A funeral home will be required to complete the initial signup form online. This form will contain all the information about that specific firm, including locations, phone number, email address, bank account information, etc. At this point your account will be active.

ILOF.com^® will then verify that the funeral home is a licensed funeral establishment. And if not, the account will be deleted.

Click here for signup instructions.

The many highly successful campaigns we've overseen have provided us extensive insight into how to best optimize your campaign. To ensure reaching your goal, we recommend the following:

1. Include multiple pictures of your loved one in your campaign. Being able to view a variety of photographs ensures that relatives and distant friends can connect visually and feel assured that they're properly submitting donations on behalf of the person they knew.
2. Craft a well-written obituary. The obituary we use on the ILOF.com^® platform can be different than the one printed in the newspaper. This obituary should connect emotionally with potential donors. A highly personable story will generate more memories and garner more shared memories by the people who knew your loved one. The platform defaults the initial paragraph based upon the selection by your director on the purpose of the monies donated. The first words will always be "In lieu of flowers". This is so when shared in social media this is the first phrase the viewer will see and automatically know that an obituary is to follow.
3. Make substantial use of social media, email, and texting to share the campaign with potential donors. The next of kin should share the campaign freely with family, friends, coworkers, and anyone else who is likely to donate. The campaigns that are not shared broadly are the ones that fail to reach the desired level of success.
4. Be certain to include links to the campaign in any electronic obituaries on other sites, including the funeral home website and online newspaper obituaries.
5. Success cannot be guaranteed. Fortunately, how we lived in life is how we’ll be remembered in death. For those who were loving and generous, they will receive more donations while if the life lived was opposite, they will then receive less donations.

Yes. Both can be memorialized. In 2017, more cremations than burials were performed for the first time in the United States, and cremation has rapidly continued to gain in popularity. The number-one reason people indicated for selecting cremation was its lower cost, which typically is about 40–50% less expensive than traditional burial. A key part of the mission of ILOF.com^® is to take the cost factor out of the equation and allow families to select the type of service they truly desire. If you prefer burial instead of cremation, you should be able to have that, and ILOF.com^® is here to help.

First, please note that you can create a campaign with ILOF.com^® even if funds are not specifically needed to pay for the services. Families often have many ancillary needs when a loved one passes, and those needs are just as important.

If you prefer, the goal amount can be set to cover only the bare minimum of the goods and services contract you've agreed to with the funeral home.

However, for many families, additional funds may be needed to complete the memorial service outside of just the standard goods and services contract. These might include a grave plot, niche, headstone, family flowers, church or venue fees, minister fees, or even travel fees for out-of-state family members.

The idea is to ensure that your family has the ability to create the desired service for your loved one if your funds are limited and you could use some assistance to upgrade the type of service or have related needs.

Once you have worked with the funeral director to establish the goal amount, our system automatically calculates credit card processing fees and administrative costs to reflect the total funds needed for the campaign goal. We always want to ensure the total services requested can be funded and that the cost of running the campaign does not impact the funeral home's charges in any way.

Set the goal amount at $0.00. As donations are received, the system will display the amount increasing until the campaign expires.

The platform defaults to 14 days and we recommend not leaving it open longer than 30 days. At any time, the director can close the campaign as needed.

All funds collected will be direct deposited via ACH (minus any fees). If it becomes obvious to the funeral director as he monitors the campaign that the goal will not be obtained well prior to the standard 14 days, he is authorized to conclude the campaign at any time and request all funds to be transferred.

Experience shows that once the goal amount is reached, donations cease. Any monies received greater than the campaign, the funeral director will discuss with you on how to disperse these funds. We will then follow the family’s directive.

For families that are accepting donations in lieu of flowers, the goal amount should be established as $0.00

Funds are transferred via ACH on the third business day after the campaign has concluded. This ensures that all donated funds have been fully collected.

Yes, they can. ILOF.com^® is an ideal alternative to direct donations to a particular organization in the name of a loved one. Research has shown that family and friends donate more money when they're not limited to donating to a particular organization. By going through ILOF.com^®, you can still create a memorial fund while likely generating substantially more donations.

To accomplish this, the goal amount is set at $0.00, allowing the system to accumulate all donations received. Once the campaign has expired, the money will be transferred three business days afterwards, either to the next of kin or directly to the selected organization.