Chptr has won the 2026 National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) Innovation Award for its Chptr Local Media Distribution Network. Sponsored by ASD – Answering Service for Directors, the award was presented on October 26 at the NFDA International Convention & Expo in Charlotte, North Carolina.
How the Chptr Distribution Network Works
Chptr provides a single workflow for funeral homes to send death notices, service details, memorial videos, and life stories to local television, radio, digital news, streaming platforms, and community media.
Funeral directors input information once, and the system formats, schedules, and distributes the content to a network of more than 200 local media outlets nationwide. This broadens obituary reach beyond standard funeral home websites and print newspaper notices.
“When we started Chptr, we knocked on the doors of 125 funeral homes and seven agreed to pilot with us. To go from those early days to being named an NFDA Innovation Award finalist is a truly meaningful moment for our team, and one for which we are deeply grateful,” said Rehan Choudhry, Founder & CEO of Chptr.
Additional 2026 Innovation Award Finalists
A panel of funeral service and business professionals judged entries on originality, quality, and design.
- Second Place: WellTold Films, for producing cinema-quality, documentary films that document a person’s life story for private family screenings.
- Third Place (Tie): The Impression Vault – The Almorial, for creating 3D solid wood hand sculptures using mobile device scans.
- Third Place (Tie): Tukios – Heardstone, an AI assistant for funeral directors that summarizes arrangement meetings, generates task lists, and drafts obituaries.
- NFDA thanks ASD – Answering Service for Directors for its continued support of the Innovation Award and extends its appreciation to the 2026 Innovation Award judges:
- Matt Bailey, Bailey Family Funeral Homes, Wallingford, Connecticut
- Mike Burns, Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Benny Capaul, Capaul Funeral Home, Ida, Michigan
- Chris Costello, Jacob Scoen & Son, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Stefanie Gonzalez, Reverence Funeral Parlor, Scottsbluff, Nebraska
- David Hernandez, Jersey Memorial Group, Old Bridge, New Jersey
- Welton Hong, Ring Ring Marketing, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Timothy McLoone, William R. May Funeral Home Inc., New Hope, Pennsylvania
- Leili McMurrough, Worsham College of Mortuary Science, Libertyville, Illinois
- Kevin Smith, Berceuse Funeral and Cremation Traditions, Hampton, Virginia
All finalists are being featured at the NFDA Expo Hall from October 25–28. For more context, view the original details on the NFDA Innovation Award Page.
