The Natural Funeral (TNF) is a funeral service provider located at 102 W Chester St, Lafayette CO 80026. We can be reached at info@thenaturalfuneral.com or (720) 515-2344.
We work with people and their families (who are specifically named in our contract as “Clients”) around highly sensitive and personal end-of-life matters. Our policies and protocols are shaped by legal requirements and best industry practices, as well as our organizational mission and ethics.
Data Collection and Storage
We collect specific information about our Clients and their immediate family for the purpose of filing a death certificate with the state of Colorado. This information is held in our company database and a paper copy is often stored in our files. This data includes demographic information such as race, gender, place of birth, etc. It also includes the SSN which is automatically canceled when we register the death with the state. We also collect the contact information for the people with whom we are arranging the funeral services (i.e., names, email or text contacts, address, relationship and authority).
We collect our data directly from Clients through online and paper forms and from conversations that occur either in person, virtually, by email, phone, or by other means.
We store all our data for ten years, either in paper records kept behind locked doors or in a password-protected customer tracking system or both. It is never sold to a third party. We do not allow access to any information or data by anyone who is not authorized by our Client.
Creating The Experience
We take stewardship of our Client’s lives and deaths very seriously. An important part of our professional service is to create a comprehensive personal view of the person’s life as they wish to offer and present it. To do that, we ask a broad range of questions to develop a whole picture of their life and create a powerful narrative.
Working with hundreds of clients has given us a deep sense of what ends up being the most important, whether it is obvious when we are in the fact-finding stage. We explain this to Clients, but always affirm that they should only share with us what is comfortable for them.
Our work often involves discussing some of the most personal details about the Client (or the deceased person they represent) and those making arrangements with us. We may have a well-established relationship with the person or family, but in many cases we meet them at a profoundly intimate time when they need exquisite care and guidance through unfamiliar, vulnerable territory. Our staff training and record keeping go far beyond legal and professional obligations. Personal information is held with the same confidentiality as the data we are required legally and ethically to protect.
Client Agency
Death gathers the whole of a person’s life together – their life changes, their sense of themselves, achievements, legacies, different identities, and often many people in many different kinds of relationships. When designing the Client’s plan, we always ask questions that might help alleviate distress or avoid unpleasant reactions or interactions if we can anticipate them. We focus on including the narratives and symbols that create the ceremony that our Client has asked for.
There are sometimes situations that require discernment on our part. For example, sometimes siblings wish to keep arrangement details secret from each other. A Client may want some aspects of their life to shine and others to be unmentioned. Their choice to be remembered as they want to, as long as there is nothing illegal involved, is paramount to their dying experience.
However, when any of these factors create conflict, confusion or dissonance with other people, our legal and ethical responsibility lies squarely with our promise and agreement with our Client.
Adopted by the Board of Directors Oct 2023
