How do you celebrate a company anniversary?

Tell the story, thank the people and give everyone one thing to do together. In practice that is a history wall or a short look back, a note or gift for every employee, a thank-you to customers and one shared event such as a party or a hosted game with a company history round.

What is a 25th company anniversary called?

A 25th company anniversary is a silver anniversary, also called a quarter century. A 50th is the golden anniversary and a 100th is a centennial. Diamond is used for both 60 and 75 years, so say the number as well.

What are good company anniversary gifts for employees?

One useful item with a small anniversary mark, the same for everyone: a jacket or bag, a good water bottle, a printed history book or a gift box. Order branded items 4 to 6 weeks ahead, and see our custom logo gifts for packaging and ribbon options.

What are good small business anniversary ideas on a tight budget?

A thank-you note from the owner to every customer, a then-and-now photo in the window and online, a cake and a group photo with the team, and an offer tied to the number of years. None of them needs more than a week of planning.

How far ahead should you plan a company anniversary celebration?

About 12 weeks for a party, gifts and a customer campaign. Branded gifts need 4 to 6 weeks, custom trivia questions about 4 weeks, kit workshops 3 weeks and a standard hosted game 2 weeks. For a 25th, 50th or 100th, start six months to a year ahead.

What is the difference between a company anniversary and a work anniversary?

A company anniversary marks the years since the business was founded and is celebrated by everyone at once. A work anniversary marks one employee's years of service. For those, see our work anniversary messages and employee anniversary gifts.

How do you celebrate a company anniversary with remote employees?

Plan for the screen first. Mail the same gift to every home, build a shared digital history wall, and run one live event on video. A hosted virtual game show can include a round of questions about your company with about 4 weeks' notice.

What do you write in a company anniversary announcement?

Give the number and the date, one line about how the company started, who made it possible and what happens next. Keep it under 150 words. This page has wording to copy for a staff email, a customer note and a social post.

Celebrations
Corporate Events

40 company anniversary ideas to mark any milestone year

Ideas for employees, customers and remote teams, what fits each milestone from year 1 to year 100, and a 12-week plan. Plus announcement wording you can copy and send today.

KraftyLab TeamUpdated Oct 202612 min read

A company anniversary belongs to everyone: the people who built the place, the customers who kept it open and the town around it. Whether you are marking a first year in business or a 25th company anniversary, the plan is the same. Tell the story, thank the people and give everyone one thing to do together. Below are 40 company anniversary ideas sorted by who they are for, then what fits each milestone, a timeline and the wording.

This guide is about the company’s birthday. For one person’s years of service, use our work anniversary messages and employee anniversary gifts instead.

Company anniversary celebration ideas for employees

Start with the people who did the work. Most of these cost little and take a week to set up.

1. History wall. Hang one photo per year along a hallway, in order, with a caption and space for sticky-note memories.
2. Then-and-now photos. Recreate three early photos in the same spot with today's team and show each pair side by side.
3. Time capsule. Seal a product sample, a team photo, a price list and letters to future staff, with the opening date on the lid.
4. Founder's story hour. The founder or the longest-serving employee tells the early stories for 20 minutes, then takes questions.
5. The company in ten numbers. One poster: customers served, orders shipped, offices opened, pots of coffee brewed.
6. A day off, or a noon finish. Close early on the day itself, or give everyone a floating day to use that quarter.
7. First-day memory cards. Everyone writes what they remember about their first day. Read a few aloud and pin up the rest.
8. Honor roll by start year. List every current employee under the year they joined, so the newest hire is on the same wall as the first.
9. A note to each person. A handwritten line from a leader or manager naming one thing that person did for the company this year.
10. Anniversary yearbook. A short printed book: the timeline, a photo of every team and one memory from each department.
11. Alumni invitations. Invite retirees and early employees back for the day. They carry the stories nobody wrote down.
12. A gift for every employee. One good item with the anniversary mark, the same for everyone, shipped to remote staff the same week. See the gift ideas below.

