During the 2021 NFDA convention, Bob Arrington, owner of Arrington Funeral Directors in Jackson, Tennessee, unveiled his obituary publishing product, ObituaryShare.com. Two years in development, the platform allows grieving families to easily and inexpensively publish an obituary that reaches thousands, thereby equaling, if not exceeding, the audience reached by a traditional newspaper obituary. The site also makes it easy for anyone to make a donation in honor of the deceased.

“When we saw the circulation of newspapers continue to decline while the reach of social media rocketed up, we realized that the future of publishing obituaries lies with social media,” said Arrington. “That’s why we created ObituaryShare.com, which allows funeral homes to easily publish obituaries on Facebook and Instagram and potentially reach more people than newspapers at a fraction of the cost. And thanks to our partnership with Generous, a Nashville-based donations technology platform, every ObituaryShare.com obituary can incorporate a clickable link for readers to make a charitable donation in the deceased’s name.”

Families can share their loved one’s obituary on ObituaryShare.com for just $150 (versus $500 or more for a typical newspaper obituary). Communities stand to benefit as well because the click-to-donate feature makes it more likely that nonprofits will receive donations in memory of the deceased.

In addition to allowing funeral homes to better serve grieving families, ObituaryShare.com has been shown to increase funeral home market share because of the visibility it provides. “Our funeral home’s Facebook following has grown from about 400 to over 3,000 in the two years we have been testing ObituaryShare.com, and our market share has increased significantly,” said Arrington. obituaryshare.com; joingenerous.com