Obituary Donation Wording: How to List Charities and Memorial Funds

Why the Obituary Wording Matters So Much

The obituary is usually the first and only place most people learn how the family wants to be supported. The donation section — those two or three lines at the end — drives more money to charities and memorial funds than any other communication you'll send.

Get it right and donations flow smoothly. Get it vague and people default to sending flowers (or doing nothing) because they couldn't figure out where to give.

The Anatomy of Good Donation Wording

Every effective obituary donation section includes three things:

1. The charity's or fund's exact name — Not a nickname. "The American Cancer Society" not "cancer research." "The John Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund at Lincoln High School" not "a scholarship fund"
2. How to donate — A URL, mailing address, or both. Online links get 3-4x more donations than mailing addresses alone because the barrier to action is lower
3. Clear framing — "In lieu of flowers" if the family doesn't want floral tributes, or "in addition to flowers" if both are welcome

Obituary Donation Wording Examples

Single Charity

Memorial contributions may be directed to the American Heart Association at heart.org/donate in memory of [Name]. The family kindly requests donations in lieu of flowers.

Multiple Charities

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to either the Wounded Warrior Project (woundedwarriorproject.org) or the local Humane Society of [City] (humaneociety.org/donate). Both causes were close to [Name]'s heart.

Limit it to two charities. Three or more creates decision fatigue and most people end up donating to none.

Memorial Fund or GoFundMe

Those wishing to support the family may contribute to the [Name] Memorial Fund at gofundme.com/f/[campaign-slug]. Funds will be used to cover funeral expenses and support [Name]'s children.

Memorial Scholarship

In [Name]'s memory, the family has established the [Name] Memorial Scholarship at [University Name]. Contributions may be sent to [University Foundation], [mailing address], or made online at [URL], referencing the [Name] Scholarship Fund.

General — No Specific Charity

Rather than flowers, the family invites friends to make a donation to a charity of their choice or to perform a random act of kindness in [Name]'s memory.

This is the weakest version. Without a specific destination, most people don't follow through. Use it only when the family genuinely has no preference.

Both Flowers and Donations Welcome

Flowers are welcome, and memorial donations may also be made to [Charity Name] at [URL] in honor of [Name].

Religious Community

Memorial gifts may be made to [Church/Synagogue/Mosque Name] at [address or URL] in memory of [Name], where [they] served as [role/involvement] for [years].

Formatting Tips for Print vs. Online Obituaries

Print obituaries (newspaper): Use a short URL or the charity's general website address. Long campaign links don't work in print — nobody types "gofundme.com/f/in-loving-memory-of-john-robert-smith-memorial-fund" from a newspaper clipping.

Online obituaries (Legacy.com, funeral home websites): Use the full clickable URL. Most online obituary platforms support hyperlinks. Put the link on its own line for visibility.

Both formats: Include a phone number or mailing address as a fallback for older donors who prefer writing checks.

Common Mistakes

Being too vague. "Donations may be made to the family" tells people nothing about where to send money. Always include a specific destination and method.

Naming a charity that doesn't accept "in memory of" gifts. Not all organizations have a tribute giving option on their website. Check before you publish the obituary — it's extremely awkward for a donor to click through and find no way to designate their gift as a memorial.

Forgetting the family's contact address. Charities send acknowledgment cards to the family when they receive a memorial donation, but only if the donor provides the family's mailing address during the transaction. Include the family's address (or a designated contact's address) in the obituary's donation section, or add a line: "Please include the family's address [address] with your donation so that an acknowledgment may be sent."

Publishing the obituary before the fund is live. If you're setting up a GoFundMe or memorial fund page, make sure it's active and accessible before the obituary goes to print. A broken link or a "page not found" error at the moment of peak generosity loses donations permanently.

The Flowers, Donations & Memorial Contributions Guide includes obituary donation wording templates, donor acknowledgment letters, and communication scripts for every stage — from the initial announcement to the final thank-you notes sent months later.