Company anniversary party and event ideas

One shared activity beats three speeches. Pick the size that matches the milestone.

13. Cake, a toast and a photo. The 30-minute version: a cake with the company's age on it, one short toast, one group photo.
14. Founding-year theme party. Music, snacks and dress from the year the company started. Put the year on the invite so people can plan.
15. Company history trivia. Mixed teams answer questions about the company and the world in its founding year. A host can run it at your office in 17 US cities. See in-person games.
16. Awards named after company firsts. The First Customer Award for the best client save, the Garage Award for the scrappiest fix.
17. Milestone dinner. For a 25th or 50th: a seated dinner with partners invited, a short film and three speakers at most.
18. Family open house. Open the office or the site to partners and kids for an afternoon of tours, food and a photo spot.
19. History scavenger hunt. Hide clues at places that matter: the first desk, the oldest machine, the framed first invoice. How to run an office scavenger hunt.
20. The number photo. Everyone stands in the shape of the number. Shoot it from an upper floor or a ladder, before the food comes out.

Planning for several hundred people or more than one site? Our large event team runs one event across groups and time zones. For more formats, see these corporate event ideas.

Business anniversary ideas for customers

Customers kept the doors open, so thank them before you market to them.

21. A thank-you from the founder. A short email or letter with no offer in it. Name what customers made possible.
22. An offer tied to the number. 10% off for 10 years, 25 gifts for 25 years, or founding-year prices for a single day.
23. Customer stories by era. Feature one customer from each decade or each year, in their words, with their permission.
24. Gifts for your longest-standing customers. Send something modest and edible with a note that names the year they first bought from you. See client gifts.
25. A customer appreciation event. An open house, a dinner or a hosted game for your top accounts, with no sales deck. More customer appreciation ideas.
26. Limited-edition packaging. An anniversary seal on the box or a short run of the original label, for the anniversary month only.
27. Then-and-now posts. One post a week for the month: the first storefront next to today's, the first product next to the current one.
28. The anniversary mark everywhere. Add a small mark with the founding year to email signatures, invoices and the website footer for the year.

Ideas that give back to your community

Good for a small business anniversary, where the neighborhood is part of the story.

29. Volunteer days to match the years. Pledge one team volunteer day for every five years in business, spread across the anniversary year.
30. A donation tied to the number. Pick an amount per year in business and let employees vote among three local causes.
31. A year of sponsorship. Sponsor a youth team, a school program or a scholarship for the anniversary year.
32. A free class. Teach what the company knows: a workshop, a site tour for students or a careers talk at a local school.
33. A note to the local paper. Send the newspaper and the chamber of commerce three paragraphs: how it started, who works there now, what is next.

Company anniversary ideas for remote and hybrid teams

If half the company is on a screen, plan for the screen first and add the room second.

34. Hosted game show with a company history round. A live host runs an hour of games on Zoom and one round is all about your company. Custom questions need about 4 weeks. See virtual game shows.
35. A kit workshop at every door. A craft or tasting kit ships to each home, then everyone makes it together on a call. Book 3 weeks ahead. See team building kits.
36. An anniversary box in the mail. The same gift box for every employee, with a card signed by the leadership team. See corporate gift boxes.
37. Digital history wall. A shared board with one column per year. Each team adds photos and captions for the years they remember.
38. Ten-second video montage. Everyone records the year they joined and one memory. Cut it to three minutes and play it at the all-hands.
39. This week in company history. One post a day in the team channel for the anniversary month: an old photo, a first, a number.
40. One toast across time zones. Pick the hour that works for the most people, keep it to 20 minutes and record it for everyone else.

Want someone to run it? A live host runs about an hour of games on Zoom (Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request), or in person at your office in 17 US cities. Book about 2 weeks ahead, or 4 weeks with custom questions.

15 company history trivia questions to fill in

A company history round works in a conference room, at an all-hands or on a video call. Replace the brackets and add the answers.

