Learn from the award winning “Only in Nebraska” campaign what to do and not to do to make your next campaign a success. With a university system that has four unique campus brands, we still wanted everyone to share a single, unified message. In this session we will share how we started with a systemwide visioning day with top campus influencers and then developed campaign priorities for each campus and individual unit. Next, we used that information to build a comprehensive communications plan to publicly launch the campaign while considering all possible audiences from students to faculty and campus leaders to trustees and major donors to alumni of all four campuses.

As we share our “Top Five Lessons Learned from a Campaign Launch,” we will explain how we partnered closely with our campus partners to ensure that everyone felt they could see themselves in this campaign. We will also discuss how adding an engagement goal to our normal fundraising goal has rallied everyone around the campaign. Publicly launching a campaign is so much more than a cool logo and a catchy tagline – let us share with you how we approached it, Only in Nebraska.

This is our story about a unique partnership between two university centers and how, by celebrating alums over the age of 80 who are optimally aging, we have created an extraordinary avenue of engagement. Through the Eight over Eighty Award Program, we are connecting, and at times, reconnecting extraordinary alums with the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. By partnering with the Csomay Center for Gerontological Excellence, we have provided both centers the opportunity to collaborate in a myriad of ways over the simple fact that our alum is an octogenarian! Our perspective on what collaboration looks like has expanded. We view our deepening relationships potential as endless. Join us as we share how this unique partnership has led to win-win-win situations for the Center of Advancement, the Csomay Center, and for the nominated alum.

Picture a whirlwind of videos, graphics, emails, text messages, social media posts, and an incredible outpouring of support from our campus and alumni community. But it doesn’t stop with digital efforts—One Day for STATE has become a physical presence on SDSU’s campus. We host a Yellow & Blue Block Party featuring various student groups, Jack (our mascot) travels around town the night before to build excitement, and Jack even visits classrooms to engage and interact with our students. It’s a phenomenon that grows year after year.

Since our inaugural One Day for STATE in 2017, which featured 25 challenges and $80,000 in gifts to unlock, we’ve come a long way. In our 7th year, we’re presenting over 100 challenges, totaling an impressive $1.3 million in gifts just waiting to be unleashed, and we’ve raised nearly $2.5 million from more than 6,200 donors in just 24 hours.

One Day for STATE empowers student groups, colleges, departments, and programs to bridge financial gaps and support the entire campus. It’s more than just a giving day—it’s a chance for our community to come together and celebrate SDSU.