Crisis Fundraising for Camps: Navigating Challenging Times
When your camp is in crisis mode, it can be difficult to get your priorities in order. Stress is at an all-time high, your team is flustered, and the issue at hand feels all-encompassing. However, to combat the crisis you’re facing, you need to get everyone on the same page and create a cohesive plan—and you’ll likely need additional funds to support this process.
With this guide, we hope to help camp directors navigate crises and raise the funds necessary to keep their camps running smoothly. Let’s get started!
1. Assess the situation.
Start by critically assessing the issue. What is the exact problem you’re facing, and what do you need to resolve it? This exercise will help you align your team, clearly communicate about the situation to your community, and focus your fundraising efforts.
For instance, your fundraising plan may look very different depending on if you’re facing:
A natural disaster. A major hurricane, wildfire, flood, or earthquake may cause damage to your campgrounds and facilities, requiring extensive repairs or, in some cases, reconstruction.
Financial issues. Whether you’re experiencing low registration rates, decreased grant funding, unexpected expenses, increased operating costs, or a broader economic shift, you may need to raise additional funds to support your operations.
A staffing shortage. If you don’t have enough staff for the upcoming camp season, you may need to raise funds to support the recruitment and hiring processes or offer higher pay.
Health crisis. If you ran your camp during the COVID-19 pandemic, you know that a health crisis means increased sanitation, risk management, and training costs. Additionally, you may have decreased revenue due to concerned families canceling registration or the need to shut your camp down completely for an entire session or season.
Infrastructure problems. Plumbing, electrical, or structural issues can lead to repair costs. Whether a tree falls on your laundry room or your dock breaks down, you need to address these issues quickly to ensure all activities run smoothly and safely.
While the immediate issue may already be clear to your team, spelling it out can help you start thinking about the problem from different angles and developing solutions.
2. Inform your community.
Next, let parents, staff, and other community members know about the problem you’re facing. The earlier you notify them of the issue, the quicker they can help you resolve it. Additionally, addressing a crisis early prevents misinformation from spreading among your camp community.
When making your announcement, make sure to:
Be as transparent as possible. Build trust with your camp community by being honest about the issue and its impact on your camp. Make them aware of anything you’ve done or plan to do to fix the problem, along with any additional challenges you’re facing.
Acknowledge community members’ concerns. Depending on the severity of the issue, your community may be concerned or emotional about the problem at hand. For instance, if a health crisis requires you to close your camp for the season, be sure to recognize the disappointment your camp families and staff are likely feeling to show them that you care.
Prepare for questions. A major announcement will probably stir up some questions among your camp community. Working through these potential questions and preparing answers ahead of time can help your team quickly and effectively address them.
Once you’ve drafted your announcement, send it through multiple channels, such as email, direct mail, and social media, to ensure everyone in your camp community can easily access this information.
3. Develop a heartfelt fundraising appeal.
Now that everyone knows about the emergency, craft an appeal that encourages them to help you solve it by donating. While this will be different from the annual fundraising appeal your camp may typically send each year, the same stipulations still apply.
NXUnite’s annual appeal guide recommends:
Catering to your audience. Your primary audience is likely your camp families themselves. Since you’ve already notified them of the crisis, there’s no need to include extensive details about it. Instead, dive right into the appeal and why they should lend their support. Additionally, use simple language so parents can share the appeal with their children to get campers involved in the fundraising process.
Incorporating storytelling. Appeal to your camp community’s emotions by weaving in storytelling techniques. For example, you may highlight a specific camper and how the camp experience helped them come out of their shell to demonstrate your camp’s impact and how additional contributions will help you continue making that impact. Just remember to ask for permission before sharing any personal details about your camp community members.
Making it easy to give. Encourage community members to contribute by simplifying the giving process. You may include a link to your donation page, a QR code, or a pre-addressed envelope, depending on the format of your appeal.
Since you’ll be directing community members to your donation page, ensure it’s fully accessible for all potential donors. Include alternative text for any images, incorporate closed captions for videos, and use font sizes and colors that are easy to read.
4. Launch an emergency fundraising campaign.
To raise funds as quickly as possible, set up an emergency fundraising campaign that uses multiple strategies to inspire urgency.
The best emergency fundraising ideas will require little lift from your team and encourage donors to get involved. For example, you may implement the following types of strategies:
Text-to-give. Considering the average person spends 4 hours and 37 minutes on their phone each day, text fundraising is an impactful option for a crisis campaign because it’s highly likely recipients will see your message shortly after you send it. Keep text messages short and sweet, but incorporate a sense of urgency to persuade donors to contribute.
Product fundraising. When you run a product fundraiser, the provider you work with does the hard work of securing and shipping the products for you. All you have to do is decide what you’d like to sell and promote the fundraiser to your community. Try to select a product that your camp families can enjoy together. For instance, you may host a flower bulb fundraiser if you have to cancel a camp session so parents and campers can still enjoy an outdoor activity.
Peer-to-peer fundraising. Inspire your community members to fundraise on your behalf with a peer-to-peer fundraiser. Encourage them to create their own fundraising pages and incorporate their own camp stories, photos, and videos to make their appeals more engaging and personal.
Throughout your campaign, update your community on your progress and fundraising results. Consider adding a fundraising thermometer to your website to create a visual so parents, campers, and staff can easily see how much you’ve raised and how much more you’re hoping to collect.
5. Work with local businesses.
Offset your fundraising efforts by working closely with local businesses. Many companies will be willing to lend their support in exchange for some promotion from your camp.
Depending on the type of help your camp needs, you may seek out:
In-kind donations. Businesses may donate items they already possess that your camp could use to resolve its crisis. For instance, let’s say a storm causes a power outage that forces your kitchen staff to dispose of all refrigerated food in the middle of a camp session. A local grocery store may contribute perishable food items to help supplement the food you’ve lost.
Sponsorship. Companies can provide direct financial support in the form of major donations, camper scholarship funds, event sponsorships, and grants.
Co-run campaigns. You can also work with a business to run a fundraising campaign together, such as a proceeds night or discount card fundraiser. ABC Fundraising explains that discount card fundraisers are “excellent ways for merchants, restaurants, and stores in your community to support your group and in turn for the community members to support those businesses that support you.”
Once you’ve come to an agreement with a local business, make a plan to showcase the work they’ve done to help you. You may promote their company on your website, social media, or newsletter to encourage your camp community to patronize their business and show appreciation for their support.
Developing a clear plan for crisis fundraising will help you secure the funds you need to tackle issues as they arise. Remember to give your camp community frequent updates on how their contributions have helped you resolve the issue and thank them for their support.
