Funeral and Memorial Services Cooperatives

Funeral and memorial services cooperatives are formed to empower consumers when dealing with one of the most stressful and emotional events in life. After suffering the loss of a loved one, consumers are confronted with the task of negotiating with funeral homes and memorial service companies, often with little information to do so, leaving them vulnerable to unscrupulous practices. Funeral cooperatives allow family members to plan meaningful, dignified and affordable funeral and memorial services.

Throughout the United States, funeral services cooperatives operate at the state, regional and local level. Often organized as non-profit consumer organizations, most funeral cooperatives offer low cost lifetime memberships to individuals and families. They provide information on planning funerals and associated state laws to empower consumers. Many also offer direct pre-planning services. Funeral co-ops use the combined buying power of their membership to negotiate reduced rates for services provided by cooperating mortuaries and funeral homes. Often called "associations," "alliances," or "societies" because they are not themselves "businesses," most of these organizations function exactly as cooperatives, using member-ownership and democratic control.

The National Funeral Consumers Alliance is the national umbrella organization for most local, regional and state funeral alliances in the United States.

• Funerals & Memorial Societies Resources

Consumer-owned funeral cooperatives operate worldwide and many provide direct services, rather than working through preferred vendors. In Quebec, Canada, for example, the Fédération des coopératives funéraires du Québec has 36 affiliated funeral cooperatives with some 125,000 members. In the United Kingdom, most large diversified consumer-owned cooperatives offer funeral services and pre-planning to consumers.