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Your business took countless hours, decisions, and people to make it where it is today. So now that you’ve hit one of the big milestones (and they tend to come faster than you realize), what do you do to celebrate?

Yes, you should do something to mark this special occasion – you, your employees, and your stakeholders deserve to commemorate it.

But what in the world should you do?

Throw a party?

Take your executive team to an exotic location?

Give everyone in the company branded gifts?

There are plenty of options out there, so we’ve put a list of the 9 most popular we’ve seen as a corporate recognition company.

9 Ideas on How to Celebrate a Corporate Milestone

Before we jump into providing ideas, understand that everything should be inspired by your company, brand, and company culture. You should always represent your brand, which will greatly impact your employee engagement, employee experience, and the future of your company. Learn how to align your company culture with your brand here.

So, you should take the ideas we’ve provided and adapt them to your culture, branding, and needs. It makes it more personal and effective.

1.      Have an anniversary event

Have a party or banquet to celebrate the occasion. Whether it’s organizing a party for employees on location, hosting a conference for employees and industry professionals, having an employee and family picnic, throwing a huge public party for customers, business partners, and employees, or sending the senior staff or appropriate parties involved to an exotic location – all are popular ways to utilize events when celebrating.

2.      Create an experience

This could mean by having a week-long celebration with various activities each day or even setting up contests between the various offices and locations. It’s about making it fun for all and creating memorable experiences.

3.      Launch something new

 Launch your new project/product, launch that experiment, or launch a significant improvement or capability. Create buzz about your new “thing” and launch it to show your innovation and creative side. 

4.      Give gifts

A popular way to celebrate, that’s often paired with others in this list, is to give gifts. Sometimes to key customers. But mostly to employees and stakeholders. Drop shipping or providing desk-drops are especially useful when distributing branded and personalized gifts. If you decide to take this route, then be sure to check out this blog.

5.      Volunteer

Volunteer at a not-for-profit agency, clean up a park, participate in Adopt-a-Family, collect canned goods for a local food bank, etc. Choose an activity or charity that holds meaning to your people, company, or area.

If you want, allow each office or location to select its own unique opportunity to give back to the community. If you do this, collect all the stories at the end of the year, and share these efforts.

6.      Launch a campaign

 Launch an employee appreciation campaign, a customer appreciation campaign, or a “Who We Are” and how far we’ve come campaign (I strongly suggest utilizing video for this). You can even hold contests, launch a special sale, or change your branding and packaging to accomplish this. Create buzz and combine these if you wish.

7.      Create a limited-time exclusive

 Give an exclusive present or offer an exclusive product for a limited time.

Whether its an offering for customers, influencers, stakeholders, employees, or the general public – a limited-time exclusive is a unique way to celebrate.

• Give a custom corporate anniversary piece (that’s completely tuned into your company needs and branding)
• Give away copies of your CEO’s book
• Sell or provide anniversary-exclusive stuff
• Create a microsite for the milestone or year
• Create a limited-edition service or product

8.      Sponsor or donate

 Sponsor a popular event, donate to a charity, or start a scholarship – if you’re active in the community this is a great way to involve the community or something else close to your heart or brand.

9.      A thoughtful display

Install a thoughtful and personal branded display. This can be an honor wall, company timeline display, a recognition display, environmental branding, or branded display. Have a lasting piece to display for many years to come.

Celebrating a milestone like a corporate anniversary should be a momentous occasion. These are a few of the most popular ways we’ve seen companies celebrate.

Want to learn more? Check out this excellent blog – How to Make Your Company Milestones and Anniversaries a Smart Business Strategy.  Or reach out – we’ll be happy to help!

Kristina Hublar is your friendly neighborhood Marketing Specialist at Bruce Fox, Inc., which means she is the person behind the keyboard for the social media, emails, website, and other marketing efforts. In her spare time, you’ll find her plotting her next road trip, bobbing along to music while crafting, or spending time with loved ones.