I learned of the advent of the upcoming first annual National Cremation Remembrance (or Placement) Day earlier this year from my friends at Crowne Vault.  The company was one of the first to see the value of such a day and has been one leading the way by extending free marketing and public relations media to funeral homes and cemeteries to get the message out to citizens who may have cremated remains in their homes.

One of the objectives in National Cremation Placement Day, which will take place for the first time this Saturday, October 17, is to give families the opportunity to place cremated remains that they may still have in their homes into a permanent memorial situation without the akwardness that they might feel by taking on the task alone.

Click Here to learn about Crowne Vault’s “At Home to At Rest” media program for your funeral home or cemetery

And while this year may be slow in the start of such a campaign, I feel the momentum will build over time as funeral homes and cemeteries realize that they are not only helping these families with a solution for the cremated remains they now have in their homes, but the Death care providers might realize that there is ancillary income to be had by serving the public in this way.

I think that there may be opportunites for funeral homes to sell urns and urn vaults and other ancillary items such as cremation jewelry before the remains would be placed in permanent memorialization.  There is even the possibility of selling monuments for those who may choose to place the remains in an in-ground gravesite.

For cemeteries there is ample opportunity for sales with cremation niches, in ground burials, and scattering gardens.  All of those situations, which give solutions of permanent memorialization to families, has the opportunity to provide revenue for the cemetery as well.

And, some business may be very creative in offering solutions for families that can also be good revenue producers for the business at the same time.  From another funeral home publication I learned of Lincoln Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia, and their free cremation placement with the purchase of a $995 personalized memorial scroll.

As you can see from this announcement of the program, it appears that Lincoln Memorial Group will be offering a mausoleum space to place approximetely 30 cremated urns into.  You can do the math on the ability to place 30 urns with each paying for a $995 scroll to find out that it probably turns into a pretty good business deal for the cemetery.

Yet, it is not all about cemetery sales as they are solving the issue for families at a cost of only $995 apiece. . . . . . .That type of situation could turn into a “Win-Win” situation for each party and the impetus for families to move forward and do so may be spurred by the idea and publicity surrounding National Cremation Placement Day.

Cremated Remain in American homes:  

• Roughly 1 in 4 American homes contain cremated remains (25-26%)
• Approximetely 21.9 million homes contain approximately 25 million urns of cremated remains
• Cremated remains urns are kept in homes an average of about 6.5 years without a fixed long-term plan for there permanent memorialization

Related — Click here for an article about Parting Stone’s recent research on the families that hold cremated remains without permanent placement

More news from the world of Death Care:  

• This Macomb County museum is all about death.  MLive.com  (MI)
• Oregon Gold Star families honored with new memorial at Willamette National Cemetery.  Video news story and print article.  KGW Channel 8 TV – Portland (OR)
• Give your loved one a permanent resting place in the Atlantic Ocean.  Bay Times & Record Observer (MD)

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