David Morrison is an attorney and longtime activist on funeral consumer issues. He served several terms on the FCA national board. Morrison has spent more than 30 years helping various individuals and religious congregations perform funeral and burial work themselves without the involvement of a funeral home. Read more

Going to the capital: how to lobby your state’s regulatory agencies and lawmakers—Jim Bates, FCA of North Texas Handout Making your newsletters make more money—Ruth Bennett, FCA national board The Grief Dialogues—Elizabeth Coplan, playwright, past-president of Peoples Memorial Association Handout Essential Basics: how to complete a funeral cost-comparison survey—Ginny Farney, FCA of Greater Kansas City
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Handout 2 7 ways to die with dementia: some thoughts about advance directives—Lamar Hankins, FCA of Central Texas  
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Handout 2 Fundraising 201: Fundraising online with email and social media—Amanda Stock, Peoples Memorial Association Fundraising 101: A one-year, direct mail plan with templates for FCA affiliate groups—Josh Slocum, Executive Director, FCA
Handout Tell everyone in town: how to get your FCA’s best speaker invited to present at allied organizations— Nancy Petersen, FCA of Greater Kansas City Handout The Urge to Merge:how three struggling FCA groups combined into one stronger, statewide organization—Sara Williams and Rebecca Taylor, FCA of North Carolina   Read more

One of the parts of consumer advocacy that many don’t know about is monitoring laws and regulations that affect consumers. Sometimes the connection between consumer advocacy and regulations isn’t immediately obvious. Funeral director licensing laws are an example. Read more

Past FCA president and social worker Laurie Powsner’s presentation has everything you need to know about basic funeral planning. Whether you want burial or cremation, ceremony or simplicity, these tips will help you keep costs in check. Read more

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of our lives, and it’s affecting how we deal with death, too. Here are some things to keep in mind if you have to arrange a funeral during this time. As of late summer 2020, most states are reopening to some degree, but there are still restrictions on the size of gatherings in many states. Read more

George from Tennessee wrote for advice on whether to prepay for the services associated with two mausoleum spaces given to him and his wife as a gift. We’ve talked to numerous families who were disappointed to find that additional fees came due at the time of burial. Read more

Death doulas—sometimes called home-funeral guides—advise families on how to care for the bodies of the dead and carry out necessary tasks when the family chooses an old-fashioned funeral at home, without involving a funeral home. Read more