Give in memory of someone, or in their honour
A gift made in someone's name turns the way you remember them into surgery for someone who would not otherwise reach it.
People give in someone's name for many reasons. Because the person cared about this work. Because healthcare mattered to them. Because a gift is easier to give than flowers are to send.
Giving in memory of someone who has died
A memorial gift can be made at any time - in the days after a death, on an anniversary, or years later when it feels right.
Some families ask for donations instead of flowers and arrange a collection at the funeral. Others give privately, without telling anyone. Both are entirely usual, and neither is more appropriate than the other.
Funeral and memorial collections
If you would like donations at a funeral or memorial service to go to Mercy Ships, the office in your country can help with the practical side: collection envelopes, how the money reaches us, and how the total is acknowledged to the family afterwards.
It is worth contacting them before the service rather than after, simply because it makes the arrangements easier at a time when nobody has capacity for admin.
Giving in honour of someone living
A gift in honour of a person marks something rather than mourns it. A birthday, a retirement, a recovery, a wedding, an anniversary, or simply gratitude to someone who has been good to you.
It also works as a gift for the person who does not want anything. Instead of another object, someone receives surgery.
Whether the person or family is told
This is your choice entirely. Many people ask us to notify the person being honoured, or the family of someone who has died, that a gift has been made - without ever mentioning the amount. The amount is nobody's business but yours.
Others prefer to say nothing at all. Tell the Mercy Ships office in your country what you would like, and that is what will happen.
What the gift becomes
Memorial and tribute gifts are not held separately from other giving. They fund the surgical programme: the operating rooms, the medical supplies, the wards where patients recover, and the training of local healthcare professionals.
We will not tell you that a specific gift paid for a specific person's operation, because that would rarely be true and you deserve an accurate answer rather than a comforting one.
Remembering over time
Some people make a memorial gift once. Others give annually on the same date, and some set up a regular gift in the person's name so that the remembering continues quietly in the background.
If a lasting gift feels right, leaving something in your own will is a related route.
How to arrange it
Contact the Mercy Ships office in your country. They handle memorial and tribute gifts, funeral collections, notifications and receipts, and they will take the time it needs.
Questions about memorial and tribute gifts
How do I arrange donations instead of flowers at a funeral?
Contact the Mercy Ships office in your country and they will arrange collection materials and explain how the donations reach us and how the total is confirmed to the family. Doing this before the service makes everything simpler.
Will the family know how much I gave?
No, unless you ask us to tell them. We can notify a family or an honoured person that a gift has been made in their name without mentioning the amount, and that is what we do by default.
Can I give in honour of someone who is still alive?
Yes. Tribute gifts marking a birthday, retirement, recovery, wedding or simple gratitude are as common as memorial gifts, and they work well as a present for someone who does not want more possessions.
Will my gift pay for one specific patient's operation?
No, and we would rather say so plainly. Gifts fund the surgical programme as a whole - operating rooms, supplies, patient care before and after surgery, and training local healthcare professionals. Claiming otherwise would be neater but it would not be true.
Can I give in memory of someone every year?
Yes. Some people give on the same date each year, and others set up a regular gift in the person's name. Your national office can arrange either.
