Why Tribute Owners Matter

A MuchLoved tribute page is far more than a funeral notice and donations service.

While these services are hugely important, and help your business save time and work more efficiently, a tribute page can go far beyond this. Given the chance a tribute page can become a unique and long-term bereavement space for the family, that they can personalise and keep for as long as they wish.  

But this is only possible if a tribute owner is assigned to a tribute page. When you assign a tribute owner, and ‘hand over’ the page to the family, it becomes a lasting memorial to their loved one. This offers benefits not only to the family, but crucially also for your business. 

Why tribute owners matter

So why can adding a tribute owner to a page impact your business for the better?

• Build relationships for the future. Longer-term use of a tribute page by a family can not only bring them comfort, but can also remind them how helpful and supportive your business was when working with them. This can help build long-term relationships with families for the future.
• Families can be thanked. Adding a tribute owner is the only way the family can be properly thanked by the charity. If you don't add their details they can't receive a thank you - meaning there will likely be more questions for you to field.
• Share your business values. Handing over a page demonstrates the caring nature of your business, and shows how you focus on supporting the families you work with, and how you go the extra mile for them.
• Increased business visibility. A tribute page makes your business visible to the wider family. If the tribute owner is asked about the page then the fact that you created it for them and helped them to set it up is great messaging to be shared. Our new SMS sharing options mean tribute owners can share their page details directly by WhatsApp - again with your branding included.
• Queries and questions answered. Any future queries can be dealt with by the charity or MuchLoved, rather than the family coming back to you. This can't happen unless they're connected to the page as the owner, which is why tribute owners are so important.
• Build charity connections. Adding a tribute owner means families can connect with the charity they are supporting. This is a great way to build relationships in your community, particularly with local charities. Being able to recommend a local charity to a family and getting to know the charity team can establish your reputation in the community and give both you and the charity long-term promotional opportunities, particularly on social media.

How it helps your families 

• Their place to remember. A tribute page offers a family a special, unique space to remember their loved one. They can add photos, music, share memories and stories, and celebrate the life of the person they've lost. There are journal options, where they can share their private thoughts, and they can add gifts and candles to a page. Families can keep pages for as long as they wish, and often do, with many keeping pages open for years as a way to remember their loved ones, returning to their page again and again. Families often tell us they find comfort in being able to re-read the messages of condolence and see their loved one remembered, only possible if they have ownership of the page.

• Families can mark milestone moments. Tribute owners can mark special occasions like holidays and birthdays on their page, adding virtual gifts and candles and remembering those important dates.
• Tangible achievements. Connecting with charity allows a family the opportunity to do something tangible e.g. fundraising or getting involved with the charity after their loss. The chance to make a difference and actually do something is often much needed after a loss, so this can be very cathartic for the family.
• A lasting legacy. A family owning a tribute page may choose to set up events through their page long into the future to remember their loved ones. This could be a family memorial event or service, or it could be a sponsored event in conjunction with their chosen charity.
• Online to offline. Families can choose to download their tribute page and make the content into a book form if they wish - if there is an assigned tribute owner. If the page is not handed over they can miss out on this opportunity.

And finally...

• It's worth noting that tribute owners will see their page a little differently in their admin view. We can walk you through this so you know exactly what they will see, and how it differs from what you see.
• Adding a tribute owner won’t remove a page from your Partner Area, it will still be there for you to view and manage.
• If you use a Funeral Management System the next of kin are not automatically notified about a tribute page, so you will need to speak to them about it.
• Pages without tribute owners are likely to raise fewer donations, as the family doesn't receive notifications and cannot share it with their wider network.
• Detailed information about how to discuss a tribute page, and when to discuss it are available on our funeral director support site.

Sharing a page with a family and creating a tribute owner not only offers huge benefits for the family but also for your business, and can help establish your reputation in the long term. If you’re unsure how to hand over the page just visit our support site, or give our support team a call. Real people (no bots for us) based in our Amersham offices, will take your call. They’re happy to help – it’s what we’re here for.  

Not yet a MuchLoved partner? We currently have a special offer open to new funeral director partners. If you sign up before the end of January 2024 you receive six months free, to test our service and see how much it can benefit your business - at no cost to you. Email us at support@muchloved.com to find out more or give us a call on 01494 722818.