Funeral homes face rising costs and competitive pressures at the same time that clients opt more frequently for lower-cost services such as cremation. Cremations have outpaced burials for the past five years, and predictions from the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) indicate cremation will make up 80% of the funeral services marketplace by 2035.
A strategic partnership with United Tissue Network can help funeral homes remain profitable by providing additional services for clients, lowering costs, and attracting new clients. This article will explain how UTN’s body donation program works and how it can benefit funeral homes.
The Benefits of Body Donation Partnerships
When funeral homes partner with United Tissue Network, there are several significant benefits.
Reduced Costs
When you partner with UTN, we pay for many of the costs associated with moving and managing bodies, including transportation, refrigeration, cremation, and some administrative functions. For example, if the deceased passed away in Arizona, UTN delivers two certified copies of death certificates to families. In both Arizona and Florida, UTN arranges for local delivery of the cremated remains within the continental U.S. or transportation back to the funeral home after research is completed.
Potential Revenue Increase
By partnering with UTN, you can provide some financial relief for families without insurance or that are in financial need without losing revenue. You can also use available funds for other services with higher profit margins. UTN will work with your funeral home to design packages that serve the needs of families while increasing your profit margins.
Expanded Services
When your clients donate a body for scientific and medical research, some of their costs are covered by UTN. This enables clients to spend on other items, such as memorial services, keepsakes, and urns. By expanding your services and lowering costs, you can help families afford other services that may be more profitable for you.
Attracting More Clients
Body donations can attract more clients to your funeral home.
- Doing good: Because donated bodies are used for research, education, and training, this may be an attractive option for families that want to ensure something good comes out of a loved one’s passing.
- Eco-friendly options: Some families are also looking for eco-friendly options that do not include embalming or burial waste.
- Religious or cultural options: Some religions and cultures prohibit embalming. Muslims, Bahá’í, and orthodox Jews, for example, consider embalming to be a desecration of the body.
- Budget-conscious clients: Because UTN defrays the costs of services, you may attract more budget-conscious clients.
Body donation is considered a generous end-of-life choice. Partnering with United Tissue Network can improve your reputation and demonstrate your commitment to educational, medical, and scientific research.
Seamless Process
A partnership with United Tissue Network results in a seamless process for body donations. You can discuss the potential donation with the family so they can make an informed decision about what to do with their loved one’s body.
If they decide to move forward and donate a body, UTN will work with you to handle logistics for the transportation of the body and refrigerated storage. In Arizona, we handle permit preparation and filing, and death certificate filing.
UTN ensures bodies go to high-quality research and training facilities and the cremation process. Funeral homes can email invoices to UTN and receive a check within 30 days.
Body Donation Eligibility
UTN accepts body donations in Arizona and Florida that comply with the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA) and handles bodies with the utmost care and respect. Eligibility requirements include:
- Adults 18 years old or older, including upper ages, and many clients with conditions such as dementia or certain types of cancer.
- Clients must be free of communicable diseases such as HIV or hepatitis.
- Body donations are accepted up to seven days after death.
When families decide to donate a body, they fill out consent forms and have a brief call with UTN donation specialists to discuss the client’s medical history. Most decisions can be made in a short period, often as quickly as an hour. UTN accepts most bodies with an average acceptance rate of around 94%.
About United Tissue Network
UTN is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to advancing science. UTN is the only nonprofit that accepts whole-body donations in Arizona and Florida. UTN is accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB) and partners with funeral homes to handle arrangements at no cost to families or funeral homes.
UTN has helped more than 12,000 families with body donations and has partnered with funeral homes to help with costs and provide additional services.
To learn more about how UTN’s body donation program works and how a strategic partnership can help your funeral home and your clients, contact United Tissue Network today at 877-738-6111 or browse the UTN website for more details.