Homesteaders Blog

How Funeral Directors Can Support Families with Grieving Children

In your role as a funeral professional, you often see families during their most challenging times, and not just adults feel the weight of grief; children too feel deep loss. November marks Children's Grief Awareness Month, and also features Children's Grief Awareness Day on the third Thursday of November. This time is dedicated to bringing attention to the needs of grieving children and the benefits of the support they receive from the community, including from professionals like you.

Using Visual Intelligence to Better Serve Families: Observational Skills in Funeral Service

In a profession centered on empathy, understanding and support, funeral professionals play a vital role in helping families through some of their most challenging moments. Enhancing observational skills through the techniques described in the book “Visual Intelligence” by Amy Herman can empower funeral professionals to recognize subtle cues, anticipate needs and create a deeply meaningful experience for families.

Get Ready for the NFDA Convention 2024: What We’re Doing and What You Have To Look Forward To

Get ready to embrace the vibrant energy of New Orleans at the 2024 National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) International Convention & Expo, happening October 20-23. The Big Easy, with its unique blend of culture, history and mouth-watering cuisine, provides the perfect backdrop for this year’s event!

Boost Your Preneed Efficiency with the myHomesteaders Policy App

What would you do with extra time in your workday? As funeral professionals, the possibility of reclaiming precious hours to dedicate to families is especially appealing. That’s why it’s so important to have the right resources that help reduce the time you spend on administrative tasks so you can focus your talent on the work you do best.

At Homesteaders, we recognize this need and continuously improve the tools we develop to manage your preneed program. Our newly updated myHomesteaders^® policy app is designed specifically to help streamline your operations and provide the business insights you need, right at your fingertips.

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. 

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 is an aftercare solution committed to elevating connections, supporting communities and driving business growth. 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.