that transcend traditional memorialization. By transforming memories into beautifully crafted narratives, Chptr helps families and communities honor the past, connect in the present, and ensure stories live on forever. Through broadcast video technology and immersive storytelling, Chptr seamlessly bridges the gap between personal history and public remembrance. Learn more at http://www.chptr.com .
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