Chris Hutcherson Raises Funds For Education

Since his earliest days as a junior high and high school band teacher, Chris Hutcherson has been dedicated to education for children. His commitment has led him to a career as a professional fund-raiser, where he’s raised over $200,000,000 for children’s causes.

Over the years, he’s developed a broad range of strategies for successful fund-raising. As a director of sales and training at Colgate-Palmolive, he focused on developing fund-raising catalogs with traditional items like gifts and jewelry. One catalog, the Santa’s Workshop program, is still being used today.

Later, he established rebate agreements with over 250 merchants in cooperation with the National Scrip Center. Well-known companies, such as the Gap, Sears, JC Penney, and many more, all joined together to direct rebate money to schools across the country. Chris Hutcherson grew sales for this school fundraising operation by over 1500% in less than five years.

Working at Children’s Heroes, Chris Hutcherson embraced new technologies, testing some of the first smart cards in America, and pioneering electronic rebate programs to support school fund-raising. Once again, he brought merchants and schools together, building partnerships to support education.

Hutcherson Supports College Savings

With Chris Hutcherson’s guidance, UPromise expanded opportunities for college savings nationwide. Using merchant loyalty programs and the power of co-branding, he helped turn UPromise into one of the largest college savings programs of its kind. The marriage of business and community benefit has been a fantastic example to anyone who has had the pleasure of knowing Mr. Hutcherson’s work.