How Nonprofit Camps Are Changing in the Age of Technology
Nonprofit camps have thrived for so long because they offer the youth in their community a healthy, safe environment to escape to for a few weeks every summer. Parents and kids alike understand the value of summer camp in a young person’s development. It makes sense that technology has been developed to specifically facilitate camp management.
Both for-profit and community-oriented nonprofit camps have so much to gain by adopting effective tech tools. Technology has the power to uproot traditional operations and boost a nonprofit camp’s ability to do good in their community. Especially over the last decade, nonprofit trends have indicated an increased reliance on and utilization of software to streamline the day-to-day operations and keep them on track to reach their long-term goals.
The way camps operate in this day and age is drastically different than the way they ran even just 15 years ago. Your camp’s administrative team no longer has to be overwhelmed by the tedious, menial tasks that often accompany camp management.
With the introduction and expansion of camp management software:
- Registration is streamlined.
- Camps are safer.
- Communication is more efficient.
- Staffing is simplified.
- Fundraising is easier.
Nonprofit camps have faced plenty of struggles as they try to offer their community the best possible camp experience. However, increased incorporation of technology in the form of camp management software has greatly alleviated much of the pressure the camp leadership teams feel. Let’s get started and see just how technology is changing nonprofit camps!
1. Registration Is Streamlined.
For decades, nonprofit camps managed their data and operational information with pen and paper. Binders stacked on desks and rows of filing cabinets were the only organization system in place. Then, along came digital spreadsheets to lessen some of the administrative burdens. But, it wasn’t until camp software came along that camps reached their maximum efficiency level.
Registration has always been a huge undertaking for nonprofit camps’ administrative teams. Every year, nonprofit camps are flooded with registration forms and questions regarding the registration process. Camp software streamlines registration season with:
- Digital account management. Parents can create, manage and update their personal account, effectively allowing them to become involved in your camp without any added stress or effort on their part or yours.
- Customizable online registration forms. Your team can personalize your camp’s registration forms to capture all of the data you deem important. This may include medical and allergy alert forms, permission slips, waivers and questionnaires.
- Multiple registration capabilities. Parents can register all of their kids simultaneously with only one convenient transaction required.
- Centralized payment processing. Parents can pay for their kids’ sessions and any fees required while your team can process any refunds, apply scholarships or provide discounts with ease.
- Eligibility filters. Eliminate much of the camp registration confusion by implementing an eligibility filter into your camp registration process. This tool will ensure only individuals who meet certain age, grade and gender requirements are able to sign up for certain sessions or events.
With the help of valuable camp management software, registration has ceased to be a source of overwhelming anxiety for most camp leaders. As nonprofit camps trust and utilize specialized tech more, they are able to focus on their camp’s longevity and social impact instead of monotonous administrative tasks.
2. Camps Are Safer.
The decision to send their kids to camp is not one that parents make lightly. There are, of course, many reasons why parents should be skeptical about sending their kids off for a few weeks every summer. But, because attending camp is such a formative experience for kids and teens, parents are willing to send their kids off to camp, as long as they know they will be safe.
The best camp management software provides many tools that can reassure parents that their children will be safe and well taken care of all summer. These tools include:
- Digital check-in. Camp leadership teams have abandoned their binders and clipboards and traded them in for a software-enabled tablets. Digital check-in means fewer errors and greater information accuracy, meaning campers are always managed properly. In no time, campers can be checked in and identified by their account profile picture and parents can receive a welcome email to assure them their child was safely checked-in.
- Transportation tracking. Getting kids to and from camp can be a hassle, but this software tool sidesteps all of the potentials for mistakes and offers a clear portal through which to schedule, manage and track the transportation of campers. With transportation tracking, parents can rest assured that their child will safely get to camp.
- Electronic health center. As a parent, it can be terrifying sending your child to camp, especially if they have any health risks, like severe allergies. An electronic health center tool allows campers to be assigned a wristband with a barcode that, when scanned, will pull up all medical information on file for that camper. This easy system guarantees that, in case of a medical emergency, the camp staffer on hand will have all the information they need to proceed correctly.
Gone are the days when parents need to worry about their child at camp. Nowadays, nonprofit camps that take full advantage of the tools and services provided by camp management software can assure parents that their child will be safe.
3. Communication Is More Efficient.
Communication is such an important aspect of nonprofit camps. From sharing your nonprofit camp’s story within your community to appealing to prospective campers and following up with registrants, nonprofit camps are rife with opportunities to communicate. In the past, this has presented a real problem for camp leadership, as efficient and effective communication is easier said than done.