In what year was [company] founded?
What was the first product or service we sold?
Where was the first office, shop or desk?
What was the company almost called?
Who was our first paying customer?
Who was the first person hired after the founders?
Which of these four logos was never ours?
How many people worked here at the end of year one?
What did our first product cost?
Which office or site opened second?
In what year did we launch [product]?
Which current employee has been here the longest?
Which of these three headlines about us is real?
How many [orders, customers or units] have we served in total? Closest guess wins.
What is the oldest thing in the office that is still in use?

Mix the eras, so a person hired last year can answer as many as a 20-year veteran.
Make half of them multiple choice. Guessing is more fun than a blank stare.
Check every answer with two long-timers. Company lore is often wrong.
Play in mixed teams of 4 to 6, with a new hire and a long-timer on each.

Running it yourself at a company meeting? These all-hands meeting ideas show how to play trivia by poll with 100 or more people. To hand it to a host, see virtual trivia.

How to mark a 25th company anniversary, and every other milestone

The bigger the number, the longer the runway and the wider the guest list. Here is what fits each one.

1 year business anniversary

Getting through the first year is the win. Keep it small and thank the people who took the early risk: first customers, first hires and the families behind them.

A thank-you note to every first-year customer
A team lunch and one photo you will want at year ten
A year-one-in-numbers post
A folder where every photo and first goes from now on

5 years

The company has habits now. Use this one to start the traditions you will repeat every five years.

The founder's story, told out loud and recorded
A group photo in a spot you can return to
First-day memory cards from everyone
A letter to the team at year ten, sealed

10 year company anniversary

A decade is the first milestone customers notice. It earns a real event, a public thank-you and a gift for every employee.

A party or a hosted game with a company history round
An anniversary mark on packaging and email for the year
A customer offer tied to the number 10
A history wall, then a time capsule to open at 25

25th company anniversary (silver)

A quarter century, called the silver anniversary. Plan it as a year, not a day, and start six months ahead instead of twelve weeks.

A silver version of the logo for the whole year
A milestone dinner with alumni and partners invited
A printed history book or a short film
A community pledge built on the number 25

50 years (golden)

Half a century, the golden anniversary. Many of the people who built the early company are retired, so the first job is finding them and recording what they remember.

Recorded interviews with retirees and founders' families
A family open house and a reunion for alumni
A gift to the town: a scholarship, a park bench, a sponsorship
A story for local and trade press

100 years (centennial)

A centennial belongs to the town as much as the company. Give it a full year of events and one person whose job is the archive.

An exhibit of products, photos and letters, open to the public
A partnership with the local historical society or museum
A centennial book
A time capsule for the next hundred years

The years in between (15, 20, 30, 40) get a smaller version of the last big one. A 150th is a sesquicentennial. Diamond is used for both 60 and 75 years, so print the number next to the word.

A 12-week company anniversary planning timeline

Work back from the day. The deadlines at 4, 3 and 2 weeks out are the ones that catch planners out.

12 weeks outName an owner, a goal and a budget. Decide who it is for: employees, customers or both. Settle the date you count from, such as the incorporation or the first sale.
11 weeks outPick the day and the format. Avoid quarter-end and school holidays. Hold the room or the venue.
10 weeks outStart the history hunt. Ask long-timers for photos, old logos and first invoices. One person collects everything in one folder.
9 weeks outChoose three to five ideas. One for employees, one for customers and one shared event is plenty.
8 weeks outDesign the anniversary mark and pick gifts. Get sizes and home addresses now. Large or branded gift orders can take 4 to 6 weeks, so order no later than 6 weeks out.
7 weeks outSend the save-the-date. To staff, alumni, partners and any customers you are inviting.
6 weeks outDraft the customer campaign. Line up the customer stories, the offer and the founder's thank-you.
5 weeks outCollect the content. Video clips, first-day memories and 15 trivia questions, each checked with two long-timers.
4 weeks outLast day for anything custom. A hosted game with custom questions needs about 4 weeks, and 4 weeks is the least a branded gift order takes.
3 weeks outLast day for kit workshops. Kit workshops book 3 weeks ahead, so order a week earlier if any kits ship abroad. Send the staff announcement.
2 weeks outLast day to book a standard hosted game. Confirm speakers, food, the run of show and who takes the photos.
1 week outPrint, test and schedule. Hang the history wall, test the slideshow and the sound, and schedule the customer email and the posts.
The dayPhoto first, then food. Take the group photo before people drift, keep speeches to ten minutes and seal the time capsule last.
The week afterSay thanks and save the archive. Share the photos, thank the people who planned it and write down what to repeat at the next milestone.

