RPG Home

Remembrance Purchasing Group was formed for the benefit of independent funeral homes. It is member owned and operated. Its mission is to increase the buying power of independent funeral homes so they can better compete with large publicly owned funeral homes.

Opportunity

Do you think that independent funeral homes such as yourself have the same deal as SCI and Carriage homes, in terms of price, marketing allowances and volume rebates?
- Our research indicates that independent funeral homes are at a 10-15% disadvantage and have limited incentive programs
Why is there such a difference?
- SCI and Carriage negotiate as one unit
- Vendors have a lower cost to service these homes

Solution – Form a Buying Group

Independent funeral homes join a group to negotiate with vendors for marketing and growth rebates.
- By grouping together we can negotiate better deals

Key Points of the Buying Group

The mission of the group
1. Negotiate volume and growth incentives for group member purchases
2. Members remain independent in operating their business
Board of directors elected from the members will manage the group
It is critical for Initial members to be willing to move to their second choice supplier.
Earned allowances and rebates will be paid quarterly to the membership

It is the intent of the Board of Directors of Remembrance Purchasing Group to maintain members that will actively participate in the programs sponsored by Remembrance Purchasing Group and purchase from Remembrance Purchasing Group Preferred Sources of Supply.

It is the Board’s objective to utilize objective criteria for both selecting and terminating members. The Board of Directors of Remembrance Purchasing Group shall make the decision as to the acceptance of a member. The termination of a member will also be made by the Board of Directors of Remembrance Purchasing Group. It is the Board’s policy that both selection and termination of members shall be based upon objective criteria. These criteria are outlined below:

A. SELECTION OF MEMBERS:

The applicant company shall be privately held. The stock shall not be publicly traded on any recognized exchange.
The primary business of an applicant member shall be Funeral Direction and they must conduct a minimum of 100 Funerals per year. This limit may be reduced for firms servicing smaller metropolitan areas. However, they must be one of the leading firms in their area.
The applicant shall be creditworthy in the discretion of the Board and maintain this status.
The member must maintain an active Funeral Home Facility.
Generally, membership will be restricted to a limited number of large funeral home members per Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). Existing members will have input in the decision to add members that may compete in their SMSA. However, if existing members do not adequately service the market area serviced by an applicant for membership, new members can be admitted without input. Whether or not existing members “adequately services” the market segment is to be made in the sole discretion of the Chairman/President.

B. DUAL MEMBERSHIP:

A member may belong to another marketing group whose primary focus is not funeral direction and associated supplies. The member maintaining a dual membership with RPG and another marketing group must agree that marketing allowances generated by the member will be allocated based on the member’s date of membership with RPG and the preferred supplier’s date of affiliation with RPG. If RPG had established a preferred supplier agreement prior to the date of membership with RPG then that member shall direct the preferred supplier to forward all marketing allowances to RPG. However, if RPG established the preferred supplier agreement after the date of membership with RPG then that member will be free to direct the marketing allowances attributable to that preferred supplier as that member elects.
Once a member receives marketing allowances from RPG attributable to a preferred supplier, the member shall not then, at some later point in time, divest RPG of the marketing allowances attributable to that supplier without the consent of RPG.

C. TERMINATION OF MEMBERS:

A member will be terminated if any of the criteria described above are not satisfied at any point in time.
A member will be terminated if the member fails to adequately support Remembrance Purchasing Group’s Preferred Sources of Supply. A member must generate $2,000.00, (two thousand dollars), in total Marketing Allowances during the first twelve (12) months of active membership. Any such member who fails to produce $2,000.00, within the first twelve (12) months of membership will enter into a probationary period of six (6) months, during which time period the member’s total Marketing Allowances must annualize to $2,000.00 per annum. Failure to achieve this requirement could result in member termination.
A member will be terminated from membership if the member fails to attend any two (2) consecutive annual meetings of Remembrance Purchasing Group.
A member will not be terminated from membership if said member acquires and existing business location or opens a division in another member’s Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area.

D. CONFERENCE FEE:

Each member shall be assessed a $100.00 (one hundred dollars), per month conference fee. Remembrance Purchasing Group will withhold this fee from Marketing Allowances due to each member. Remembrance Purchasing Group will then pay the accumulated conference fee to each member who attends the annual conference. Members who do not attend the annual conference will forfeit their accumulated conference fee to Remembrance Purchasing Group. All forfeited sums will be used by Remembrance Purchasing Group to pay expenses associated with the annual conference.

E. HEARING PROCEDURES FOR MEMBERS:

It is the policy of the Board of Directors of Remembrance Purchasing Group to provide “due process” to all members and applicants for membership. It is the policy and objective of the Board of Directors to provide any affected party notice and an opportunity to be heard before any proposed action is taken with respect to their membership and affiliation with Remembrance Purchasing Group. In order to implement this policy, the following procedures are hereby established:
- Before any action is taken with respect to the denial of membership or expulsion of a member, an authorized representative of Remembrance Purchasing Group shall give the affected party notice of the contemplated action. The notice shall be in writing and shall set forth the reason or reasons why the proposed course of action is being taken.
- Upon receipt of the notice of the proposed course of action, the aggrieved party shall have ten (10) days within which to request, in writing, an opportunity to appear before the Board of Directors at its next regularly scheduled meeting. The affected party shall have an opportunity to appear either in person or by written correspondence before the Board of Directors to explain why the proposed course of action should not be taken.
- The Board of Directors shall consider all relevant facts and circumstances having any bearing on the proposed course of action and shall decide what action shall be taken with respect to the member. The decision of the Board of Directors shall be final.