In recent years, nonprofit camps have employed their camp management software tools to improve their communication strategy and develop better relationships with members of their community.
Email is hands down the most valuable tool for camp communication. Camps appeal to busy parents and guardians who want easy access to their child’s camp information without worrying about losing flyers and pamphlets. Valuable email tools you should look for include:
- Automated emails
- Mass emails
- Scheduled emails
The ultimate goal of most nonprofit communication strategies is to forge lasting relationships with the people who are involved in the nonprofit camp— this includes the campers, their parents and the camp staffers.
Camp software has enabled camp leadership to distribute, receive, store and organize nonprofit camp evaluations that allow camp leadership to better understand how their camp is viewed. Community members can provide honest feedback about their experience with or opinion of the nonprofit camp that camp leadership can then use to modify their strategy for the following year.
Just check out the CircuiTree guide to camp evaluation forms to see how efficient this communication strategy can be and how much it benefits nonprofit camps today.
4. Staffing Is Simplified.
It’s no secret that staffing a nonprofit camp can be challenging—staffing of any kind, really, comes with different hoops that leadership teams have to jump through to ensure they are hiring the best possible candidate. Historically, staffing has been a stumbling block for nonprofit camp leadership. However, now camp software simplifies the entire camp staffing process and helps camp leadership perfect their hiring strategy.
To see how you can expertly hire your nonprofit camp staff, check out the CircuiTree guide to summer camp staffing strategies.
Nonprofit camps are aided in their staffing attempts by:
- Online applications. This tool allows prospective staffers to complete their application 100% online. The nonprofit camp’s hiring team can customize the application forms to only ask the vital information that pertains to the specific position to which the potential staffer is applying.
- Interview tools. Interviewers can set up questions to ask candidates ahead of time and store them in the database to be filled in during the actual interview, guaranteeing the interviewer can ask all the important questions and keep track of the answers.
- Candidate profiles. An effective organizational tool, creating profiles for interviewees and staffers cuts down on confusion during the hiring process and enables the hiring team to make informed decisions about their staff.
- Electronic offers. All offers of employment are completely customizable and can be made and accepted electronically.
- Digital onboarding. Don’t worry about juggling countless onboarding forms or losing important legal documents. Digital onboarding guarantees everything you need is safely in one secure location.
- Automated reference requests. Camp hiring teams can send and receive responses from automated reference emails while tracking this data directly into employee records.
Even if the camp relies on volunteers instead of paid staff, having easy access to volunteer candidate profiles, reference requests, and digital onboarding is still incredibly important. Camps must make sure their volunteers are properly prepared to take on such an important task as working with children for an entire summer.
Because of the powerful tech tools that camp software provide, finding and building a relationship with effective staff members doesn’t need to be a source of stress for nonprofit camps.
5. Fundraising Is Easier.
Effective fundraising can be an obstacle to many nonprofit camps. There are so many programs and activities you want to be able to offer campers, but all of these require an ample source of funds. With the right tools, fundraising for camp becomes not only easy but fun!
Some of the most popular nonprofit camp fundraising strategies include:
- Hosting a walk-a-thon. A fun outdoor event that can get people of all ages involved, a walk-a-thon is a great fundraising idea! Your camp staff and volunteers will be able to engage directly with the community it serves and develop relationships between your camp and its community.
- Organizing an auction. Hosting an auction, while requiring slightly more organization, has the potential to bring in major donations when you offer high-value auction items.
- Crowdfunding. Crowdfunding harnesses the power of social sharing to spread awareness for nonprofit camps in addition to being an excellent way to raise money.
No matter what fundraiser a nonprofit camp incorporates into their strategy, there are endless software solutions that are perfectly designed to facilitate a quick and easy fundraising experience. Check out this list to see some examples.
Technology has revolutionized how nonprofit camps operate. With the right tools, tasks which were once difficult challenges that had to be overcome, are now easily accomplished. Software tools will enable nonprofit camps to run more efficiently and effectively without any extra hassle.
Before becoming a camp professional, Glen Greenstone enjoyed many other pursuits. A native San Diegan, he worked through college as a 911 dispatcher. He has a passion for literature and the outdoors, and is a veteran of U.S. Coast Guard, so he naturally loves to get out on the water with his wife and two kids whenever possible. He loves hearing camp cheers outside his office window during the summer, while helping camps across the country overcome their unique challenges!