July 8, 2011

Send in your nominations for Funeral Director of the Year!

American Funeral Director is proud to announce our 2011 Funeral Director of the Year Award to recognize an outstanding individual in the world of funeral service. We're looking for nominees who rose above and beyond their positions in the past year to exemplify what funeral service truly means. Nominated individuals should not only be shining stars at a funeral firm but also in the community. To find out more about the award and the nomination criteria, click here...

Announcing the American Cemetery Excellence Award!

American Cemetery is proud to announce its Cemetery Excellence Award. If you think your team should be recognized for maintaining a great cemetery that's succeeding in tough economic times, then we want to hear from you. It doesn't matter if you are owned by a corporation, a municipality or by an independent entity; we are seeking entries from top-performing cemeteries to recognize your accomplishments. To find out more about the award and the nomination criteria, click here...

United Airlines Announces Parameters for TrustUA

United Airlines Cargo has announced the product parameters for its standardized human remains service offering to be called, TrustUA, according to information from the company. read more...

Citrin Cooperman Launches 2011 Funeral Home Survey

NEW YORK - Citrin Cooperman has announced the launch of its 2011 survey of funeral home owners and directors as part of its annual Funeral Directors Survey, according to a news release. Citrin Cooperman has produced this survey for more a decade. read more...

Stewart Increases Dividend and Stock Repurchase Program

NEW ORLEANS - Stewart Enterprises reported June 28 that its Board of Directors increased the annual cash dividend on its Class A and Class B Common Stock by 17 percent to $0.14 per share, compared to the previous 12 cents per share, which would be paid quarterly at a rate of 3.5 cents per share, according to a news release. read more...

Veterans Affairs Bans Mention of God at Funerals for Vets

HOUSTON - Liberty Institute, on behalf of the Veterans of Foreign Wars District 4, The American Legion Post 586, and the National Memorial Ladies, returned to federal court with new allegations of religious hostility and unlawful censorship by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and its director of the Houston National Cemetery, according to a news release. read more...

eCommerce Solution Facilitates Online Preneed Sales

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. - Funeral Service, Inc.'s eCommerce Solution has facilitated the first known internet preneed contracts sold in Florida funded by trust and purchased with a consumer’s credit card, according to a news release. read more...

This month in American Cemetery:

"Reducing Your Liability" by Poul Lemasters In order to handle the unknown, a business needs to understand how to react. The reaction to a problem is the pre-litigation stage of an issue. Not all problems become a litigation matter, but it is important for a business to treat problems as if they could become a litigation matter. This article looks at three different notifications of a pre-litigation issue and provides steps to make sure your business has a plan to handle each potential scenario. The different notifications include internal, family and the the dreaded attorney. Read this entire article in the July issue and other insightful articles when you subscribe to American Cemetery. To subscribe, click here...

Come with Ideas and Leave with a Plan

Build a Strategic Plan to Boost Cremation Revenue

Sept. 8, 2011 2- 3:15 p.m. EST

Learn how to avoid legal trouble in your death-care operation and what to do if you happen to find yourself entangled in a legal issue.

For more information, click here...

Please Take Funeral Service Insider's Annual Casket Survey

Funeral Service Insider invites all funeral directors in the United States to take its annual casket survey by clicking here.

The survey mines data from funeral home owners throughout the country. It yields key data and analysis, including:

• New ways funeral homes are presenting caskets to families.
• The latest casket innovations that families like most.
• Methods to deal with price shoppers.
• Information on how Chinese casket companies are changing the marketplace.
• How to win better discounts from suppliers.
• And much more!

“Funeral directors nationwide look to our casket survey results every year to determine how to better position their businesses,” said Thomas A. Parmalee, editor of Funeral Service Insider. “We need as many responses as we can get to provide as much data, analysis and information as possible. Along with our Compensation Survey, our annual Casket Survey is always one of our most popular issues.”

The Casket Survey will be open for the next few months. Results will be compiled and published in a future issue of Funeral Service Insider.

Even if you are not a Funeral Service Insider subscriber, you can receive a free copy of the Casket Survey as long as you complete the survey. Just provide your email address at the end of the survey to receive the report by electronic mail when it's published.

Please Take Our Quick Technology Survey

In order to ensure that we are serving the business technology needs of your funeral home, we are requesting your participation in a brief survey.

This two-minute survey is designed to gather pertinent information that will help us understand your current perception and usage of smartphones and tablets in the death-care industry.

The survey results will be published in the September issue of American Funeral Director magazine, where you will learn how death-care professionals like yourself are using smartphones and tablets to increase their business productivity.

Please click here to take the survey online.

Please Take This Survey from the Expressing Sympathy Council

The Expressing Sympathy Council is looking to hear from funeral service professionals about their social networking habits when it comes to their business. This short survey will be helpful in understanding how many of these businesses are currently using or plan to use these services and which ones work best. All responses are kept totally anonymous.

Please click here to take the survey online.

Get Your Cemetery Grounds Maintenance Questions Answered!

Does your cemetery have a growing grounds maintenance concern? Submit your landscaping, equipment and planning questions to editorial@katesboylston.com and you may get the answers you seek from an expert in the field in a future issue of American Cemetery!

NEW: The Funeral Director's Guide to Statistics

The death-care profession is like any other business: It's important to know the numbers that hold meaning for you and your customers. That's why we've compiled "The Funeral Director's Guide to Statistics," which includes the latest, most comprehensive data to help you boost profitability. We've compiled data from the Funeral and Memorial information Council's latest five-year study; the Cremation Association of North America's cremation report, our own surveys and insights from top thinkers to help you improve business operations. This profit-building guidebook includes never-before-published articles from leading experts such as Dan Isard, founder of The Foresight Companies; Robert Pierce and Mark Pierce with Pierce CFO; Kenneth Gronbach with KGC Direct; Colleen Ellis with Two Hearts Pet Loss Center; and Joe Sehee with the Green Burial Council. Also included are Funeral Service Insider's latest Casket Survey and Compensation Survey along with an assortment of our best articles that focus on death-care statistics. To learn more about the Guide to Statistics, click here...

Become a fan of our publications on Facebook!

Connect with other death-care professionals and view the latest happenings from the industry. A great and easy way to stay connected to the industry and your peers! To become a fan of American Funeral Director click here To become a fan of American Cemetery click here To become a fan of Funeral Service Insider click here

The Complete Preneed Perspective

The Complete Preneed Perspective is one of the most detailed books ever written about the preneed industry. With the help of some of the top thinkers in the profession, Daniel M. Isard dissects every aspect of preneed – from its historical beginnings to its modern-day operations. To learn more about the book, click here...

Online Buyer's Guide

Kates-Boylston's Buyer's Guide is a listing of some of the leading companies in the funeral industry, with information to help you with the needs of your business.

To access the Buyer's Guide, click here...

Editorial Submissions

Do you have an article or idea that you would like to submit to American Funeral Director or American Cemetery? Please e-mail your article in Word document format to: editorial@katesboylston.com

Articles are typically 1,500 to 2,500 words in length. Articles must not be overly self-promotional or libelous. Please note in your submission if you have accompanying images for the article. Images must be high resolution in order to be considered for publication.

Click here to view our editorial contractor agreement.