In memory giving

Carol Ward explains in-memory giving, which can help you and your church family to remember and celebrate a special person.

In a previous blog, I outlined how to make the most of online shopping to bring in a small, but regular source of unrestricted income for your parish.

Another, but very different type of fundraising opportunity, is that of In-memory (or In Mem) Giving – paying tribute to someone you’ve lost by making a gift in their name.

This form of giving is ingrained in the rich tapestry of our Church’s history; saying mass for a loved one who has died or making an offering in memory of, or even to celebrate, their life is in-memory giving in its oldest form.

One organisation that can help you remember and celebrate the life of a member of your church family is MuchLoved, an online tribute charity.

MuchLoved’s In Memory Giving pages allow your parishioners to remember someone special and honour their life, which can be a great source of comfort during a bereavement, whilst making a vital gift to the parish.

Once the page is set up, visitors can add photos and memories and personalise the page, sharing their tribute with friends and family far and wide to keep the memories of their friend or loved one alive. When people join together and share their memories in this way, they often want to make a donation as well.

In-memory giving can be a lifelong journey, not just something that happens around the time of the funeral. We remember saints on a daily basis; in the same way a MuchLoved tribute page is often a source of comfort and remembrance long after the funeral, on special occasions and milestones such as birthdays and anniversaries.

One parish in the Diocese of London that is using MuchLoved is St Alban’s Church, North Harrow which has a tribute page – and more information about MuchLoved on their website.

How it works:

Working with MuchLoved is very simple – you just need a single new page on your website with a couple of MuchLoved links. Visitors follow the link to MuchLoved and create a tribute page supporting your parish for free. As MuchLoved is a charity themselves there’s no charge for your church to be added to MuchLoved’s database, and they even collect Gift Aid on our behalf.

Please contact support@muchloved.com if you’d like to find out more.

About MuchLoved

MuchLoved is the UK’s leading online tribute charity and can help you and your church family to remember and celebrate a special person, through their beautiful, individual tribute pages. Registered charity no. 1118590.