A card that was never sent
Your firm likes to send a card on the first anniversary, and to invite families to the annual remembrance service in December. The arranger usually remembers the families she was closest to. Others are missed. One family receive an invitation to the remembrance service addressed to the person who died, because the list was built from the funeral register.
Aftercare is one of the things that sets a caring independent funeral director apart. When it is done inconsistently, or gets something wrong, it can do the opposite.
Care that relies on memory
Aftercare is often done with great kindness but no system, because it grew from individual arrangers' good habits.
- Families' wishes about further contact are not recorded.
- Follow-up calls depend on the arranger remembering.
- Anniversary dates are not tracked.
- Remembrance service invitation lists are built by hand each year.
- Addresses and names come from the funeral record, which may be wrong for this purpose.
Why getting it right matters
A thoughtful call or card after the funeral means a great deal to many families. A missed one is rarely noticed, but a careless one, the wrong name, or a message to a family who asked not to be contacted, is felt deeply.
Families who feel cared for also remember you. That is not a reason to do aftercare, but it is a reason to do it well.
Opt-in aftercare, prompted for staff
What we build supports your team's aftercare without making it feel automated.
- At the arrangement or after the funeral, the arranger asks, gently, whether the family would welcome contact afterwards, and records who, how and what they are happy to receive.
- The contact person's name and address are recorded for aftercare separately from the details of the person who died, so nothing is ever addressed wrongly.
- Prompts appear for the arranger at the times you choose, such as a call a few weeks after the funeral or a card before the first anniversary, with any notes from the funeral.
- Remembrance service invitations are drawn from families who opted in, with the right names and addresses, and staff review the list before anything is sent.
- Every contact is recorded, and families can say at any point that they would rather not hear from you, which is respected immediately.
- Your team write the words. Nothing is sent automatically unless you choose that for a specific item, such as a printed invitation.
| Moment | Prompt for staff | Family's choice respected |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks after the funeral | Call from the arranger | Only if they agreed to contact |
| Remembrance service | Invitation list for review | Opted-in families only |
| First anniversary | Card to sign and send | Only if they welcomed it |
| Family asks for no contact | Removed from all lists | Immediately |
If your firm offers or signposts bereavement support, the details you provide are recorded, but we do not provide or advise on bereavement support ourselves.
A year of aftercare, kept
A few weeks after each funeral, the arranger sees a short list of families to call, with a note from the funeral to remind her of the details. In November, the office reviews the remembrance service list, drawn from families who said yes, with correct names and addresses. In the spring, a card goes to a family on the anniversary, signed by the arranger who looked after them.
Does aftercare depend on memory?
- Families' wishes about further contact are not recorded.
- Follow-up calls happen for some families but not others.
- Anniversary cards are sent inconsistently.
- Remembrance service lists are built by hand.
- Something has been addressed to the person who died.