If you are like most of us, you fled your office in March 2020 and, outside of a few visits, you likely have not been back since. You may even have started a new job and have not actually met your boss or colleagues in person.

As we enter the next stage of this pandemic, it's time to think about celebrating a new beginning whether it's a return to your office, a re-opening of your organization's doors, or the quieting of the case count. It's also a great opportunity to celebrate and thank or re-engage your donors and volunteers. This celebration is both a chance to mark the occasion and give people a positive way to connect, reflect, and move forward.

Even if you are not planning to work in the same way, it is valuable to celebrate the milestone of changing operations to allow more in-person contact. As part of this strategy, you should develop a variety of events and methods so that you can include everyone and all can feel part of this next stage. 

This is also a great time to mark the occasion using both virtual and in-person means. You might want to ask people to send in their thoughts on their experience of the pandemic and what impact that had on their relationship with your organization - this could be collected through a website, a dedicated Facebook page, through some other social media as a hashtag. Or you could even go old school and turn all the submissions into a book for your organization's archive.

All good celebrations involve a photo and cake. Whether your photo is a group Zoom shot, a traditional in person group shot, or a short video using a technology like Memento, don't miss this chance to record this moment in time. You can share copies of these images with all participants as a way to mark this milestone.

You can also celebrate with a sweet treat. You may have a small enough team that is located centrally to be able to meet all in one place at one time for cake outdoors. This era has certainly seen the rise of home delivery so there is no reason why you couldn't have a treat delivered to each team member and have a virtual unboxing of the treat with a toast to celebrate moving forward.

Whatever path you choose, remember this is a true milestone for each of us personally, as well as for our organizations. By marking this in a way that is meaningful and fits your organization, you will help set a positive course for the next stage for your charity.

Ann Rosenfield is a working fundraising and the Editor of Hilborn Charity eNews.