How to create thoughtful communications for in memory supporters

In memory tribute pages are often created by individuals who choose to honour their loved ones by supporting a cause that was close to their hearts. While these pages are typically set up without direct input from charities, they offer a great window into what’s important to the supporter, who their loved one was, and consequently, how charities can communicate and create lasting relationships with them.

We’ve taken a look at over 217,435 tribute funds and picked out some key findings that give us a greater understanding of who is being honoured with a tribute fund. Read on to hear how we think charities could use this information, and the data and messages available on a tribute fund to forge long-lasting relationships with new in memory supporters.

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Who is being honoured with a tribute fund?

From our analysis, we found that the average age of loved ones honoured with a tribute page was 77.4, with over a quarter of the pages for those aged between 75 and 84 at the time they passed away.

Fewer than 2.3% of the tribute pages were launched in honour of someone who died before their 21st birthday. Within that, there is a noticeable spike in the number of pages for children who died either within their first year or prior to birth.

Unsurprisingly, this means that most in memory donations honoured those who died at an older age. Specifically, 25.8% of funds were raised in memory of individuals in their 70s, and 24.7% for those in their 80s.

However, this overall figure masks an important insight: while pages for older age groups make up a bigger total of all tribute fund income, the average total donation per page is higher for younger loved ones.

For instance, tribute pages for honourees in their 70s raised an average of £213 each, whereas pages for teenagers raised more than twice that, at £679.

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The data was gathered from publicly available sources, including third-party tribute sites such as MuchLoved, Memory Giving, Funeral Guide, and JustGiving, as well as from the charities' own tribute pages.

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Tailoring your communications

When a family or friend sets up a tribute fund for a loved one, not only are they creating a space full of love, stories and memories, but they’re also opening a door towards a life long relationship with a charity. With tailored support, compassionate communications and excellent relationship management, organisations could forge powerful bonds with supporters, and unlock continued repeat gifts both within and beyond the tribute page.

Making thank you, welcome and anniversary communications as sensitive and personalised as possible can really help to enhance a supporter’s experience with the charity, and this is particularly important when working with supporters who haven’t engaged with the organisation before losing their loved one.

If you’re in a position to offer bespoke communications to your in memory supporters, here are some recommendations on how you could use the data available on the tribute page to enhance your messaging: ‍

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Older loved ones

As we’ve seen above, the majority of tribute funds are created for loved ones aged over 70. Once you’ve shared your condolences and acknowledged the supporter’s generosity, you might want to consider connecting with the supporter in the following ways:

• Achievements and contributions: Does the tribute fund mention key life achievements or moments of success? Where appropriate, consider delicately mentioning these and expressing your admiration. If you have the opportunity to speak on the phone, posing a question around their loved one’s key life achievements could be a nice way to spark conversation with the supporter. Once it feels appropriate to do so, focussing on the loved one’s successes can bring an element of celebration to your communications and conversations.

• Personal interests and hobbies: Maybe family and friends have included images of their loved one taking part in a hobby, or shared a story around their loved one’s passion. Subtly acknowledging this could be a really special way of creating a connection with the loved one’s family. If the loved one liked gardening with their grandchildren, maybe you’ve got condolence cards with flowers on. Or if they lived by the sea or enjoyed sailing, a card with a view of a marina. If you’re aware of a particular passion that aligns with one of your wider fundraising products or offerings, consider inviting the family to take on that fundraising challenge later on in their journey. If it becomes apparent that a loved one enjoyed baking for example, consider noting that down and inviting the supporters to hold a bake sale. Timely asks are pivotal here, and it’ll be worth considering whether it’s appropriate to directly acknowledge that you’ve made this link or not.

• Personal connection to the charity: Looking beyond the tribute page, you might find that your CRM contains data to show that the loved one supported your cause. Maybe they were a member, a regular giver, or even a legacy pledger. Mentioning your gratitude for this to the supporter and letting them know that their loved one made an impact on the cause they cared about will help your supporter feel even more connected to your organisation.

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Younger loved ones

Finding the words to share with someone after a loss can be difficult, and this can ring particularly true for those who have lost a younger person. As well as the themes mentioned above, you may want to consider the below when tailoring your communications:

• Community support: Tribute funds that are dedicated to younger people often receive lots of support, as we can see in the data above. If you notice this on a page, mention it to your supporter. Let them know how amazing it is to see their strong community rallying around them, and extend your thanks on behalf of the organisation to them too.

• Hope for the future: You may notice messages on the page which express hope for the future, or for others not to experience the same loss. If that’s the case, consider communications around how the donations made on the tribute fund will contribute to a better future for the cause. Have you got an upcoming breakthrough, milestone or programme that you know will make an impact to the area of your work that your supporter cares about?

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Build lasting connections

Taking the time to explore tribute funds and understand your supporter and their loved one is by no means a quick task. But for those who have the resource available, it could provide key points of connection between the supporter and the charity, and help to build long, fruitful relationships.

For more detailed insights and strategies on enhancing your in memory communications and campaigns, feel free to reach out to us at Catsnake. We can’t wait to hear from you!