This article walks you through how to record the loss, add supporting updates, and run a report to see everyone who has experienced a loss.
Why This Matters
In many organizations, information about grief and loss is stored in a leader’s personal calendar, or worse, remembered informally. When that leader transitions away, the knowledge goes with them.
Notebird centralizes this important care information so your team can consistently support individuals year after year. Anyone stepping into a care role can immediately see who has experienced a loss and how the organization has cared for them.
Adding a Passing of a Loved One Milestone
Navigate to the person’s profile (Use the search bar to locate the individual who experienced the loss.)
Scroll to the bottom of their profile and click Add Milestone.
In the milestone type dropdown, select Passing of a Loved One.
Note: This milestone type is included by default, and you can customize milestone types as needed.
Choose the date of the loss.
(Optional) Enable Show Annually in Activity Feed.
Notebird will bring this milestone back into your Activity Feed 7 days before the anniversary.
On the anniversary date, it will also appear in your Early Bird Report email.
In the Short Description field, add the person’s relationship (e.g., “Great aunt passed away”).
Note: You only need to mark the milestone for the person you are caring for. You do not need to mark the loved one as deceased or create a profile for them.
Click Save Milestone.
Adding an Update Related to the Loss
After recording the milestone, you may want to add a follow-up update for your care records.
Click Add Update on the person’s profile.
Document the conversation or care interaction (e.g., “Talked with Amanda about her great aunt’s passing”).
Choose an update type (such as Check-In).
Assign the update to a relevant group. For example, your Grief group.
Save the update.
This keeps both the milestone and related pastoral interactions organized and easy to revisit.
Running a Passing of a Loved One Report
You can quickly view all individuals who have lost a loved one within a given timeframe.
Click your name in the upper-right corner.
Select Reports → Milestones.
Search for and select Passing of a Loved One.
Choose the date range (e.g., “This Year”).
Notebird will instantly generate a list of people who have experienced a loss, along with the relationships recorded in the milestone description.
This report is especially valuable before holidays, special services, or moments when your team wants to reach out to those who may be grieving.
