Background

Located just seven miles west of Little Rock, Arkansas, summer camp is the heart and soul of a 1,200-acre campus known as Ferncliff. From late May to mid-August, nearly 700 K-12 youth participate in more than 20 different camps designed around having fun and growing faith. As one of the fastest growing Presbyterian camp and retreat facilities in the country, Ferncliff offers a wide variety of activities, including hiking, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, sports, sand volleyball, mountain biking, crafts, large group worship, small group Bible study, games, campfires and special events.

Challenge

With camp registrations up 40%, Ferncliff needed a solution to replace its paper-and-mail registration system. David Gill, Executive Director at Ferncliff, notes, “We handled a lot of back-and-forth mailings. As soon as a registration form was sent in and accepted, a medical form was mailed back to the family, and then mailed back to us. Campers didn’t know if they were “in” until they received a mailed response from us. We were spending way too much time, not to mention postage, on this process. Needless to say, credit card payments weren’t even an option and if our one registrar was out sick, we were really up a tree.”

Solution

After evaluating multiple camp management software programs, Ferncliff selected CampRegister from the Active Network for its easy-to-use online registration capability, competitive pricing and hosted software option. “We really liked the online aspect of CampRegister and the offsite data hosting. We liked the idea of having a program that we could access from anywhere, without worrying about a computer crashing and losing data.”

With the hosted, Web-based CampRegister software, all of the campers’ personal information, including payment and credit card data, is stored offsite in a secure location monitored and insured by Active. This alleviates any burden on Ferncliff to hire additional IT staff or purchase new equipment to effectively store and update their data servers.

Ferncliff also selected Active Network’s eCamp photo and email service to enable parents to view photos of campers, send email to campers, pay balances and print statements, all from one convenient site.

Implementation

“CampRegister is not a hard system to learn, but it certainly requires a shift in mindset when you’re transitioning from paper and pen to a sophisticated online system. With each year that we use the system, we build on our knowledgebase and take advantage of more of the system features.”

To promote the online registration option, Ferncliff put the news on the front of its brochure and on its Website. By the second and third years, the Camp began offering a $10 discount to all families who registered online. “The discount drastically increased the number of online registrations, which in turn, saved staff time from having to key in all the paper registration data.”

By the fourth year, Ferncliff removed the discount. “Because register online quickly became our mantra, it’s now second nature to our families. It’s a rarity that we ever receive a registration form anymore.”

Results

Gill notes that CampRegister has “absolutely translated to additional revenues” for Ferncliff. “I’m much more involved in registrations now than ever before. We used to fly by the seat of our pants when it came to marketing. Since I can now monitor registrations daily, I can beef up marketing efforts for a specific camp if needed, understand which programs are the most popular, and even make fast and informed decisions about adding another camp session at the last minute.”

In fact, a few summers ago, a certain camp was extremely popular and, even though brochures had been printed, Ferncliff was able to add three more weeks of day camps at the last minute and promote the additional sessions through its online community. “Previously, when making a schedule in September for the following summer, we were making guesses. CampRegister has given us an opportunity to make a mid-course correction or addition. If we have a waiting list, we can now create and promote another camp and get those kids in. When you can’t accept kids into your programs, they’ll go elsewhere, so there’s a high incentive to avoid waiting lists.”

As for the biggest changes Ferncliff has experienced since implementing CampRegister, Gill notes that it has to be less paper - “we can now email a PDF file instead of relying on a paper form” – and improved marketing – “our promotions are done through targeted emails. It’s far less costly for an email to bounce back than for a stack of letters to be returned. Plus, our parents like knowing immediately if their children are in our camps.” Further conveniences for Ferncliff parents are the online access to update medical information, and the secure credit card payment option.

Up next, Ferncliff will be utilizing the CampRegister system to place campers in cabins. “We’re always learning the system, but that’s what is so great about it. We can grow the system at our own pace.”

Ferncliff’s Advice for Using Technology to Build Camp Programs

1. Offer online registration, and build the registration cost into the total cost of camp so that nothing is taken from your bottom line. Parents will pay the extra fee just for the convenience of knowing when their children are accepted into a camp, and for paying with a credit card when and where it’s most convenient for them.
2. Consider a hosted software option to alleviate any vulnerability of your online systems. You’ll rest easier knowing your data is safe and secure with a trusted vendor that is required to meet protocols to guarantee the protection of private data.
3. Take advantage of technology. It just makes sense to let CampRegister automate the processes, so we can focus on programs rather than spreadsheets and databases. Most camp directors come into this line of work not to enter data, but to roast marshmallows, work with our campers, and make decisions more quickly in the best interest of the kids.
4. Don’t be intimidated. Learn the basics of your new software, get it going, and use more features over time. You don’t have to dive in all at once. Once you start, there’s a good chance you won’t ever go back to manual, paper-based registrations.