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by M. Deborah Bialeschki, Ph.D.
All of us who work in camps believe in the value of the camp experience
and wish that every child could spend at least part of his or her summer
at camp. The American Camp Association (ACA) believes so strongly in
the positive benefits of the camp experience that one of the Ends of
the Association is to increase the number of children, youth, and adults
of all social, cultural, and economic groups who can attend camp. This
fall we again collected information to create a snapshot of how camps
felt they did on enrollment for the summer of 2006.
Thanks to the camps who took time to complete the survey and to the
encouragement given them by our local office executives, we had 624 camps
complete the Web-based survey (23 percent response rate). The camps who
answered the survey were representative of the ACA camp community in
terms of type and affiliation and so provided an accurate view of enrollment
(see sidebar on page 62). To have comparable information, we asked directors
to indicate their total enrollment in camper weeks rather than total
campers as a way to equalize different session lengths. For example,
if one hundred campers attended for one week, that was equal to a hundred
camper weeks. However, if one hundred campers attended camp for eight
weeks, that was eight hundred camper weeks. The questions were almost
identical to the 2005 enrollment survey; therefore, we can make comparisons
across years. While the survey also asked questions about staff recruitment,
this article discusses only the camper enrollment data.
Overview of Summer 2006 Enrollment
The overall view on enrollment from directors was that the 2006 summer
season was a good summer for the majority of camps and slightly better
than they reported in last year’s survey. Over 48 percent of the
camps indicated that this summer was the highest or higher than most
of the past five summers for enrollment, while another 23 percent of
the directors thought enrollment was about the same. However, some directors
(18 percent) provided a different view on enrollment when they indicated
they had fewer campers this summer than most of the past five summers,
and for some camps (12 percent), the 2006 summer was their worst enrollment
for that five-year period. When compared to their potential capacity,
almost half of the camps (49 percent) operated at 90-100 percent capacity.
About a quarter of the camps operated at 80-89 percent capacity, and another
quarter operated at less than 80 percent capacity. Over 70 percent of
the camps were within 90-100 percent of their targeted enrollment for
the 2006 summer. When compared to 2005 summer survey data, the trend
indicated a slight improvement this year with 5 percent fewer camps experiencing
decreased enrollments, and 10 percent more camps hitting 90-100 percent
of their targeted enrollment.
One way to assess the impact of camp opportunities
for children is to look at the number of summer camper weeks generated.
Table 1 shows the distribution of camper weeks generated by
the camps in the survey. Over 72 percent said 2006 camper weeks were
equal to or higher than last year. When asked how much higher this year
was for camper weeks, 54 percent said between 1-7 percent higher (see
Map 1 on page 62). If they indicated they were lower on camper weeks
compared to last year, 57 percent were lower by 1-7 percent (see Map
2 on page 62). When asked about enrollment in specialized programs (horseback
riding, etc.), camps indicated that the interest was about the same as
last year (60 percent) or higher (28 percent). This increased interest
in specialized activities was 10 percent higher than reported in last
year’s survey. It was interesting to note that 28 percent of the
camps responded that they offered no specialized programs.
Enrollment
based on gender is always of interest to camp professionals (see Table
2 ). When asked about enrollment of boys in their programs,
36 percent said they had increased while 20 percent had decreased. Over
half the camps with increased numbers of boys said it was higher by 1-7
percent. However, almost 26 percent of the camps who were lower on boys
were down by more than 10 percent compared to last year. A similar picture
emerged for girls’ enrollment. Thirty-seven percent of the camps
had higher enrollment of girls in 2006 while 23 percent were lower than
the previous year. For both higher and lower enrollments of girls, approximately
30 percent said the difference was in the 1-3 percent range. Similar
to the boys’ data, 26 percent of the camps with decreased girls’ enrollment
were lower by more than 10 percent.
Some concerns have been expressed
about the difficulty of getting the youngest children to camp as well
as keeping them into their teens. Table 3 shows enrollment by three age
groups: less than or equal to nine years old, ten to twelve years old,
and teens. The majority of camps for 2006 summer felt their age group
enrollments were the same or higher than the previous year. When we looked
to see how much higher and lower enrollments were, we found generally
larger percentages of positive changes in enrollment and lower percentages
for decreased enrollments. For example, for ten- to twelve-year-olds
we found 39 percent of the camps were higher by 1-3 percent, and 30 percent
were lower by 1-3 percent. For nine years and under, we found 29 percent
were up by more than 10 percent while 20 percent were down by 10 percent
or more. For teens, a mirror image of change was seen. For example, 25
percent of the camps said their teen enrollments were up by more than
10 percent while 25 percent said teen enrollments were down by more than
10 percent.
We also collected data on how camps financially supported
campers through scholarships, donations, etc. Similar to last year, most
camps (87 percent) indicated their organization offered financial support
of at least 50 percent of the camp costs to campers in need. The number
of supported camper weeks was almost identical to last year with 66 percent
of the camps stating they generated up to 199 camper weeks. Over half
the camps said their financial support of campers had not changed from
last year. In terms of actual dollars for camper support, 38 percent
of the camps said they generated more than $25,000.
Lastly, enrollment
of ethnic/minority campers and return rates of all campers were examined.
Almost no change was seen in ethnic/minority diversity in camp with 75
percent of the directors indicating the same enrollment as last year.
For returning campers, more than half the directors said they had return
rates between 50-74 percent. Return rates seem very stable since 62 percent
of the directors in the 2005 survey and 2006 survey said they had about
the same number of returning campers. For camps with higher rates of
returning campers, over 70 percent said they had increased by 1-7 percent.
For camps who experienced fewer returning campers, over 20 percent of
those camps saw decreases greater than 10 percent.
