Community involvement was one of the major discussion topics at the 2018 NFDA Convention. Hosting community events is a great way to get to know your community members and establish a positive brand.

Want some inspiration? Below we’ve listed a few event ideas for your funeral home!

Funeral Preplanning Events

When thinking of event ideas, funeral planning is one of the first topics that come to mind. Many families may want to preplan, but don’t know where to start. That’s where your staff can come in and host an event to help families preplan.

Serving snacks or a meal at the event is a great way to boost interest in your preplanning event. For example, during the NFDA Convention workshop 50 Cards, 50 Questions, the presenters talked about a funeral home that had wine and beer tastings at their event.

But, your funeral home doesn’t have to go that far. Even just serving some pizza and refreshments can draw in more event attendees. You also can try using the Have the Talk of a Lifetime cards to start the conversation.

Grief Movie Screenings

Your events don’t all have to center around funeral planning. You also can host events to help your client families and community members grieve their losses. A movie screening is a simple, yet engaging way to help families cope with grief. Movies such as Up and We Bought of Zoo have great messages about grief and memorialization.

For more movie ideas, check out this grief movies blog post.

Genealogy Events

Learning about your family history and roots is a great way for people to start thinking about how to honor their loved ones. By embracing their culture and family traditions, they can discover new and creative ways to represent who they are. For example, you could host an event for families to share photo albums and teach them how to preserve old photos.

Educational Seminars at Your Funeral Home

Seminars or even webinars are a great way to educate your community about funeral planning and grief. One of your staff members can host the event or you can recruit a guest speaker. For example, you can invite a grief counselor to talk to your community about healthy ways to cope with grief. Having an expert speak to your community also may help gain more interest and event turnout.

Memorial Events

Does your funeral home have a holiday remembrance program? If so, why not take it a step further and host bimonthly or trimonthly memorial events. You can invite families who lost a loved one in the past few months. These don’t have to be elaborately detailed events. They can be simple dinners or lunches with a speaker and musician to perform at the memorial ceremony.

Volunteer Events

Make a difference in your community by volunteering! For example, you could organize an event to volunteer at your local animal shelter to play with the animals. Or maybe you want to gather volunteers to plant trees in your community.

For more ideas of organizations that you can partner with, check out this event partnership article!

Does your funeral home want some assistance with planning your events? Check out our beginner’s guide to event planning for tips!