Adrian Kerrigan believes in the power of milestone events.
As a senior vice president for advancement at the Catholic Medical Mission Board, an international relief group, he has spent the past two years planning events and campaigns that mark the charity’s 100th year.
The celebrations, which will span all of 2012, kicked off in Haiti with a Catholic Mass, followed by a formal reception and the announcement of a new, countrywide comprehensive health project. More celebrations in each of the countries where the nonprofit has offices will be capped off with a gala in New York, where the charity has its headquarters.
Anniversary years can be a terrific opportunity for a charity to get extra attention as well as gain new supporters and volunteers, Mr. Kerrigan says.
“Used effectively, a landmark year is an extra hook, a way to capture attention and give a reason for someone to choose to volunteer with or donate to your organization rather than all the other causes competing for their attention,” he says. “Having initiated those relationships, you can then work to keep them long after the year is done.”
To bring lasting benefits from an anniversary, say experts, begin brainstorming well before the anniversary date to decide the most effective—and appropriate—ways to celebrate. Here are some tips from charities that have recently or are now marking their own milestones.
Make black tie optional. “Any significant kind of longevity is worth celebrating, but it can take many different forms,” says Mr. Kerrigan, “For us, being around for 100 years, people do want a formal celebration, a gala. But if you’re a 10-year-old organization, that may not be the case, and so something more virtual, like a Facebook gathering, could be very effective.”
Melinda Ohlemiller, chief executive of Nurses for Newborns, says that her St. Louis nonprofit made a conscious decision to forgo a black-tie event when it celebrated its 20th anniversary last year.
“We are just coming out of a recession and our clients have been hit hard, our supporters have been hit hard,” says Ms. Ohlemiller, whose group provides at-home nurse visits for infants born to needy families in Missouri and Tennessee. A formal gala was not the right fit for the group, which instead threw a more casual “Boogie for Babies” fundraising bash—“much more accessible to the people who have been keeping us going for 20 years,” she says. It also joined forces with the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team for an anniversary-related fundraising event featuring retired players who were on the team two decades ago.
However, given the right circumstances, a black-tie gala can be very effective. The Junior League of Chicago is now celebrating its 100th year. Beyond wanting to celebrate its centennial, the service organization’s goal for 2012 is to secure its financial future.
“We decided to undergo the work and the cost of throwing a very large-scale event because we knew that was how we could engage corporate sponsors,” says Beth Kost, who volunteered as co-chair to the Junior League’s Centennial Committee. The centennial gala, held in June, raised more than $300,000 for the group.
Exploit the number. Nurses for Newborns used its 20th anniversary as a fundraising hook, launching a “20/20” campaign asking supporters to make a recurrent $20-per-month commitment. “Our midlevel donors were able to participate because we weren’t asking for that much money, and they definitely responded to the anniversary tie-in,” says Ms. Ohlemiller.
The Senior Source, a charity in Dallas that serves older people, celebrates the 50th anniversary of its founding this year. It didn’t run a separate anniversary-related fundraising drive says Betty Houser, the group’s director of communications. Instead, she says, “we tied our annual campaign to the anniversary, with donation levels relating to the number—$50, $500, $5,000. We also received a $50,000 gift from a local foundation to be used as a ‘call to give’ matching fund.”
The charity’s number theme continued in a special sky-diving event, at which 50 people over age 50 jumped out of airplanes to raise $50,000. (Thanks to a generous donor who wanted to stay anonymous, the event actually raised $65,000.)
“Senior citizens sky diving sounds almost crazy at first,” says Molly Bogen, head of the Senior Source. “But this fit perfectly as a way to celebrate our anniversary while pushing back stereotypes about aging.”
And also, adds Ms. Houser, the event helped the nonprofit stand out in the anniversary crowd: “Of course, we think our 50th is important, but there are charity anniversaries every day. We were trying to think of a unique way to celebrate that would make both the public and the press take notice.” Mission accomplished: The Senior Source received national news-media attention, as well as new donors drawn by the exposure.
Use the anniversary to energize all events. During the early stages of centennial planning, says Mr. Kerrigan, Catholic Medical Mission Board staff members worried about taking on extra tasks on top of their regular workloads.
“You don’t want your celebration to come at a cost to normal business,” he says. As a result, employees were encouraged to integrate recognition of the anniversary into everything they did throughout the year.
Tying an anniversary to existing operations can be as simple as using a commemorative logo or slogan in all communication materials. “Our regular direct-mail appeals and telemarketing, our Facebook, our Twitter, all have a 100-year branded approach that gets attention and brings new people in that window,” says Mr. Kerrigan.
The group organized 10 events specifically to mark the anniversary, says Mr. Kerrigan, though “there were 50 regular events that continued as part of everyone’s regular work. But when those regular events got 100th-anniversary branding, the virtual result was of having 60 special events.”
Involve hard-core supporters. “Your members and volunteers are the people who are most truly excited about all this. Ask for their input,” says the Junior League’s Ms. Kost. She points out that including active supporters in the planning process of a landmark anniversary celebration will give them an opportunity to become even more engaged. This can also be a good time to reach out to supporters who may have drifted away. She says her group has been inviting former members to small “champagne and cupcake” events throughout its centennial year.
Use the past to shape the future. A key component of any anniversary observation is a history of the group, usually produced as a video, brochure, or Web page. Doug Staples, a senior vice president at the March of Dimes, is overseeing the planning for that charity’s celebration of its 75th year, in 2013. He suggests that nonprofits investigate whether any prominent people have been connected to their cause in the past.
“It is absolutely legitimate to approach these people or their descendants to serve as spokespeople for your charity, using the anniversary tie-in but possibly creating a much longer relationship,” he says. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, granddaughter of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the March of Dimes’ founder, serves in this capacity for Mr. Staples’s group.
Also, a milestone year is the perfect time to commence a major new campaign or strategic objective, says Mr. Kerrigan, of Catholic Medical Mission Board. “Your next 100 years are as important as the 100 you just completed,” he says. “Don’t just celebrate the past—use this as a launchpad into the future.”
Don’t forget to debrief. When the streamers and confetti have been swept up, take time to reflect. “Debrief your constituents on what they viewed as successful and what they’d advise against doing again,” says Ms. Ohlemiller. “Because if all goes well, you are going to have another anniversary coming up—and probably faster than you think.”
