How to Ask for Donations for Funeral Expenses

The death of a loved one is undoubtedly a tragic affair, often made further challenging by the many expenses that come with funeral planning. If you are in the process of organizing a funeral and worried about covering costs, you might have wondered about whether asking for funeral donations is acceptable or appropriate. The fact is that it is quite common for people to request financial help for funeral planning when they are in tough situations themselves. As you read on, you will see there are many ways to go about this.

Reducing Funeral Expenses

Before you start fundraising, you should also know that there are lots of strategies you can adopt to reduce the costs of your funeral. For example, buying a casket online instead of from your funeral home can save you thousands of dollars. For those who are severely pressed financially, casket rentals are also an option. You can also opt for a free or lower priced online obituary over printing one in a newspaper. Often, the family of the deceased will request that people donate to the funeral costs instead of bringing flowers.

However, it would not be surprising if these tips still leave you short of funds, considering the average funeral costs between $7,000 and $10,000, so if you’re considering asking for help during funerals, you can try doing so in one of the ways listed below.

Asking for Donations in an Obituary

There are many websites nowadays that allow you to publish an online obituary or to create an online memorial website. Both of these are appropriate places to share an appeal for funds for the funeral costs. An obituary is essentially a public notice that serves to announce a person’s death as well as invite people to the funeral. It is common for people to ask for financial help for the funeral in the last line of the obituary. 

At the service itself, you can also include a request for donations in the funeral program. There are many ways to do this tastefully. As long as the content in the funeral program is largely about the service and the deceased, asking for funeral donations alongside does not have to be a big deal. By including the request in the funeral program, the attendees can still choose to contribute if they could not before.

Here are some ways you can phrase your request:

• It is with a heavy heart that we share with you that (deceased person’s name) has passed on, leaving us grief stricken. We ask that in lieu of flowers, those attending the funeral consider making a donation towards the funeral costs to help us honor the loss of (deceased person’s name) in accordance with their wishes.
• We are immensely grateful for the support we have received during this difficult time. For those of you who are asking how you can help us, a small donation would go a long way to help us pay for (deceased person’s name) funeral. 
• We as a family are still reeling from the loss of (deceased person’s name). If you are comfortably able to donate any amount, it would really help us fulfill the last wishes expressed by (deceased person’s name). We are very grateful for the donations we have already received due to which we can honor this loss properly.

Crowdfunding

If you feel strange asking your friends and family directly, you can opt for crowdfunding by setting up a fundraiser specifically for the funeral on a crowdfunding platform, such as GoFundMe. You can also use a platform such as Ever Loved which is specifically designed to host fundraising campaigns for funerals, if that feels more suitable.

You will most likely find that people will empathize with your plight and many will be happy to help in whatever way they can. People of all religions and cultures carry a great respect for the deceased and do believe in marking the occasion of someone’s passing, so you are likely to receive help.