Category: Uncategorized

Top Online Memorials For Loved Ones

Kudoboard Team

To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.

– Thomas Campbell

Whether through funeral rituals, remembrance items, or telling stories to younger generations, celebrating the life of a loved one who has passed away is as old a tradition as humanity itself. 

But the ease with which these stories can be shared has improved dramatically with the creation of memorial websites.  These websites allow family and friends to add tributes, pictures, music, videos, and stories, all of which are compiled onto one website that can be easily shared. 

Some memorial websites even offer innovative features such as scannable QR codes that can be placed on a headstone to link to the online tribute page.

These online memorials for loved ones have become especially valuable in the time of coronavirus.  Many families currently cannot travel or gather in groups.  With online memorial sites, your loved ones can still be celebrated.

Here are a few noteworthy online memorial sites:

  1. EverLoved.  EverLoved is designed as a one-stop-shop for celebrating your loved one.  It provides an online memorial page, but it also offers features such as a fundraising platform to cover funeral costs, price quotes from funeral providers, and links to independent memorial companies to allow you to save money on funeral-related items such as caskets, urns, and headstones.  The website also provides ready phone and email support.  

  2. Keeper.  Keeper is a modern memorial website that offers a number of unique features.  You can create a timeline of milestones in the deceased’s life; you can create a family tree; and you can map the location of a funeral home, cemetery, grave, or mausoleum.  Additionally, the Keeper Mobile App includes step-by-step navigation service to these locations.  The Keeper Plus version is offered at a one-time payment of $74.99.  Keeper currently allows users video-streaming options during COVID-19. 

  3. Legacy.com.  Legacy is the largest, and perhaps oldest, host of online obituaries.  The website has obituaries and memorials for over 70% of all U.S. deaths.  It prominently features obituaries of famous Americans, and it partners with local newspapers to upload obituaries from across the country.  These obituaries have guest books, options to send flowers and gifts, and clearly-displayed funeral information.   While it’s design is less modern than several other options — if a ready-made connection between your online memorial and print obituary is what you are seeking, then this is often the default option.

  4. Forevermissed.com.  Forever Missed is a robust online memorial that offers many templates and themes to structure your tribute page.  You can also create a playlist of songs, light virtual candles, and control viewership settings.  The free plan limits the number of photos to five and does not allow for video uploads.  The paid plan is $6.99 per month, $64.99 per year, or a one-time payment of $124.99.

  5. Kudoboard. Unlike many other options, Kudoboard memorials are focused on simplicity and ease of use. You can share a link with anyone invited to the memorial website, allowing them to easily contribute memories, photos, or videos with the click of a button.  These contributions are gathered on a memorial board, such as this one.  The online memorial can be played as a slideshow or easily printed as a poster to display at a celebration of life reception.  Kudoboard offers both a free “Mini Memorial” with a limited number of posts and a “Full Memorial” board with unlimited posts for a one-time payment of $99.

Regardless of the memorial site used, we recommend a few things for a meaningful experience:

  1. The More The Merrier.  You might have the closest connection to the remembered loved one, but by inviting friends and family to share their own pictures, videos, and stories, you’ll allow them to remember the loved one in a unique way, and you’ll hear stories and see photos that you’d perhaps forgotten.  Additionally, the experience can allow you to connect with those you haven’t seen in some time.

  1. Tell A Story.  In addition to describing your loved one with descriptive adjectives (caring, kind, intelligent, fun, energetic, happy, etc.), consider writing down a particular story (maybe it was the time Mom lost her luggage, but she made the best of it by buying a silly souvenir t-shirt every day of the trip).  Stories bring out the loved one’s unique personality, and guests to the memorial website will enjoy remembering the same story.   

  1. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words.  Unlike traditional guestbooks, memorial websites allow users the option to add pictures and videos.  This is a great opportunity to capture a moment in time in the loved one’s life, a particular trip or event, or just an encapsulation of that person (“Dad always loved that jack and wore it everywhere!”). 

  1. Find Pictures From Different Ages.  If you can find them, include pictures from different periods of the loved one’s life.  Everyone enjoys pictures from when dad was in his crazy twenties (“those sideburns!”) and then again from thirty years later (“what happened to dad’s hair?!”).  

  1. Keeping Adding.  You don’t ever have to stop.  Your online memorial site can continue growing as you remember different stories or uncover new photos.  By using a site like Kudoboard, your memorial site will last forever, and you can revisit it any time you want to remember your loved one.  

