Nebraska Community Foundation Newspaper Collaborations Spreading Good News
2017 was a year of exciting media opportunities for Nebraska Community Foundation (www.nebcommfound.org). The Lincoln-based non-profit kicked off two collaborations aimed at telling community development success stories from across Greater Nebraska. NCF’s collaboration with Omaha World-Herald, titled “The Better Half,” featured columnists Sarah Baker Hansen and Matthew Hansen’s travels exploring the little-known people, unexpected places and memorable foods across the state. As part of the series, NCF submitted complementary articles about the extraordinary accomplishments of 20 of the 250 Greater Nebraska communities it serves.
In addition to “The Better Half,” NCF also partnered with Norfolk Daily News to tell similar stories with a focus on central and northeast Nebraska. After a very successful 10-part, five-month-long series, NCF and NDN will again collaborate in 2018 to bring readers another series of articles, this time featuring young people who have returned to Greater Nebraska communities to live, work and raise their families.
NCF’s collaborations with Omaha World-Herald and Norfolk Daily News have resulted in millions of online, print and social media impressions across the country and around the world. Importantly, they are raising awareness about a growing number of Nebraska hometowns that are taking control of their futures by leveraging the local assets available in their place.
The Norfolk Daily News “young returners” series will launch this summer and will conclude in November in conjunction with Nebraska Community Foundation’s (www.nebcommfound.org) Annual Celebration which will be held November 8 in Norfolk.