The Many Ways to Start a Memorial Fund

Coping with a loss can be very difficult, especially when dealing with all of the hardships of medical expenses, loss of income, and planning a funeral. In the past, it’s been customary to send flowers to families who are handling a death in the family, but memorial funding has been becoming more and more prevalent over the years. If you are wanting to honor someone, but are not sure how, memorial funding is a perfect way to do so.

What is Memorial Funding:

Memorial funding is an easy and caring way to honor someone who has passed by monetary donation for a charity, scholarship, or to the family directly to help support them in a rough time. 

While there are several ways to create a memorial fund, here are some of the most common ways:

• Creating a Scholarship
• Donating Money to Charity
• Crowdfunding

A good way to determine what funding to choose is to think back on the deceased and ask the following: Were they active in a church or community? Did they actively donate or represent a charity? Did they pass from a disease or ailment that has a reputable charity? Did they have extensive medical bills that will be hard to pay off?

Now that you’ve gotten an idea of which one would be the best for your loved one, let’s go more in-depth on all of them.

Create a Scholarship:

If your loved one had a hometown high school or attended a college they loved, you can create a Scholarship through them to award to promising students. Most schools already have a list of criteria needed by the family to create a scholarship, but here are the basic things you will need to determine:

• Name the scholarship
• Determine the timeline for the scholarship
• Decide on the amount of money the scholarship will be
• Determine the criteria
• Fund the scholarship via fundraising, if applicable
• Set how many people will be selected
• Award the scholarship/s to the recipients

Donating Money to Charity:

You can choose to donate to any charity with memorial funding. Oftentimes this is a charity related to the disease or ailment your loved one passed from is chosen. But, you can also choose charities related to what they were passionate about, such as environmental groups, religious groups, or animal rescues. When picking out a charity, make sure you research them properly and fund the donation accordingly, whether it be with your own money or fundraising. 

Assistance with Medical Bills:

With the average cost of a funeral now almost $10,000, it’s becoming increasingly harder to afford and manage on your own. If you find yourself struggling to pay for funeral costs, extensive medical bills, or any other unexpected expenses, you can set up a memorial fund to assist. Crowdfunding money via in-person fundraisers and/or crowdfunding websites are the easiest ways to get financial support from the community. 

Crowdfunding on the web can make it less uncomfortable when asking for money than in person, along with grab a larger range of people. Online fundraising and funding platforms have easy to set up and follow instructions on their websites, making it easy for any age. When filling out your public information on your fundraiser, make sure you include:

• A thoughtful, transparent message. Let people know your loved one’s story and compel them to donate.
• Include photos. The community will love to see who they are donating for.
• Links to social media pages. 

Make sure you also promote your crowdfunding on your social media outlets. Getting the word out about in-person and online fundraising will give you a bigger turnout.

We’re Here to Help

We understand that planning anything after loss is difficult. Memorial funding is an easy way to honor your loved one who has passed, and helps with medical expenses, loss of income, and paying for the funeral. 

If you are wanting to set up a memorial fund, but are still not sure how, we can help walk you through the process. Give us a call today at (402) 474-3600.