Starting From Scratch

[triplethreat]

As I said in my intro thread, I am starting a new day camp for the summer of 2007.

I am in a fairly small but growing community with few summer programming options. I feel there is a real need here that I can fill.

The soccer association is sponsoring us by allowing us to work under their liscense and insurance. We will also be sending out registration packages with their own summer registration mail-out (this will allow us reach about 1000 families). We will be renting some very nice indoor/outdoor space. The bad news is there is no access to swimming. :mad: So I will have to work in various types of "water play".

I have planned the camp for four weeks, and plan to have a special "theme" for each week with a culminating activity (sort of a mini color war) on the Friday. The tentative themes are Wild West, Pirates, Ocean/Beach, & Ancient Egypt.

My main goals for this year are to make enough money to cover our various expenses, and to build a strong foundation for future years. Word of mouth is VERY important in this community so I really feel a need to make an excellent impression.

I have many questions at this point:

- what can I do to help foster traditions in a new camp?
- how to I handle staffing when I don't yet know how many campers I will have?
- what might be my main "selling points" in this situation? how do I entice families to register?
- does anyone have a basic outline for staff training? does this work differently with a small group?

Any help/input with any of these things would be greatly appreciated. I am very excited but also very anxious to start with a "bang".

Kris

[camper]

i'm going to give you some suggestions on fostering tradition...i think that w/a new camp it's really important to get your staff on board w/the idea of starting traditions. you have to really get them excited...say things like "everything you do affects the direction this camp goes in...you have the ability to mold these kids and start traditions and make them want to come back." get their input on ideas for traditions for you to have...i think the mini color war idea is good or having 1 big color war. also coming up w/some songs that are unique to your own camp so that you can teach your campers and start traditions that way is a good idea. also come up w/some activities that you want to be "staples" at your camp...things that the campers of all ages will like that will be staples of your program. good luck!

[YUrocks!]

I have many questions at this point:

- what can I do to help foster traditions in a new camp?

I agree with Camper. The key is getting the staff involved and making things "tradition" (ie doing them every week). Making the traditions you wish to have at camp (ie last day of week is theme day, crazy announcements every morning, etc) part of staff training will get the staff used to them. Also asking staff to help create some of the traditions is good, but don't rely on them to do it all, you have to have a strong base.

- how to I handle staffing when I don't yet know how many campers I will have?
This is a tough one. We encourage early registration by offering a discount ($10/wk) if you register before March 31. This helps us to figure out how much we will need to spend on supplies and staffing.

Also, apply for grants and funding. We're in Canada so it is a bit different, but there should be grants and funds you can apply for through your local and state governments for employing young students, summer students, etc. Apply to everything you can find because you may get turned down. The best way to find out about these funds is to ask local camps how they get them.

The other thing to do, is try to reasonably estimate how many campers you can get and base your initial staff hiring on that. You can always hire more staff if you need to as the summer gets closer.

- what might be my main "selling points" in this situation? how do I entice families to register?
Our selling point is that we are an educational camp that runs out of a university. Our staff are all university students so parents are more comfortable leaving their kids with us than with a camp with 16 yr old counsellors.

What is missing in your town? Do you have a sports camp? What about a leadership development camp for kids? Think about the topics that are key these days in educational circles in your state (in Ontario it is healthy living, character building, self esteem, etc) and market your camp around this.

Also, I think you mentioned that you are a teacher. Parents love hearing that their kids are going to a camp that is designed and run by a "certified teacher". They assume that means their kids will be well cared for. Defintely play up this aspect (it works for me :) )


- does anyone have a basic outline for staff training? does this work differently with a small group?

If you PM (private message) me, I can send you an outline of my training and some suggestions. Or email me at smcglynn@brocku.ca.

Other random thoughts:
-Drop off brochures / fliers at your local library and ask if you can put them up at grocery stores etc. Any place where moms and dads hang out. If you call local schools and speak with the principal, (mention you are a teacher starting a professional summer camp as a service to the community) and ask if s/he will put info about your program in the school newsletter.

- Word of mouth has really helped my program grow over the past 2.5 years. Encourage parents to tell their friends about the program. You may find that registration is slow but then builds as the summer goes on as parents realise that their kids love your camp and want to return and bring a friend.

- Doing a little marketing each week (ie talking about the c ool things happening next week or how the camp traditions will be c arried on) will help make kids want to come back week after week.

- Donations! Write up a formal letter and then do follow up phone calls. Stores and organisations might give you their excess or damaged toys and sports equipment (I head Wal-mart will do this but I don't know). Also asking everywhere you buy stuff if they offer discounts (many places in Ontario will give you 15% off which equals the amount of tax we pay on top of the price), especially dollar stores since I buy hundreds of dollars of stuff from them.

Hope this helps. Let me know what else you would like. I can't wait to hear about how things go as you prepare for Summer 2007!
Susan

[CAMPFRIEND]

- what can I do to help foster traditions in a new camp?
I think the best part about starting a new camp is you have the ability to start whatever you want. Make sure that you do have a good plan, as that is what will make the campers come back next summer.- how to I handle staffing when I don't yet know how many campers I will have?
Think about how many kids you can handle at your site? It’s better too have to many staff then not enough. To sell camp to the parents it going to be all about you. As the director parents are going to want to talk to you and you are the one for the first year who is going to sell the program.- what might be my main "selling points" in this situation? how do I entice families to register?
I would work with who ever you are renting the space from and see if you can run a open house. Also, work with the local schools and see if you can get the kids flyers and try to be a part of the PTAS or PTOs and get to the meeting and talk. It’s a lot of work, but its how you are going to fill camp.- does anyone have a basic outline for staff training? does this work differently with a small group? For staff training, find out what information is required by you state. How many hours and if there is anything that you need to make sure that you cover. The rest is in your hands. I think that you are going to have to see what kind of staff you hire before you set your training.

If you have more questions, send me a PM and I will get you my e-mail address so that I can do what I can to help. Good Luck!

[horizonsguide]

As a web developer at heart, my first advice would be to get a simple website up that offers information on your camp, downloadable forms for camp registration, counselor applications, etc. Make the site welcoming, profressional, and resourceful. I would get the web address out almost as much as you advertise via word of mouth. This should greatly increase your camp's reputation. If you aren't the web saavy type, I would first look around for a web developer looking for community service work. If no luck, I would say visit Sitepoint.com's classified ads and look for someones to design your site to be very basic for cheap.