From the Nominator

The Carl Sandburg College community is strong, with many alumni choosing to remain in the region to live and work. To discover where additional Sandburg alumni are making an impact, we launched 50 Alumni, 50 States—a fun initiative designed to interact with alumni across the country, especially younger alumni who are harder to reach. The goal of 50 Alumni, 50 States is to connect with at least one alumnus or alumna from each state. On social media, we shared their journey from Sandburg to where they are today, and we featured their name, occupation, and state on our website. By highlighting Sandburg alumni, the campaign celebrates successes, builds engagement, and showcases the contributions that our alumni members are making across the nation. We use LiveAlumni to identify alumni, along with email outreach. Targeted social media posts direct individuals to complete a survey where they can share their state and upload a photo for our U.S. map visual. The initiative has helped us identify alumni to nominate for awards and connect with alumni for publications. Best of all, it’s an ongoing effort with no need for an endpoint. It has given a noticeable boost to our social media presence, increasing likes, comments, followers, and overall engagement across platforms. Sandburg's mission statement is to provide all students with opportunities for success. We also hope the 50 Alumni, 50 States initiative resonates with prospective students and serves as an important additional recruitment component.

From the Judges

This submission was recognized for its creative approach to alumni engagement and its strong potential as a model for other institutions. Judges appreciated how the initiative adapted an existing concept into a low-cost, high-impact campaign that encouraged broad alumni participation with little barrier to entry. Its strong visual presence across multiple platforms helped demonstrate the reach of the alumni community, while also supporting recruitment, volunteerism, and social media engagement. The committee valued the way this initiative extended beyond traditional giving-day strategies to create meaningful connection across all 50 states.