Donation Policy

Donation Policy

Falconer Funeral Homes 

Clinton and Goderich

Donation Policy

The following is our Donation Policy when our staff are receiving and/or handling memorial donations in person, in either funeral home location or at an off premise location. Some charities are set up to receive memorial donations online or by credit card and some charities are not so enabled. Our staff will be pleased to advise you.

FUNERAL HOME POLICY – MEMORIAL DONATIONS

Over the past few years we have noticed a tremendous increase in both the numbers of different charities in the province, as well as the amount of cash that is being donated. This has created several problems that we must now address. Problems include a lack of insurance liability for theft or loss of memorial donations, legal implications existing within the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act, (2002) and as we have no need for cash in the funeral home, providing proper change for these donations is also most difficult. This Funeral Home’s policy, which has been enforced since 1992, is as follows: 
  • All donations will be accepted by cheque only.
  • All cheques shall be made payable to the particular charity and not to the funeral home. Any cheque made payable to the funeral home will be returned to the donor for correction.
  • All cheques received by the funeral home will be forwarded to each charity as soon as possible after the funeral; and only that charity will issue tax receipts. The funeral home is not responsible for the handling of receipts for these organizations.
  • The funeral home staff will continue to complete and place the memorial card on your behalf to the bereaved family.
  • Mass Cards may be arranged through the funeral home. Funeral Home staff will deliver all masses to the particular Church in our immediate service area. All other Masses to be celebrated elsewhere will be the responsibility of the donor.
 We regret any inconvenience that this policy has incurred but it has been instituted to protect all parties involved; YOU the donor, OURSELVES, the funeral home and staff and the individual charities being the BENEFACTORS of the donations. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to ask a member of the funeral home staff, we will be most happy to assist you.

Any donations made through our website that are processed by a third party business entitled "My Tribute Gift Foundation" are being handled by this third party service for the convenience of the online donors. This third party service, not affiliated with the funeral home, claims a standard 10% of each donation made for processing and administration costs.

Memorial Service vs. Funeral

The biggest difference of a traditional funeral and a memorial service is that the body is not present in a casket at a memorial service. However, an urn with the loved one’s ashes may be present at a memorial service. Both traditional funeral services and memorial services have structure, and both bring the community together in support and remembrance. However, a traditional funeral service is much more structured and formal. A traditional funeral service is often associated with religion so it is often led by a member of clergy, whereas a memorial service is led by a celebrant or master of ceremonies. Memorial services often allow for each guest to participate to some level, where guests of a traditional funeral are really just there to observe and reflect.

Memorial Service vs. 
Celebration of Life

A celebration of life is an event that truly celebrates the loved one’s passions, intellectual pursuits, personality, and personal accomplishments. A celebration of life can really have no structure at all and can be really anything you want.
 
A memorial service could be best described as a gentle mix of a traditional funeral and celebration of life. A memorial service has some structure, but it still allows you the flexibility to make the ceremony unique and personalized to fit the individual being honored. Also the mood generally lies somewhere in the middle of completely somber and celebratory.
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