The last six months have been an interesting and exciting period for CFSA and our members! In the midst of all this COVID-19 disruption and communities being challenged to innovate and make it through this era, CFSA is doing the same thing – innovating boldly in the midst of challenges. With the help of our management firm and professional partner, Raybourn Group International, we are able to provide great member services at a lower cost than “stand alone” management and offices. But cost-savings and economies of scale only begin to scratch the surface; with the staff all being highly-certified in their fields, and having a combined total of over 250 years in association management experience, our challenges do not seem new or overwhelming to them.
In just the last six months, we’ve added impacting member features and services, like the new Department of Transportation Drug & Alcohol Testing utilized by our members who have CDL-based trucking operations. The testing consortium saves our participating members thousands of dollars in federally-required random testing, plus adds services that take a lot of scary administrative burdens off their desks. Along those same lines, when members have asked for Human Resources admin assistance, we created “HR Extension” to help those member firms who need a few extra sets of hands in the HR department. These are just two examples of the innovation going on at the headquarters in Indianapolis, benefiting all of us in the CFSA Family.
Some of the most important developments are within our existing core member service programs – the Funeral Home Credit Guide, and the Casket Sales Statistics. The current credit guide program
is now outdated, very slow, with lots of cumbersome steps needed to enter data and generate reports. The product was incredibly superior for its time, but it’s now several years old; advances in technology have allowed us to breathe new life into this vital resource, making it easier, faster and more intuitive to access and use. You can expect to see the new program by the time we meet in November in Indianapolis for the Fall Conference & Trade Show.
The Casket Sales Statistics Program renovation is already in place, with the same streamlined ease-of-use features. Among the member-demanded improvements are anonymity in reporting, plus unit counts and types, but not dollar amounts (because your margins are your business). This makes for more members feeling secure in participating, yielding CFSA greater accuracy in reports. This data will help our casket manufacturer and distributor members in making market predictions more accurately and confidently.
The new membership year began June 1, so please don’t forget to renew your membership today!
In service,
Mike Mims
CFSA President 2019-20