For Immediate Release: March 10, 2020

Brookfield, Wis. – The Funeral and Memorial Information Council (FAMIC) has announced the National Funeral Directors Association has assumed management of the Have the Talk of a Lifetime consumer education initiative. 

FAMIC-member associations and other generous donors have funded the Have the Talk of a Lifetime initiative since its 2013 inception. The national fundraising dollars that supported the Have the Talk digital campaign, which helped get the word out to consumers, were expected to support the campaign through 2017. 

“Through excellent stewardship of the dollars, we were able to stretch the funding through the end of 2019, enabling us to support the program two years longer than expected,” explained Kathryn Pratscher, executive director of FAMIC. “As the funding came to an end, our board wanted the initiative to continue but felt that it needed to be managed by an organization that could provide more resources. Ultimately, NFDA proved to be the right fit to carry on our work."

FAMIC will receive credit as the founding organization of Have the Talk of a Lifetime. NFDA will leverage its marketing, public relations and social media resources to ensure the integrity of the Have the Talk program is maintained and supported in the future. The Have the Talk program is an ideal complement to the direct-to-consumer outreach and education NFDA has been engaged in under its Remembering A Life initiative; Have the Talk will be promoted as part of NFDA’s Remembering A Life initiative. 

“NFDA has been a proud and significant supporter of Have the Talk of a Lifetime since its inception,” said NFDA President R. Bryant Hightower Jr., CFSP. “We are honored that FAMIC has entrusted the Have the Talk program to NFDA so that we might continue this important work.” 

As the Have the Talk program transitions to NFDA, all members of FAMIC associations will continue to have access to Have the Talk of a Lifetime resources; the tools will remain on the FAMIC website, www.famic.org. Have the Talk of a Lifetime will go through a period of evaluation by NFDA in 2020. Some materials will be archived; NFDA will keep funeral professionals apprised of major changes.

Two immediate changes will affect funeral professionals. First, the licensing rights for the talent and music in the “Big Ed” video have expired. If a funeral business is using this video on any digital or social media outlets (e.g., website, Facebook, etc.), it should be removed immediately; continued use is a violation of the license. 

Second, as of January 2020, no new entries will be added into the funeral home search tool on the Have the Talk of a Lifetime consumer website, www.talkofalifetime.org. Consumers can search those that are currently there, but none will be added.

“The associations and funeral professionals who have supported Have the Talk of a Lifetime by using the outreach tools in their community should be very proud of their efforts to establish this program as a key resource for families who want to learn more about each other, ultimately enabling them to create meaningful tributes for their family members and friends,” said Pratscher.

“Have the Talk of a Lifetime has united the profession and NFDA looks forward to continuing to enhance the program and ensuring its legacy is one of which we can all be proud,” said Hightower. 

About NFDA

NFDA is the world’s leading and largest funeral service association, serving more than 20,000 individual members who represent nearly 11,000 funeral homes in the United States and 49 countries around the world. NFDA is the trusted leader, beacon for ethics and the strongest advocate for the profession. NFDA is the association of choice because it offers funeral professionals comprehensive educational resources, tools to manage successful businesses, guidance to become pillars in their communities and the expertise to foster future generations of funeral professionals. NFDA is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., and has an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.nfda.org.

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Contact: Jessica Koth, 262-814-1536, jkoth@nfda.org