We create a wide variety of content that strives to meet people wherever they are on their death positive journey.
From provocative articles that challenge the ways we think about death, to inspiring and informative social media content, to the resources you need to get your death plans in order, you’ll find it at The Order.
The Order of the Good Death is proud to provide annual Fellowships to individuals and organizations addressing systemic and social problems to help everyone die better. Good Death Fellows are provided with project funding, expert support and mentoring, access to resources and expert advisors, and connection to a community with a passion for changing the future of death care.
The Henrietta Duterte Endowment Fund was created by The Order in partnership with the Community College of Baltimore County to provide funding for Black women to study Mortuary Science.
The fund is named for the first female funeral home owner in the United States, who used the success of her funeral home to lobby for the abolition of slavery and reformation of the funeral industry. It is our hope that this scholarship fund will honor Ms. Duterte’s legacy through creating opportunities for Black women to pursue careers in the funeral industry.
As part of The Order’s mission to make a good death accessible to all we have developed fundraising programs and provided substantial financial support to other nonprofits addressing urgent death related issues within their communities.
The Order is focused on advocating for legislation that protects and expands people’s ability to have a good death.
Our work has played a crucial role in the creation and writing of bills, providing testimony to the Senate and Congress, providing public education, expanding awareness, and leveraging public support for legislation on a variety of issues.
In 2011 Caitlin Doughty appeared on YouTube with the simple premise, “You ask a question about death, dying, decomposition, mourning, funeral customs—and I will answer it.” Ask a Mortician has been answering our death questions ever since.
Ask a Mortician is now a YouTube documentary series that approaches questions about mortality, the funeral industry, and death history with respect, curiosity, and expertise—all while maintaining its trademark quirky, irreverent sense of humor. The channel endeavors to normalize conversations around death without shying away from the challenging or bizarre. The channel now has more than 1.5 million subscribers, and remains dedicated to educating people about the past, present, and future of death.
Our archive of articles is a magical death library full of subjects you’ve (likely) never even thought of, including practical how-to’s, unknown death history, social justice issues, and much more.
Here are a few categories featuring some of our favorites. Not what you’re looking for? Head on over to the ol’ search function and enter your deathy topic of choice.
Our social media platforms feature unique, original content you won’t find anywhere else – we’re big fans of recycling, but not when it comes to our content.
News and current events — discover the latest stories and death related news.
Fact Checks — wondering if a viral Tweet, headline, or popular claim is accurate? Our experts explain, debunk, and clarify.
Order Teach-In — Our ongoing teach-in series focuses on how white supremacy impacts the way marginalized communities experience death and access end-of-life care. This series is intended to educate and inform through social, political, and to work toward solutions and direct action. Each teach-in cycle has a theme, on which we share selected media, followed by actionable solutions, and ways to support change.
Action Items — Want to be an agent of change and join with others to protect death rights and work to pass new laws? We keep you up to date on upcoming legislation, and local issues of concern (like protecting indigenous and Black burial grounds) and let you know how you can make a difference.
FAQ — We receive dozens of emails each week asking for answers and advice. On our Twitter feed, you’ll find threads answering some of your most frequently asked questions, like, “How do I become a mortician?,” “Can I keep my uncle’s skull when he dies?,” or, “Are sky burials legal in my city?”
Learn something — Knowledge equals power and we like power (and want to share it with you)! Learn funeral industry terms, some death history, and facts about protecting your death rights in a variety of monthly series where we dig deeper into a chosen subject, or enjoy posts like the A, B, C’s Of Death.
Classic Ask a Mortician — For the past decade your favorite mortician has been answering your questions about death, funerals, and corpses with compassion, expertise, and humor. In this exclusive social media series we revisit some of the most popular questions from the channel.
Get inspired — Meet the people doing fascinating and inspiring things to make a death positive difference in their communities.
Giveaways — You get a death book! You get a tote bag! You get a free aquamation! (OK, we aren’t actually giving away aquamations…yet). We think you deserve nice things, so keep an eye out for some giveaways.
In an effort to counteract a broken death care system that often centers profits instead of people, we’ve created a wide array of resources that seek to humanize death instead of exploiting it, or causing further harm to both people and planet.
We have put together toolkits to guide you through hard subjects like talking about death, planning for your death or the death of a loved one (including your pets), and to help you navigate death legislation (like fetal burial laws).
Hosted by Caitlin Doughty, Sarah Chavez, and Louise Hung, this deathcast dispels myths about death and dead bodies, dives into history and dark tales you’ve never heard before, and hopefully makes you less afraid to talk about the inevitable. Your death nerd hosts are the same team behind Ask a Mortician, who aim to educate their audience about death in a unique, relatable, and entertaining way; and sometimes (ok, all the time) they let things get delightfully bizarre.
In the spirit of the eighteenth-century salon, Death Salon encourages conversations on mortality and mourning and their resonating effects on our culture and history. These multi-day events were packed full of activities from immersive tours, to live performances, to funeral food catered parties, and thought provoking lectures. But perhaps most of all, Death Salons fostered a true sense of community among presenters and attendees alike.
The Order has hosted eight Death Salons at various cities around the world from 2013–2017. Death Salons helped to pave the way for the abundance of death positive conferences and events we see today.
In 2020, when our events were cancelled and we were quarantined in our homes, we saw that people longed for a virtual experience that spoke to a sense of community, supported a good cause, and was most of all fun. The Mortals’ Market was born.
A virtual marketplace that celebrates the diversity, artistry, and spirit in and around the Death Positive Movement, the Mortals’ Market aims to not only support independent artists and creators impacted by the hardships present since 2020 but also to raise funds for those doing good work in the death positive community. The market was conceived and hosted by death positive artist, Meagan Meli and Ask a Mortician producer and writer, Louise Hung to bring together a carefully curated group of artists whose creativity, activism, and vision enriched the conversations around death.
In the market’s inaugural year, we raised funds for Self Help Graphics. and in 2021, the market helped to raise funds for our Death Positive grant program, The Good Death Fellowship.