If you have any questions about Kudoboard Online Memorials, you can email us at [email protected] and we will get back to you within one business day. 

We at Kudoboard wish the best for you, your family, and your friends.

Spreading the Love this Holiday Season

Kudoboard Team

Holiday season is here.  At Kudoboard, we like to think that our site promotes gratitude by allowing you to show the people in your life that you appreciate them. In addition to creating someone a Kudoboard, here are a few other ideas for how you can spread the love this holiday season!

1) Leave a very generous tip at the next restaurant you go to. No one can deny that being a waiter/waitress is tough job. Let your server know you appreciate him or her by giving a couple extra dollars.

2) Buy an extra meal for a homeless person. When the cold months come around, being homeless becomes even more taxing. Make a homeless person’s day a bit easier by offering a free hot meal.

3) Pay for the toll of the car behind you. Paying highway tolls are a pain, no matter how you look at them. Many of us end up scrambling to gather enough change; save a stranger the trouble and make them smile.

4) Tape a dollar to the vending machine. No one is ever really that happy to be buying food from a vending machine. It’s usually a last resort when we can’t buy real food and our stomachs are churning. However, you can make this a slightly more enjoyable experience by paying for the next person’s snack.

5) Drop off some nice clothes at Goodwill. While donating any sort of clothing is valuable and generous deed, next time try giving some nicer clothes that you don’t wear anymore—rather than that old shirt you bought at a yardsale.

6) Pay for the next person’s coffee in the drive through. When it comes time to buy coffee, many of us are grumpy and focused on caffeinating ourselves as quickly as possible. Speed up the next person’s caffeination by paying for their drink.

7) Make a last minute dinner for you and your friends. After a long day at work, school, etc., the prospect of cooking can be entirely unappealing. Surprise your friends with a homecooked meal so they don’t have to eat LeanCuisine again.

8) Mentor someone. If you’re really good at something, share your knowledge. The best gift is one that keeps on giving, right?

9) Bake cookies for your office/workplace. Sometimes a little sugar is all it takes to perk up those colleagues who always seem to be complaining. Plus, bringing goodies gives you an excuse to binge on sweets.

Kudoboard as a Holiday Card: A New Spin on an Old Tradition

Kudoboard Team

When the holiday season comes around and the days get shorter, many of us can barely find the time or energy to get to the gym, let alone compile a family card and have it printed and mailed. Even when we do get around to making a card or newsletter, at least one family member always seems to be too busy to participate. Looks like the annual family card won’t be annual for much longer… And to think, you were so excited for this opportunity to shamelessly brag about your kids!

Not so fast. When organizing the family for a card seems impossible, check out Kudoboard.  Using Kudoboard allows everyone to contribute to your holiday card whenever is most convenient to them. Simply invite your family to contribute to the online group card, and let them share life updates on their own time. After all, who doesn’t love to gloat a little about themselves, especially when Kudoboard makes it this easy.

Once everyone’s finished uploading his or her contributions, all you need to do is email the card link to your friends and relatives. Yup, that’s right—you’re saving paper and time.

Treat Yo’self: 7 Ways to Relax and Appreciate Yourself

Kudoboard Team

We at Kudoboard recognize that showing appreciation for others is a whole lot easier when you are feeling appreciated yourself. That can be tough in December, a very stressful time for many of us as we confront the pressure to spend lots of money, entertain family, and pretend we like those Christmas carols. Before your anxiety and stress cause you to crash, try the following seven activities. Treat yourself so you can treat others.

  1. Take a warm bath. Don’t forget the bubbles and candles—you’ve got to do it right.
  2. Get some fresh air. Go for a walk. Nothing clears the mind like the great outdoors, and your body will appreciate the endorphins.
  3. Indulge in your favorite dessert(s). It’s okay to eat that whole pint of Ben & Jerry’s. It’s for therapeutic purposes, right?
  4. Buy that handbag or gadget you’ve been wanting. Sometimes a little retail therapy is all you need to bring up your mood and make you feel special.
  5. Practice mindful meditation. AHMMMMMMMMMM. Breathe in, breath out.
  6. Binge on your favorite Netflix show. Don’t feel guilty. A whole season of House of Cards? Yeah, what about it…
  7. Meet up for drinks with friends. Chat with your pals and throw back a couple martinis/beers while you’re at it.

