Don’t Forget These 6 Digital Shutdown Steps for Your Camp
When the last bus pulls away, and a peaceful quiet settles over the trails and cabins, every camp director knows the rhythm of the shutdown. It’s a time for taking inventory, winterizing the plumbing, and storing the canoes. Or it means a shift to school programming, weekend retreats, and winter camps.
But in our increasingly digital world, there's another shutdown or shift that’s just as critical: the digital one.
Too often, this digital cleanup is an afterthought—a scattered collection of tasks done without a clear plan. This can leave your camp vulnerable to data breaches, create legal risks, and cause major headaches when you’re trying to ramp up for another season.
Think of it this way: you wouldn't leave the keys to the camp office lying around, and you shouldn't leave your digital doors unlocked either. A thoughtful, organized digital shutdown or shift is one of the best investments you can make in your camp’s long-term health. It protects your campers, their families, and your hard-earned reputation.
There are six key areas to consider when cleaning up your digital assets:
People
Camp Management Software
Health Information
Social Media
Photos & Video
Record Keeping.
Let's dive in!
PEOPLE
Your end-of-summer process begins with your people. Your seasonal staff are the lifeblood of the summer, but their access to camp systems should end when their contract does. A friendly but formal "digital offboarding" is a critical first step in securing your camp.
Conduct a Friendly Exit Interview: The exit interview is a golden opportunity to get honest feedback. Ask specific questions about the technology they used.
"Did our registration software make your job easier, or was it a pain?"
"Were there any tech tasks that just seemed to take forever?"
"From what you heard, how did parents find the online sign-up process?"
Use this feedback to improve your systems and processes for the future.
CAMP MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Your Camp Management System (CMS) is the operational heart of your camp. Getting it cleaned up and ready for the off-season prevents financial errors and ensures a smooth start for next year's registration. While the exact steps vary by platform, the core principles are universal.
● Settle the Season's Finances: Before you do anything else, close out the books. Ensure all family payments have been collected and refunds have been processed. Run and save your final financial reports, like transaction summaries and account balance reports.
These are your permanent records for the season. For camps with a store, be sure to process any unspent money in camper accounts, which can often be credited back to the family or converted into a donation.
● Clean Up User Accounts: Go through your CMS and deactivate the accounts of all seasonal staff. For your year-round team, review their access levels. They may not need full permissions during the off-season, so adjust their roles accordingly.
● Make a "Just-in-Case" Backup: While your software provider keeps backups, it's always wise to have your own. Export key reports—final camper rosters, attendance records, medical logs, and financial summaries—and save them in a secure location.
● Get a Head Start on Next Year: The off-season is the perfect time to prepare the system for the upcoming year. Update your registration forms, set new session dates and descriptions, and adjust pricing and discount structures.
HEALTH INFORMATION
Of all the data you manage, camper health information carries the most risk and responsibility. Keeping this information safe can go a long way toward protecting your reputation. Here are some steps you can take:
● Know What You're Protecting: Health information includes health history forms, medication logs, allergy lists, and any incident reports from the nurse's station.
● Apply the "Need-to-Know" Rule: In the off-season, the circle of people who need to see this information should shrink dramatically. Review permissions in your CMS and revoke access for all seasonal staff. Only a few key year-round leaders, like the Camp Director, should retain access.
● Lock It Up: Gather all paper health forms and incident reports and store them in a locked filing cabinet in a secure office. For digital records, ensure every user has a unique, strong password. Your camp management software should be secure to protect this data at all times.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Your camp's social media shouldn't go dark in the fall and winter. A quiet page can be mistaken for a closed business. Instead, a smart off-season strategy can keep your community engaged, build excitement, and drive early registrations for next season.
● Review Access: Review all the people who have access to your social media accounts. Remove the ones who no longer need access, and modify permissions for those who still require access but may not need it in the same capacity.
● Shift to an Off-Season Content Plan: Your content should pivot from daily summer action to year-round community building.
○ "Throwback" Posts: Share highlights from the past summer to spark nostalgia.
○ Behind-the-Scenes Updates: Showcase off-season facility improvements to build anticipation.
○ Early-Bird Registration: Announce and promote discounts for families who sign up early.
○ User-Generated Content (UGC): Run a photo contest asking families to share their favourite camp memories with a unique hashtag. UGC is authentic, powerful marketing material.
PHOTOS & VIDEO
You likely have thousands of photos and videos from the summer. If they're sitting unorganized on a hard drive, they're a wasted asset. A little work now can turn that "digital shoebox" into a searchable treasure chest of marketing gold.
● Cull First, Organize Second: The first step is to reduce the volume. Go through your photos and be ruthless in deleting the blurry shots, duplicates, and unflattering images. This alone can make the task far more manageable.
● Create a Simple, Lasting Archive:
○ Use a Logical Folder Structure: Organize photos by Year, then by Session or Event
(e.g., /Photos/2025/Session_1_June/).
○ Tag Your Photos: Add descriptive keywords (tags) to your best photos. Think about how you'd search for them later: canoeing, campfire, Colour Games, Cabin 4. This makes your library searchable.
● Follow the 3-2-1 Backup Rule: To protect your precious photo archive from being lost, follow this industry-standard rule: keep at least 3 copies of your data, on 2 different types of media, with 1 copy stored off-site (like in the cloud).
● Always Check for Consent: Before using any photo in your marketing, double-check that you have a signed media release form for every identifiable person in the shot.
● Photo Services: Alternatively, use a photo service/storage option to organize and store your photos, such as Google Photos, Smug Mug, Bunk1, Campminder, etc.
RECORD KEEPING
A formal document retention policy isn't just for big corporations; it's a critical risk management tool for every camp. A written policy provides a legal "safe harbour," indicating that you handle documents in a routine and professional manner.
● The Golden Rule for Camps: This is the most important takeaway. For most legal claims involving minors, the clock doesn't start until that child turns 18. This means you must keep records related to a camper—especially incident reports, health forms, and waivers—for a period of the age of majority in your state, PLUS the full statute of limitations for personal injury claims. For a young camper, this could easily mean holding onto records for over 20 years. A standard 7-year business policy is dangerously inadequate. Consult with your lawyer to determine the exact retention period for your jurisdiction.
● Know What to Keep:
○ Permanently: Keep foundational documents like your Articles of Incorporation, board meeting minutes, annual financial statements, and tax returns forever.
○ 7 Years: Most other financial records, such as bank statements and invoices, should be retained for at least seven years.
○ Camper Records: Again, this is the critical category. Keep these records for the extended period required for minors.
● Store and Dispose of Securely: Store paper records in locked cabinets and digital records in encrypted, password-protected systems. When a document's retention period is up, destroy it. The same goes for digital records. Don’t hold onto them longer than you need to.
Be proactive. Be proactive. Be proactive.
These processes will help protect your camp's most valuable assets: your data, your reputation, and the trust of the families you serve. By taking these simple steps, you clear the digital clutter, reduce risk, and set the stage for a more secure, efficient, and successful season to come.
Want to learn more? Explore our more in-depth guide on how to clean up your digital assets at the end of your summer season.
Download it here: https://www.sr-tech.co/camp-guide/
Scott Ringkamp, PhD, SR Technical Consultants
