The
statement, "Every funeral director should know the value of flowers and
the vitally important role they play in the healing process" sounds
exactly like the message SAF has been championing in its outreach to
funeral directors. But it sounds a whole lot better coming from a
funeral director. It wasn't said by just any director, but an Ohio
funeral director and past president of the National Funeral Directors
Association (NFDA), Dwayne Spence.

Spence was moved to write and a letter to SAF about the power of flowers and give his "whole hearted support" after reading SAF's ad in the NFDA's magazine, The Director. The open letter
emphasizes the role of flowers and the need for florists and funeral
directors to work together to ensure grieving families have everything
they need to make it through a difficult period.

Spence, who owns a funeral home in

Pickerington,
Ohio, also echoed the floral
industry's call to eliminate the "in lieu of flowers" phrasing in
obituaries and spoke of the comfort flowers provided him when his
parents died.

"Testimonials like this demonstrate that the open letter ad campaign is working," says Jennifer Sparks, SAF's vice president of marketing."Our goal is to get the word out and plant the seed for florists to establish a dialogue with their local funeral
directors." 

The open letter full-page ad campaign is possible thanks to a
contribution to the PR Fund by Asocolflores to run the ad in 12
consecutive issues of The Director through April 2010.

Try this:

• Send a copy of the open letter ad with a letter to your local
  funeral director(s) who frequently use the “in lieu of flowers” phrase.
  Click here for a suggested letter to send.

• Thank your funeral directors who do not use the "in lieu of phrase" with a colorful thank-you brochure.

• Examine your sympathy business with this checklist.