Last week’s JCamp 180 annual conference welcomed more than 400 camp directors, development professionals, board members, and lay-leaders to Western Massachusetts for three days of networking, learning, strategizing and, of course, campfire-style singing. Invited to the conference, held annually since 2008, were JCamp 180 grantees and any day or overnight camp wanting to engage with JCamp 180’s work. Altogether, representatives of 31 Jewish day and 103 overnight camps from across North America came together to access new tools and resources and to make connections for strengthening their camps financially and professionally.
The theme for the conference was Kadima: Let’s Go Forward. “When we were thinking about the theme this year, it occurred to us that we are twenty-five years into the century,” said Sarah Eisinger, Director, JCamp 180. “In camping, a lot has happened in that time. In the early 2000s, JCamp 180 and Foundation for Jewish Camp were founded. The nonprofit camping field has grown up, and many partners, movements, and donors have emerged. Collectively, we have invested so much in what we know works for creating Jewish peoplehood.”
Two-thirds of Jewish camps operate within a very narrow break-even band. JCamp 180’s model of supporting camps through organizational consulting helps them achieve greater financial stability, positioning them for long-term success so that they can instill even more Jewish joy. “That’s why we do this work,” says Eisinger, “so we can help Jewish kids embody their Jewish identity.”
Harold Grinspoon, founder of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, was able to be in attendance and expressed his appreciation for the work of the camp leaders at the conference. “I’m so very proud of the work you do and very proud that you continue to fund-raise so more Jewish children can go to our day and overnight camps.”
Sarah shared that the panels, plenaries, and workshops were grouped around the concept of Kadima — or forward motion — in four areas: resilience, innovation, people, and funding.
- Resilience: Camps exemplified resilience this past summer in managing the effects on the camping experience of the tumultuous Israel-Iran war and of climate change–induced disastrous weather. Camps need to be prepared not only for moments of crisis, but also for rebuilding after.
- Innovation: To survive and thrive, camps can’t just stick to the status quo. Camps must explore new revenue streams, new partnerships, possible mergers, and the foundations of good governance.
- People: Camps need to focus on growing great staff and lay teams. They also need to tackle the problem of burnout, perhaps by exploring a codirector model or restructuring year-round staffing.
- Funding: Camps need to identify their fundraising challenges and plan for capital campaigns, endowment building, and other ways to achieve financial stability.
The conference’s nearly 40 sessions covered these four areas from a variety of angles, including workshops on AI, scenario planning, capital campaign planning, master planning, new kinds of partnerships and mergers, financial sustainability, and governing structures. Two for-profit camps hosted a session to share best practices, and veteran directors were invited to a separate track for more specific learning and networking opportunities. Participants also received a customized workbook to help them organize their learning and record concrete ideas to take home.
For the JCamp 180 team, the annual conference kicks off the fall professional development season with programs for several new cohorts, including LEAP for board chairs; Camp GPS, offering accelerated strategic planning for combined staff/lay leader teams; and Major Gifts for Your Camp, six online sessions for combined staff/lay leader teams.
The winter season will provide another opportunity for the team to work more closely with camps on endowment building. Now in the second year of its Endowment Accelerator Matching Grant initiative, JCamp 180 has supported more than 80 camps in starting new endowments, foundational work that will enable them to keep their doors open for future generations of campers.
“It’s a continuously challenging moment for our world, but being here brings an element of joy to all of us,” notes Eisinger. “Everyone making camp a life-changing experience works hard and loves what they do. To be in a room with some 400 people who love their camp as much as I love mine — I can see the incredible impact on Jewish kids, magnified many times over. I feel a lot of pride in that.”