Effective Camp
The wisdom of camp, shared throughout decades of learning about God and each other, shows us how effective and impactful faith formation can happen through outdoor ministry experiences when 5 fundamental elements come together at camp. We measure these outcomes and much more through Effective Camp Projects at camps like yours, generating valuable insights into your most important audiences. view findingsget started for 2025
The heart of the research into impactful outdoor ministry
Outdoor ministry and the unique settings, experiences, and relationships that form through camp are a critical part of the ecology of Christian faith formation.
Effective Camp projects offer actionable research into individual or group of camps based on the methods of the Effective Camp Research Project. The insights generated in these projects have proven to help outdoor ministry leaders make well-informed choices, increase staff capacity, and maximize impact.
Evidence is building that camp experiences continue affecting young people long after the last tearful goodbye, and we can build on the success of these experiences in our ministry contexts by knowing the potential impacts and forging connections between camp, congregation, and home. The impacts are clear and recognizable in camps that attend to the 5 fundamental characteristics of Christian camping:
Participatory
Faith-centered
Safe Space
Relational
Unplugged
Partnership between camps, churches, and faith communities together serves to nurture faith, build character, and strengthen families. We’ve learned qualitatively and quantitatively through the Effective Camp Project that camp is a unique space in which 5 fundamental characteristics come together to create deeply impactful faith experiences. To date, we’ve collected, analyzed, reported, and consulted on data from:
Campers
Parents
Camps
States & Provinces
Everyone plays a role in forming faith in and with each other. Whether you are a camp leader, pastor or other ministry professional, a scholar or academic leader, or a parent, we’ve learned some things (and are ever-learning more) that we can take away and apply to our lives and ministries.
There are 3 levels of engagement in Effective Camp Research. See the options below, and then click the button to get started on a project that will make a big difference for your camp and the families you serve.
LEVEL 1
Parent Insights
Gain impactful understand on the perspectives and motivations of those that often make the key decision around camp – registering campers. Here’s what’s included in this package.
1 Parent Survey
The parent survey is sent one week after the camper departs camp, with a combination of best-practice and customized questions. The base price includes 150 parent responses, with additional response numbers available for a small increase in the fee to allow for the extra data entry and processing time.
1 Comprehensive Parent Insights Report
This report shares the results from the data collected in the parent survey through clarifying visuals like charts, tables, and graphs, plus written analysis and insights, and consultative suggestions for potential program shifts and marketing strategties based on the findings.
1 90-minute consultation
We’ll meet with you virutally go over the findings, clarify questions, and talk through recommendations to maximize the use of what you’re learning.
1 Marketing Kit
We’ll send along a set of branded, ready-to-share graphics based on your findings
$1500
LEVEL 2
Camper + Parent Insights
Parents and campers are the primary audiences you serve when youth summer camp is your focus. When you tap into what makes or breaks their experience, you can make choices that maximize program quality. This level includes:
1 Customized Camper Survey
This camper-focused survey is administered at the end of the camp week before campers depart, capturing their experiences as they happen.
1 Parent Survey
The parent survey is sent one week after the camper departs camp, with a combination of best-practice and customized questions.
2 Comprehensive Insights Reports
We’ll send a full Camper Insights Report and a Parent Insights Report with analysis and recommendations based on your findings
1 90-minute consultation
We’ll meet with you virutally go over the findings, clarify questions, and talk through recommendations to maximize the use of what you’re learning.
1 Marketing Kit
We’ll send along a set of branded, ready-to-share graphics based on your findings
$2900
LEVEL 3
The Effective Camp Project
This level of engagement is the full effective camp project, where we can gather multiple levels of camper data to understand longer-term impact and deeper insights.
3 Customized Camper Surveys
We administer 3 surveys customized for your camp with analysis, administered on the first day of camp, last day of camp, and 8 weeks after camp. You administer the first two via paper surveys on site at camp, we do the data entry. We administer the follow-up surveys 8 weeks after camp.
Base pricing included 300 camper responses, with additional response available for a small increase in the fee to allow for additional data entry, processing, and analysis time.
1 Parent Survey
The parent survey is sent one week after the camper departs camp, with a combination of best-practice and customized questions.
3 Insights Reports
We’ll put together an Initial Insights Report, a Parent Survey Report, and Comprehensive Camper Report about the findings with insight-based recommendations
2 90-minute consultations
We’ll meet with you virutally twice go over the findings, clarify questions, and talk through recommendations to maximize the use of what you’re learning.
1 Marketing Kit
We’ll send along a set of branded, ready-to-share graphics based on your findings. Cohort-model camps will receive graphics for the whole cohort, with optional Canva-editable templates to adjust to your individual camp.
added VALUE + DEEPEST IMPACT
Effective Camp Cohort
The most impactful way to participate in the full effective camp project is through a cohort of 6 or more camps. This could be through camps in your region, your outdoor ministry association, or simply a group of like-minded ministries. Cohort camps receive reduced pricing when compared to individual projects plus added benefits:
added value for cohorts
Cohort-Level Insights
We’ll included comparisons across the cohort in reporting and discuss these in the consultations.
Digital Insights Tool
We’ll prepare a set of engaging, interactive digital dashboards with filterable data for deep and focused of insights.
$3850 /camp + $3000 cohort fee
focused insights
Individual Projects
This path includes the full effective camp project focused on an individual camp or multi-site camp with customized questions and the potential to expand easily to other audiences like summer staff, guests, donors, and more.
$5850
sacred playgrounds, LLC
Our Research Team
There is a full team behind the research into effective, impactful ministry that is the heart of how we help camps thrive. We've each got more than 2 decades of work connected to outdoor and church-based ministry. Use the button to meet the people that make these projects happen.
effective camp ecourse
A self-paced dive into the 5 fundamentals of effective camp
This course is designed for outdoor ministry leadership teams! Gather your staff or program team to reflect deeply on the practices of your camp in light of the ground-breaking findings from the Effective Camp Project. This course will walk you and your team through the five fundamental characteristics of Christian summer camp, helping you connect the findings to your ministry context. The course consists of 6 learning modules, plus one introductory session. The intro will be sent immediately upon purchase, and each subsequent module will be sent weekly. Each module consists of an interactive video (12-15 minutes), a handout for engagement, discussion questions for your team, assignments to apply research findings in your context, and a next-level tip to go even deeper.