Company anniversary announcement wording to copy

Three messages cover almost every anniversary. Copy one, replace the brackets and keep it short.

Email to staff

Send about 3 weeks ahead.

Subject: We turn [number] on [date] Hi everyone, On [date], [company] turns [number]. It started with [one line about the beginning], and it is still here because of the people on this email. We are marking it on [day] at [time] in [place or on video]. There will be [food, a game, a short look back], and it happens during work hours. Two things we need from you by [date]: 1. One photo from your time here, sent to [name]. 2. One sentence about your first day. Thank you for [number] years of work worth celebrating. [Name]

Note to customers

Send on the day, with nothing to sell above the signature.

Subject: [number] years, thanks to you Hi [first name], [Number] years ago this month, [company] opened with [first product, first desk or first customer]. Today we [what you do now, in one line]. That only happened because customers like you trusted us with [what they buy]. Thank you. To mark the year, we are [the offer, gift or event, in one sentence]. If there is anything we could do better in the next [number] years, reply to this email. I read every answer. [Founder or leader name]

Social post

Post with a then-and-now photo.

[Number] years ago, [company] was [one concrete detail: two people in a garage, one truck, a single counter]. Today it is [number] people serving [customers or places]. Thank you to every customer, teammate and neighbor who got us here. Here is to the next [number].

Short lines for a banner, a cake or a card

[Number] years, and just getting started.
Est. [year]. Still here because of you.
Thank you for [number] years.
[Number] years of [what you make], made by this team.
From one desk in [year] to [number] people today.
Here's to the next [number].

Corporate anniversary wishes for a client or partner

When another company hits a milestone, a two-line note from you gets remembered.

Congratulations on [number] years in business. It has been a pleasure to work alongside your team.
Happy anniversary to everyone at [company]. Here's to many more years of working together.
[Number] years is no small thing. Congratulations from all of us at [your company].
Congratulations on your 25th company anniversary. A quarter century of good work deserves a celebration.
Wishing [company] a happy anniversary and an even better year ahead.
We are proud to be one of your partners. Congratulations on the milestone.

Company anniversary gifts and logo items

A company anniversary gift should be something people keep. These work for 20 employees or 2,000:

A jacket, hoodie or bag good enough to wear on a weekend, with a small anniversary mark
A water bottle, tumbler or notebook people will use every day
A printed history book or a framed print of the timeline
A pin or coin for the milestone, numbered if the company is small
A gift box of chocolate with the anniversary on the ribbon
Time: a day off costs nothing to ship and everyone uses it

Five rules for corporate anniversary gifts

One good item beats a bag of five. Spend the budget on a single thing people would buy for themselves.
Keep the mark small. The founding year and the number, on a sleeve, a ribbon or a card. A huge logo turns a gift into a uniform.
Give everyone the same thing. Tenure gifts belong to each person's own work anniversary. This one is for the whole company.
Ship to remote staff the same week. A gift that arrives a month after the party says who was an afterthought.
For customers, keep it modest and edible. Many clients have gift limits, and something they can share with their team is the safer choice.

Our corporate gift boxes run from $22 to $192 and ship to each address with your note inside. Custom logo gifts add your anniversary mark on the ribbon, an insert or a gift tag. Branded orders need 4 to 6 weeks, so start choosing at the 8-weeks-out step to leave room for proofs. For wearable and desk items, see our company swag ideas.

Want the party handled too? Get a free quote with your date and headcount, and we will send a plan within 24 hours.