MKJ Marketing Introduces Make My Donation

Largo, FL— Consumer expectations for funerals continue to change rapidly, with more emphasis on online access to information and interactivity, particularly around obituaries. Also, flowers at weddings and funerals are giving way to more meaningful and personal expressions, including contributions to non-profit organizations important to the family of the deceased. Given these increasing preferences toward donations, either in lieu of or in addition to traditional flower arrangements, funeral homes, cemeteries, and cremation businesses need to offer secure, online memorial donations from their obituaries to stay relevant.

MKJ Marketing, the premier marketing firm for the deathcare industry, has partnered with Make My Donation, Inc., and its related company, OrgHunter LLC, to introduce its “In Memory Of” Donation platform that fits seamlessly into the online obituary experience for any funeral home, cemetery, or cremation website.

With Make My Donation, funds can be securely and immediately donated in memory of a loved with the click of a button via the most advanced “giving system” platform available. Unique features of the Make My Donation platform include:

• Unparalleled transparency and real-time information on over 2.5 million charities
• Comprehensive screening of all charities in the database ensures all donations made through Make My Donation result in charitable grants issued only to organizations eligible to receive the grants and otherwise are in good standing with the IRS
• Exclusive partnerships for online donation to over 50,000 U.S. Catholic churches and schools
• Donations through Make My Donation are 100% tax-deductible, and donors automatically receive a “thank you” message and income tax receipt.

Courtney Gould Miller, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Digital Marketing for MKJ, views Make My Donation as protection for funeral homes that otherwise simply list charitable organizations for donation at the family’s request, without any knowledge if a charity has maintained good status with the federal government. “If a family uses an online obituary to direct donations to a charity that is no longer in good standing, it can open the funeral home, cemetery, or cremation business to the kind of scandal that owners want to avoid at all costs,” Gould Miller says. “The extensive screenings Make My Donation, Inc., and OrgHunter perform on all contributions is critical to providing protection from bad publicity and potential regulatory actions,”

According to Michael Koplas, Chief Financial Officer for Make My Donation, Inc., “Several digital contribution solutions have been introduced to the deathcare industry, but they carry risk to the funeral home. The IRS has very strict requirements for charitable giving. For example, charitable contributions must be submitted directly to a 501(c)(3) organization, as opposed to going into a for-profit entity such as a funeral home’s bank account, then being relayed to the charity. Make My Donation ensures compliance with all state and federal regulations, a claim other solutions cannot make.” Clearly, the IRS objective is to preclude charitable contributions from being diverted, just as pre-need funds are to be paid directly to financial institutions.

“Make My Donation is a digital solution to a very real challenge,” says Glenn Gould, MKJ Chief Executive Officer. “Funeral homes websites need to be more than just obituaries and directions. We want the public to consider your website as a place for solutions. We frequently hear in our research that consumers are moving away from sending flowers for funerals. Make My Donation is safe and secure, and they have created relationships with millions of recognized, non-profit charities through a system that ensures the donation goes to the purposes intended.”

Drawing on over 900 market research studies from within the funeral industry alone, MKJ provides market strategy expertise to Make My Donation, Inc. on product development and expansion within the funeral profession. MKJ websites also incorporate Make My Donation as a feature on their latest obituary platform release, ForeverTributes™.

Contact MKJ Marketing at 888-655-1566 or go to mkjmarketing.com to request more information on Make My Donation and how it can be added to any funeral home website or individual obituary. Make My Donation, Inc. and OrgHunter executives are sponsors of MKJ’s Marketing Summits for Spring 2019 and will be available to discuss their service at either event: February 25-27 in Vail, Colorado and March 11-13 in Naples, Florida.