Students in a College of Journalism and Mass Communications capstone course are not just completing a class project; they are piloting a national program that the Lymphoma Research Foundation will use to expand to campuses across the country. And they are doing it with zero budget.
The catch? To make the pilot successful, students had to prove that a grassroots, relationship-driven approach could work at scale. So they built partnerships at every level: Red Bull donated over 100 cans of their energy drinks, while Celsius committed over four packs of their beverages for campus events. Campus organizations, from Greek life to ASUN, opened their meetings for campaign presentations. Faculty members welcomed students into their classrooms. And Student Life approved high-traffic booth locations across campus.
The result is "Champions of Change," a comprehensive campaign promoting the Foundation's new Collegiate Champion Program, an initiative inviting college students nationwide to serve as campus advocates and fundraisers. The success of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's pilot will determine how the nation's largest nonprofit dedicated exclusively to funding lymphoma research rolls out the program to other universities.
"We started the semester talking about what public relations professionals really do. They manage communications and relationships between organizations and their key publics," said Dane Kiambi, associate professor of public relations, who is teaching the capstone course. "I told students they'd need to lean on past and current relationships, both internal and external to UNL, to make this campaign work. They've proven that relationships are currency in public relations."
The students' strategic approach demonstrated stakeholder mapping and relationship-building at multiple levels. With no budget for incentives or promotional materials, students identified every possible stakeholder, on campus and beyond, who could amplify their message.
On the corporate front, students reached out to companies where they had personal or professional connections. The results were substantial: Red Bull agreed to donate over 100 cans of their energy drinks, while Celsius committed over four packs of their beverages, products that students will distribute during campus tabling events. Scooter's Coffee donated a giveaway bag packaged with a range of valuable items for a social media giveaway during the campaign's final week, with followers asked to engage on Instagram and TikTok — following, commenting, liking and sharing posts — to be entered in a drawing to win the prize package.
Internally, students mapped the UNL landscape and systematically built partnerships across campus. They reached out to faculty members requesting opportunities to visit classes and make announcements.
"We realized early on that we needed to be everywhere our target audience was," said Faith Galois, a senior advertising and public relaitons major working on the campaign. "It meant thinking strategically about which faculty, student organizations and campus offices could help us reach students. Every connection mattered.”
The multi-pronged approach demonstrates students' grasp of a fundamental public relations principle: effective campaigns require identifying and activating relationships with diverse stakeholders who share your goals.
"Watching them map their stakeholders, from Greek life leaders to dining hall administrators to corporate contacts, and then actually secure those partnerships has been impressive," Kiambi said. "They understood that a zero-budget campaign doesn't mean zero resources. It means being creative about the resources you already have access to through relationships."
By the fifth week of the semester, students had completed robust secondary and primary research, including surveys with peers, and identified key insights to inform campaign messaging. The campaign ran through the end of November.
"Being able to secure these partnerships with major brands like Red Bull and Celsius, plus build this network across campus, shows that even without money, strategic thinking and genuine relationships can produce real results," said Julia Quinn, a senior advertising and public relations major.
For the Lymphoma Research Foundation, the partnership represents more than a pilot. It's validation that college students can be powerful advocates for health causes when empowered with the right tools and support.
"Working with this group of students has been energizing," said Dana Bork, associate director of leadership annual giving at the foundation. "They bring fresh perspectives and the kind of creativity we need to reach younger audiences. The fact that they've been able to secure corporate partnerships and build this network across campus speaks to their professionalism and initiative."
The collaboration emerged from both Kiambi's passion for nonprofit organizations fighting cancer and UNL's 2022 first-place national win in the Public Relations Student Society of America Bateman Case Study Competition, where his students developed a winning campaign for the Lymphoma Research Foundation.
Building on the momentum from that victory, Kiambi proposed the idea of a student ambassador model to the foundation, one that aligned closely with their own vision for expanding campus engagement. Within days, he heard back from Bork, who shared the foundation's excitement about bringing the initiative to life.
That outreach led to the current partnership, where Kiambi's capstone students acted as a full-service agency piloting the foundation's new Collegiate Champion Program.
"Having the chance to execute our ideas, not just plan them, and to see tangible results from our work is an opportunity most students never get," Livia Ziskey, a senior advertising and public relations major, said. "We're not just learning theory, we're practicing the profession and learning that success in PR really does depend on the relationships you build and maintain."
Kiambi has consistently connected his students with cancer-related nonprofits. In spring 2024, his capstone class partnered with Angels Among Us, an Omaha-based organization supporting families of children undergoing cancer treatment in Nebraska, delivering three strategic communication plans that the organization continues to use.
Students report strong outcomes from the campaign thus far, with increased awareness and sign-ups for the Collegiate Champion Program among UNL students. The foundation will use insights from the pilot to refine and expand the program nationally.
"This campaign shows what happens when you give students real responsibility, real clients, and real challenges," Kiambi said. "They don't just rise to the occasion, they exceed it. These students have built a network of partnerships that many professionals would be proud of, and they did it in one semester with zero budget."
