Homesteaders Blog

A Guide to Using the Community Workshop Toolkit

Some professions wrestle through busy times of year where the workload piles up and it feels difficult to crawl out of the mountains of projects and tasks. As a funeral professional, perhaps this is how you feel most of the year, where your day doesn’t slow down, and the administrative tasks grow weary. What matters to you, matters to us, which is why we created a tool to lighten your load and save you time: Crafting Your Legacy: A Workshop Presentation.

Ways Funeral Directors Can Support Families Grieving Suicide Loss

Funeral directors, more than anyone, see firsthand the devastating emotional and physical effects families experience when faced with the unexpected loss of a loved one. And when their loved one dies by suicide, their grief becomes even more complex. On top of deep sorrow, families impacted by suicide loss often struggle with a multitude of complicated emotions – shock, guilt, anger, shame and confusion. 

Going Beyond Words: Actions to Show You Care After a Loss

For many people, the desire to support someone they love after they’ve experienced a loss activates the helper inside of them. Either they struggle to find the right words to say and opt for action instead, or they feel words aren’t enough.

However, even well-intentioned offers can be misguided or overwhelming. Supporting someone who’s grieving starts with doing a little homework to answer this simple question: What is grief?

Email Marketing Best Practices for Funeral Professionals: A Guide for Success

Email marketing is a powerful tool that can help funeral professionals effectively connect with existing and prospective client families, build customer relationships and drive business success. In today’s digital age, businesses inundate people with messages; by adopting best practices for email marketing, you can ensure your funeral home’s strategy cuts through the noise, stands out and resonates with your audience.

What to Know About Using a Case Management System as a Funeral Professional

As a funeral professional, you use many tools to help your business run smoothly and best serve your client families in their time of need. One tool you may find beneficial is a case management system. In this blog post, we provide information on this tool and tips for using the Gather integration with Homesteaders.

What Funeral Professionals Can Learn from Elevia’s Aftercare Approach

In the ever-evolving landscape of funeral service, funeral professionals need solutions for a compassionate and innovative approach to aftercare and client-family support. Elevia, formerly known as Domanicare, is an aftercare solution that recently rebranded to better reflect its mission of elevating connections, supporting communities and driving business growth. This transformation is not just a change in name but a testament to Elevia’s dedication to providing exceptional aftercare and client-family experiences. Here’s what you, as a funeral professional, can learn from Elevia’s successful approach.

Rowing Together: Lessons from The Boys In the Boat for Funeral Professionals

Every four years we get to watch the world’s best athletes represent our country in the Summer Olympics. Watching these athletes pour their years of hard work and entire talent into one performance is motivating; and as funeral professionals, we can relate to some of the daily challenges these athletes face. Inspired by the start of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, our marketing team read the book The Boys In the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown. This story takes place in Washington during the Great Depression and follows the lives of the nine boys who rowed their way to gold at the Olympics.

This book includes many themes that you can bring into your day-to-day work as a funeral professional. Recommended by Board Chair, President and CEO of Homesteaders Steve Shaffer, this book serves as a beautiful demonstration of the power of teamwork and the value of everyone pulling their weight to reach a common goal.

Let’s explore each theme and unpack some takeaways for any funeral professional.

Reflecting on 10 years of the Homesteaders Life Company Blog

Funeral service professionals need and deserve reliable sources of information that they can depend on to help them better serve their customers, stay up to date on the latest trends and continue to develop their skills. Ten years ago, our team established the Homesteaders Blog to help bring those insights to anyone who can benefit from that expertise.

What We Experienced at the NFDA Professional Women’s Conference

Savannah, Georgia was a busy place April 28-30, 2024 for women in the funeral professional attending the NFDA Professional Women’s Conference. Homesteaders was a proud sponsor with several Homesteaders employees in attendance.

How Your Funeral Home Can Deliver Consistent Customer Service

Losing a loved one is one of the most challenging experiences anyone can endure. As funeral directors, your role extends beyond mere logistics; families entrust you with providing comfort, support and a sense of closure during their darkest moments. Ensuring customer satisfaction isn't just about delivering a service, it's about offering compassion and empathy throughout the entire funeral process – and doing it consistently.