Sometimes cutting back on special events — as many charities have been forced to do by the recession — brings unexpected benefits, even if the organization ends up raising less money.

That’s the case with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, an organization that promotes community-service and social-justice projects among Jewish students at colleges and universities in the United States and abroad.

This year, its 85th anniversary, Hillel canceled its annual black-tie gala in New York City, an event that last year cost about $200,000 and netted $1.2-million.

Instead, the organization held a virtual international gala, during which supporters held 85th birthday parties for Hillel in their homes, in public parks, and in bars.

The parties, which took place in 25 cities on June 14, were connected by a live global Webcast, reaching many more people than the annual gala, including supporters in countries as far away as Russia and Uruguay.

Students participated in the fund-raising events in varying ways, by donating volunteer hours or money. Each chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, for example, pledged to give $85 in honor of Hillel’s big day.

The event raised collected more than $850,000 and cost just $75,000. What’s more, Hillel saved approximately $125,000 in what it would have spent had the organization gone ahead with the gala. Not bad for a recession.