The Summer Advantage: How Camp Season Fuels Major Gifts
For many summer camp leaders, the arrival of summer signals one thing: all hands on deck. Camp is in full swing, staff are fully engaged, campers are arriving with energy and anticipation, and every day is packed with activity…and sometimes surprises. It’s the most...
Word Association: Unpacking the Value of Creating Multiple Levels of Insights & Impact
This episode features good friends of ours, Jess and Jessica, who lead vibrant associations of camps, conference centers, retreat centers, and farms. We'll hear where, how, and why generating insights and then using them well is becoming increasingly impactful and...
The 5 Fundamentals: Participatory
The world is more automated than ever. Interactions are mediated through technology, there is an easy button or app for everything, and reality itself is virtual. The rapid development of AI is changing the way we interact with information and each other, impacting...
5 Strategies to Lead Parents to Action
We're in an action phase at camp, or at least we hope they are in an action phase. That they, is camper parents. On this episode, we're laying out five strategies backed by recent insights that can help lead parents to the critical actions we want, and need, them to...
Recap & 3 Free Takeaways from Campwell x Sacred Playgrounds
"I found it to be one of the most helpful and tangible trainings I have participated in." GRACE · CAMPWELL X SP PARTICIPANT To understate it, we had an incredible few days with camp leaders from across the upper midwest at Campwell x Sacred Playgrounds in early March...
Five Voices from the Field on Summer Staff Skill Building
On this episode, we're around a table with five incredible camp leaders bringing different perspectives from their role, to geography, to camp journey, to denomination, and more. We're sharing this table while gathered at Camp Wapo in Amery, Wisconsin for CampWell X...
Getting Ahead of the Camp Enrollment Cliff
Uncovering the Cliff Well, that was fun. Last week, we posted a podcast episode diving into something that we, along with other camp researchers, consultants, and practitioners, have been exploring about the upcoming enrollment cliff that camps across the country will...
The Camp Enrollment Cliff
There's a shift coming, and it affects camp in significant ways. On this episode, we'll talk about why, how, and when it's coming, and leave you with some ideas to get ahead of it. When you lay out the story thread of camp over the story of demographic shifts through...
The 5 Fundamentals: Relational
My definition for camp is simple: Camp is a set-apart space that facilitates relational encounter between the self, the other, and God. Relational encounter with others is the primary pedagogical tool of summer camp. It is why camp works. Notice that the relational...
Summer Staff Journey Insights
We've learned so much about summer camp staff over the past few years. With insights from more than 2000 summer staff members at more than 120 camps in the last 5 years, plus additional data from projects like the ACA Youth Impact Study and more, we know quite a bit...
The 5 Fundamentals: Faith-Centered
It is the most important part of what we do. When we center everything on our faith in Jesus Christ, all the other characteristics of camp are transformed and aligned with the coming reign of God. Camp becomes what it is meant to be: a glimpse of God’s kingdom here on...
Pilgrimage on Purpose: Reflections from Mt. Sinai & Why Camp Can Be This Kind of Journey
On this episode, we welcome Jake back from his journey to Egypt, where we travelled with other camp and church leaders on a pilgrimage that lead them to and through places and spaces with deep Biblical, historical, and spiritual significance. We'll hear stories from...