Many camps around the world are still feeling the impact of the pandemic. Recruiting new campers was cited as one of the top challenges for camp leaders in 2023, a result of falling behind on recruitment and referrals in previous years. As these challenges continue to affect camps, it’s more important than ever to protect your business.

Organizing camp fundraisers is a great way to connect with campers, parents, alumni, and your community while supporting your business goals. Opting for fun ideas and events rather than simply requesting donations in an email makes participants feel more connected to your camp’s activities and mission. 

To help you launch a fundraiser that raises funds and gets your donors and campers excited, we’ve put together a list of family-friendly fundraising ideas. Let’s get started!

1. Sports-Themed Fundraiser

If your camp already has sports facilities and equipment for its regular activities and programs, consider organizing a sports-themed fundraiser for your supporters. Not only will these ideas appeal to campers and families with an interest in sports, but they’ll motivate participants to be more active and get outside.

99Pledges’ guide to sports fundraising ideas suggests options such as a:

• Field day: Prep a variety of classic activities such as tug-of-war, dodgeball, relay races, and obstacle courses, and have your counselors oversee each game. In the summer, consider offering fun water activities like water balloon tosses as well. Charge participants for entry and sell food, drinks, and merchandise to maximize revenue from the event. 

• Sports tournament: Choose a sport or game that your campers enjoy, such as dodgeball, basketball, soccer, or baseball. Form teams and plan a schedule over a day or week that will determine a winner. Create a parent league or have them serve as team captains. 

• Fun run: Similar to a 5K, fun runs are short races that involve a “fun” element like colored powder, foam, or a dress-up theme. Consider charging participants for entry or challenging them to collect pledge donations from friends and family members before the race.

These fun activities will help your camp connect with parents who might not otherwise have much interaction with camp leaders and staff. Additionally, they’ll be able to participate in the fun activities their campers enjoy firsthand, reminding them just how valuable experiences with your camp are.

2. Community Potluck 

Bring your community together to enjoy a day of food and fun with a community potluck or picnic. Whether your camp has a mess hall, picnic benches, a wide-open field, or all three, having a meal together is a great opportunity for campers and parents to gather and connect.

To ensure your potluck goes smoothly, consider:

• Sending out sign-up sheets ahead of time to ensure you have a variety of dishes.

• Determining how many seats you’ll need to provide based on registrations (if possible, have extra seats available).

• Labeling dishes with ingredients to assist those with allergies or dietary restrictions.

• Creating a supply list of easily forgotten items like plates, cutlery, drinks, serving utensils, and trash cans.

To monetize your potluck, consider creating and selling tickets in advance online and upon arrival at a check-in table for any walk-ins. Additionally, you can sell your camp’s merchandise throughout the event or even just encourage parents who enjoy the time they spend at your camp to consider making a donation.

3. Branded Merchandise

Branded merchandise allows parents and campers to support your camp financially while getting something in return. This fundraising idea supplies them with souvenirs to take home, helps you diversify your camp’s revenue streams, and advertises your camp (for free!) any time campers wear or use the items.

There are a few staple items most organizations offer. Here are a few options your camp can try:

• T-shirts

• Hats

• Sweaters

• Postcards

• Tote bags

• Water bottles

• Mugs 

• Keychains 

• Bumper stickers and magnets

To sell the merchandise, set up booths at various events. For example, your booth selling water bottles and baseball caps could be a big hit at your fun run or field day where participants will be thirsty and looking for something to help keep the sun out of their eyes. Additionally, you can make sales year-round by listing merchandise on your camp’s website or in an online shop.

4. Educational and Skill-Based Fundraisers

For academic, fine arts, or other skill-based camps, campers might resonate more with fundraisers that focus on those areas of interest. Rather than choosing an idea based around physical activities or group events, give campers the chance to expand their skills and knowledge or challenge their minds while supporting your camp.

Consider choosing ideas such as:

• A read-a-thon, in which campers collect pledges from friends and family, read as much as they can before the deadline, track time spent reading, and collect donations based on the amount of reading completed.

• A practice-a-thon, where fine arts students track their time spent practicing their instruments, vocals, acting, writing, or other skills and collect donations accordingly.

• An art auction or market, in which campers create art pieces like paintings, drawings, custom clothing, sculptures, and more to sell to parents and family.

These ideas are a great way to show off the skills and knowledge campers gain, both to parents and prospective campers. Over time, parents will share about these valuable upskilling activities and help boost new camper enrollments.

5. Talent Show 

Your campers have skills and talents that they might want to show off to their friends, family, and fellow campers. By hosting a talent show, you can empower them to show their skills while earning revenue for your camp. 

Talent shows are another idea that works well for music and art camps, but any camp with excited campers and a space where you can seat a crowd can host a talent show. In fact, talent shows can even be an effective fundraiser to mark the last day of camp because parents can come to see what their kids learned before picking them up. 

To fundraise at your talent show, sell tickets, set up merchandise and concessions booths, and encourage parents to donate online. Be sure to make an announcement before and after the show for parents to visit your website and donate. You might also create a program for your event and include the URL to your donation page or a scannable QR code on it.

6. Trivia Night

Invite families to form teams and sign up to compete by answering general knowledge, themed, and camp-related questions. You can even sprinkle in a few questions about things campers will learn next year at camp to encourage them to re-enroll.  

To motivate campers and their families to engage, make sure to tailor the trivia night to their interests and capabilities. If your camp serves a wide range of age groups, consider creating different rounds of trivia with questions that range in difficulty. Additionally, you might organize multiple themed sessions that cater to different interests (e.g., history, pop culture, music, sports, etc.).

To earn revenue, you can charge each team a participation fee or sell concessions and merchandise. 

7. Crowdfunding

As NXUnite by Nexus Marketing explains, crowdfunding is “a fundraising format in which large amounts of people each donate a small amount of money to fund a project or venture.” Usually, these campaigns occur online—this makes it possible for your camp to reach beyond its local community.

To gain as much support as possible for your crowdfunding campaign and get your campers and their families involved, you should:

• Create a compelling message. Crowdfunding campaigns succeed when they're shared widely with a target audience that has both the ability and desire to support your cause. To inspire donations, create a message that explains why you need funding and how the money will make a difference for campers. 

• Host an event. Start your crowdfunding campaign off on a strong note by hosting an event. Or, host an event to celebrate the end of your campaign. At the events, urge supporters to donate and help you reach your goal. 

• Launch a peer-to-peer campaign. Campers and their families have networks of friends and other acquaintances that extend far beyond your camp. Access these networks by hosting a peer-to-peer campaign where volunteers fundraise on your camp’s behalf. Recruit alumni, staff members, and parent volunteers to join your campaign. 

Remember to reach out to supporters after the fundraiser to thank them for helping out. As you make progress on the project or initiative the campaign funded, update donors and share the impact their donations have on your camp. 

Camps can make a lasting impression on attendees, helping them make new friends and learn valuable skills and life lessons. But, your camp can likely make a bigger impact with the help of additional funding that fuels scholarships, hiring of additional qualified staff members, facility improvements, new projects, and much more. 

Using these fundraising ideas, you can get your campers, their families, and the broader community inspired to support your camp and the work it does.

Author: Brad Dowhaniuk

Brad Dowhaniuk is the co-founder of 99Pledges, which provides schools and teams with an easy-to-use, web-based fundraising solution to manage and drive success in Fun Runs, jog-a-thons, baseball hit-a-thons, and much more.