How To Engage Younger Generations in Fundraising for Camp
When you invite campers to be part of your fundraising efforts, you tap into their energy, creativity, and desire to help. It’s an empowering experience that turns them into advocates for the place they love.
More than just a tactic to boost donations, camper-led fundraising builds leadership and encourages a sense of responsibility. It also lightens the load on staff and volunteers, allowing those leaders to focus more on delivering an unforgettable camp experience.
Best of all, it creates a powerful ripple effect: raising essential funds today while instilling long-term philanthropic habits for the future.
Provide Tools and Training
Before they can confidently jump into fundraising for camp, kids need to understand both the purpose behind the campaign and the tools they’ll use to support their efforts. Starting with education builds motivation; equipping them with the right resources builds momentum.
Start by teaching them the “why.” Help campers connect with your mission by explaining where funds will go, whether that’s to support:
Accessibility: Scholarships allow kids from low-income or marginalized communities to attend camp.
Facility Improvements: Funds might help renovate cabins, dining halls, bathrooms, pools, and ropes courses—spaces campers use and love.
Program Growth: Donations may support new activities, equipment, and special events.
Staff Hiring and Development: Investing in counselor training leads to a safer, more enriching experience for campers.
Remember, you’re involving kids in fundraising, so you need to spell out the potential impact of their efforts. Use relatable stories to help campers understand these concepts. For example, share how fundraising helped build a new zipline course or made it possible for a kid to experience camp for the first time by covering their registration fees.
Equip Campers with the Right Resources
Once campers understand the “why,” set them up with tools that make fundraising fun and achievable. You might provide fundraising kits tailored to different marketing channels with:
Social media post templates that they can personalize
Email and text message scripts to share with family and friends
Printable flyers with QR codes linking to your donation page
Parents and guardians will likely help your campers, so consider providing short, clear resources for adults to assist with digital outreach and follow-up communication. This way, younger campers have the at-home support they need to succeed.
Make Fundraising for Camp a Fun, Formative Experience
If you want campers to participate in fundraising, the experience needs to feel like camp itself: energetic, social, and full of fun. When fundraising feels like a game, challenge, or team mission, campers are more likely to engage wholeheartedly and even take the lead.
Start by Choosing Fun Ideas
Kick things off with campaign themes that match your campers’ interests and energy levels. Whether they love getting crafty, being social, or competing, there’s a creative option that fits.
Here are a few camper-friendly fundraising ideas to consider:
Discount Card Fundraiser: Sell cards that provide discounts to local businesses. ABC Fundraising explains that you can create a wishlist of local businesses that a vendor will turn into a custom card your community will love.
Community Cleanup: Campers can ask community members to sponsor them, pledging to give a certain amount for each pound of trash the camper cleans up at a local park, beach, or other area.
Flower Bulb Fundraiser: Nature lovers will enjoy selling flower bulbs to their friends and family members. To host a flower bulb fundraiser, partner with a supplier to offer a selection of flower bulbs that supporters can purchase, providing your organization with a percentage of each sale. Campers will promote the fundraiser and collect orders with physical forms or an online store.
When campers are excited about your campaign theme, they’re more likely to engage, and their enthusiasm will become contagious.
Gamify The Process
Fundraising becomes far more exciting when it feels like a game. By introducing elements like points, leaderboards, and rewards for reaching milestones, you turn fundraising into a challenge that campers are eager to take on.
Create a system where you recognize campers for achievements like dollars raised or outreach completed. For instance, you might use crowdfunding tools that display leaderboards of top fundraisers. Friendly competition adds to the fun. Pit cabins or age groups against each other to see who can reach their goal first, or spotlight individual campers who go above and beyond.
Offer meaningful rewards that match your camp culture, such as:
A bonus swim session
Early access to the camp store
A s’mores party under the stars
Pie-the-director day if the whole camp hits the goal
The goal isn’t just to raise money—it’s to spark pride, create a sense of achievement, and show campers that fundraising for camp can be just as rewarding as the experience they’re helping to support.
Highlight Leadership and Teamwork
Fundraising is a chance to build character and responsibility. Offer fundraising captain positions to give campers meaningful roles and a voice in the process. Invite campers to apply to help rally their peers, share updates, and even present impact stories at closing ceremonies.
You might also let campers vote on how to use the funds, like getting new recreational gear or upgrading a hangout spot. When they help decide, and staff members support their ideas, campers will feel more ownership and pride in what they’ve made happen.
Celebrate Campers’ Efforts
Recognize your campers for the hard work they’ve put in. Host an end-of-summer celebratory bash—like a pizza party, ice cream social, or cookout—to thank everyone who participated. You could even organize an appreciation ceremony where campers present what their fundraising helped achieve and thank donors.
Don’t forget digital shoutouts, too. Highlight top fundraisers on social media or in your camp newsletter to show just how much their efforts mattered.
By giving campers a voice in fundraising, you’ll raise money while also inspiring leadership, purpose, and community spirit. When kids feel empowered to make a difference, they’ll rise to the occasion and grow into the changemakers of tomorrow.
Guest Author Debbie Salat:
Debbie Salat is the director of fundraising activities and product development at ABC Fundraising®. Debbie joined ABC Fundraising® in 2010 and has helped launch over 6,500 fundraising campaigns for schools, churches, youth sports teams, and nonprofit organizations all across the USA. With over 20 years of fundraising experience, Debbie knows the path to success for fundraisers, which she shares with groups on a daily basis so they can achieve their fundraising goals.