These tips may seem trivial, but don’t underestimate the power of the little things.

9 Birthday Card Ideas Sure to Bring Smiles 

Kudoboard Team

It’s that time of year again…again. That’s the thing about birthdays—they come all the time, every year. It can be tough to come up with new, creative card ideas. You want it to be special, but things can get repetitive. Lucky for you, the Kudoboard team has come up with 9 birthday card ideas that are sure to bring smiles!

1) Gather silly, possibly unattractive photos of your friend / mom / brother / etc. Nothing like a little friendly joking around between friends, right? Tease the birthday boy/girl, but at the same time remind him or her how much you love and appreciate them despite their weirdness.

2) Make a video. Gather video clips of your friends wishing happy birthday, or alternatively, create a longer, personal video to include in a free eCard. Homemade videos convey effort and time.

3) Include an electronic gift card. Nothing says “Happy Birthday!” better than a little moulah, right?! Buy an online gift card for the birthday boy/girl from a favorite store and include the gift card link on your Kudoboard (hey – we had to plug it, right?!). If you can’t include a link, try taking a picture of your online purchase and post it on the card (you can email the actual gift later).

4) Include pictures and information about a charity you’ve donated to in their name. Sometimes the best gift is to give back. Tug at your friend Adam’s heartstrings by donating to charity in his honor. Make sure to provide relevant pictures and information about the chosen charity so that Adam can appreciate the impact of his gift.

5) Create a group eCard. Although it’s really easy to make group cards for your friends and family online, the birthday boy/girl will appreciate the coordination and joint effort. Receiving birthday wishes all at once can highlight how much someone is loved.

6) Post the time and place of their own surprise party in the card! Deliver your Kudoboard to your colleague Natalie just before her surprise party will start! Instead of the traditional jump-out-from-behind-the-couch ordeal, surprise her with the details of the party you’ve planned for later that day. She’ll get to enjoy the party AND the time she has to look forward to the celebration.

7) Include an inside joke and a relevant picture. Nothing’s more personal than that dumb, yet hilarious joke that only you and your BFF know about. She’ll open her card and smile, remembering why you two are so close.

8) Post an array of photos from different years in chronological order. Show your younger sister how much she’s changed, and make sure to emphasize her awkward phase. Ugly duckling to swan, am I right??

9) Send a card with a message and photos that are completely irrelevant to his/her birthday, and then… Include a surprise message at the end wishing him a happy birthday. He’ll be confused (and possibly annoyed) at first, but appreciate the suspense.

Showing Appreciation with a Thanksgiving eCard

Kudoboard Team

So you’re not going to be able to join your aunt and cousins this year for the usual Thanksgiving feast. Aunt Sally always makes you your own butternut squash because you don’t like the marshmallows that everyone else seems to love on top. Super sweet of her, right? Unfortunately, you’re going to be spending the holiday this year with your significant other’s family, and you’ll definitely be expected to try the “famous” marshmallow squash casserole. You want to send your family a really nice card to make up for your absence, but aren’t sure how to make it special…

Okay, so maybe that’s not your exact situation (just me I guess), but you do want to make a nice card. Well, lucky for you, Kudoboard’s got you covered with a little Thanksgiving card wisdom. Follow these 5 tips to warm Aunt Sally’s heart.

1) Wander down memory lane. Remember when your cousin Andrew tried to see how much pie he could eat in 2 minutes? Yeah, his family hasn’t forgotten either. Include some (tragically) funny or special memories to bring in an element of nostalgia.

2) Send a free group eCard. Instead of sending a card just from you, ask other family members to contribute to an online group card (*cough*Kudoboard*cough*). Receiving warm thoughts from many people at once will surely make Grandma smile.

3) Turkeys. Include them. This special bird is what Thanksgiving is all about, am I right? Post some pictures or drawings of funny cartoon turkeys to get a few laughs and a lot of appreciation.

4) Tell the recipient why you’re grateful for him/her. Thanksgiving originated as a day for the pilgrims to give thanks for the harvest. While you might not be celebrating the latest corn crop, you can still honor the spirit of the holiday by reminding a family member how much you appreciate him or her.

5) Use vivid fall colors. The various shades of orange, red, and brown are quintessential reminders of the beauty of fall. Your sister will be happy to look back on a beautiful autumn as the cold starts to roll in.