Does Enrollment Differ
Based On Camp Characteristics?
People often question whether enrollment
issues are different for day camps than resident camps, so we took a
closer look at the information from that perspective. That comparison
showed a few areas with meaningful differences. The five major differences
in 2006 were related to: gender enrollment, specialized program interest,
financial support for campers, perceived enrollment trends for the past
five years, and capacity.
- Resident camps seemed to experience
lower enrollments of both boys and girls. For example, 23 percent of
the resident camp directors indicated lower enrollment of boys while
only 9 percent of day camps saw this reduction. Similarly, 26 percent
of the resident camps were lower for girls as compared to only 14 percent
of the day camps.
- Day camps indicated more interest in their
specialized programs (45 percent) compared to resident camps (26 percent).
- Resident
camps generated more financial support for campers with 42 percent
of resident camp directors indicating they contributed greater than
$25,000, while only 25 percent of the day camps generated more than
$25,000.
- When
asked to compare the 2006 summer to the previous five years, 55 percent
of the day camps indicated that this summer was the highest or higher
in enrollment than most of the last five years. Resident camps were
slightly more negative with 46 percent stating 2006 was the best or
among the best enrollments over the past five years.
- Only 45 percent
of the resident camps said they reached greater than or equal to 90
percent capacity while 61 percent of the day camps indicated that level.
Over 77 percent of the day camps said they hit their targeted 2006
enrollments of greater than 90 percent as compared to 66 percent of
resident camps with this same goal.
Last year’s survey indicated quite a few regional
differences around session length, camper return rates, financial support
of campers, and overall enrollments as well as differences around gender
enrollments. This year, the regional comparisons were much more similar.
The only areas of major difference were in session length, the magnitude
of camper return rates, and the five- year trends.
- The greatest
gains in enrollment came from camps in Mid-America and the West. For
example, 33 percent and 31 percent of the camps in the West and Mid-America,
respectively, said their increase in enrollments was greater than 10
percent over 2005.
- The most popular session length in camps
in Mid-America, the West, and the South was one week, while New England
indicated popular sessions of two weeks, and Mid-Atlantic camps found
one week and seven to eight weeks to both be popular.
- For all
camps that experienced growth in camper return rates, the greatest
increases (greater than 10 percent) were seen in the Mid-America and
the West regions.
- While
all regions seemed to think enrollments were up in 2006, the South
seemed to be most positive with almost 60 percent of these camps saying
enrollment was the highest or among the highest for the past five summers.
The last
analysis looked at the information from the perspective of camp affiliation
(agency/municipal, religious, independent for profit, and independent
nonprofit). This comparison showed a number of interesting differences:
- Religiously-affiliated
camps experienced the most decreases in enrollment with 40 percent
lower than the previous year. Close to half of the agency/municipal,
independent for profit, and independent nonprofit camps indicated increased
enrollment in 2006.
- The most popular session lengths for independent for-profit
camps were generally seven- to eight-week sessions. Other affiliations
favored the one-week sessions.
- Interest in specialized programs
increased by 30 percent in all affiliations except private for-profit
camps. For the vast majority of private for-profit camps (78 percent),
interest in specialized programs stayed the same.
- Independent
for-profit and religiously-affiliated camps generally generated the
fewest number of financially supported camper weeks (less than fifty
camper weeks a summer). Religiously-affiliated camps also generated
slightly less money for camper support.
- Only 33 percent of the religiously-affiliated
directors indicated the 2006 summer was the highest or among the highest
summer enrollments for the past five years compared to agency/municipal
(48 percent); independent for profit (61 percent); and independent
nonprofit (52 percent).
- Seventy-one percent of independent for-profit
camps indicated they were at 90-100 percent capacity while only 26
percent of the religiously-affiliated camps were at this level. Agency
and independent nonprofit camps were 46 percent and 56 percent, respectively.
- When
asked how close they were to their targeted enrollment for the 2006
summer, independent for-profit camps had the best performance at the
upper end of the 90-99 percent. Religiously-affiliated had the lowest
with 21 percent falling below 80 percent of their targeted capacity.
Lessons Learned
From the Enrollment Survey
Just as we saw in last year’s survey,
the issue of camp enrollment is more complex than may initially appear.
While the summer of 2006 was one of high enrollment that met many camps’ targeted
enrollment projections and was close to capacity, for other segments
of the camp community the summer was one of the lowest enrollment summers
of the past five years. Several messages emerge from this study:
- Camps
in general seemed to experience a boost in enrollments in 2006 with
fewer camps indicating decreased enrollments in general, by age, and
by gender. Almost half the camps put the 2006 summer as one of their
best for the past five years.
- Regional differences around enrollment virtually
disappeared in 2006. The worries about the effects of hurricanes and
wildfires on camps in the South and West never materialized for the
camps who responded to this survey. In fact, many camps in the West,
Mid-America, and the South had one of their best summers.
- The concern over
major enrollment differences between day and resident camps were not
evident in these data.
- Enrollment decreases are a concern for
religiously-affiliated camps. When camps who indicated they were experiencing
decreases in enrollment (particularly by age and gender) were examined
more closely, religiously-affiliated camps were often the ones with
the largest decreases.
- Enrollments of ethnic/minority campers did
not experience any real growth in any segment of the camp community.
- While
most camps are generating dollars to help children enroll in camp who
otherwise may not attend, these sponsorships seem to have plateaued
at fairly minimal levels.
Thanks to the ACA camps who took the time to complete
the study, we have valuable data from which to talk about trends and
issues related to enrollment. We plan to continue to collect enrollment
data and hope that even more directors will contribute their perspectives
every March and October. Our hope is to provide camp decision-makers
with accurate information that will help in the development of marketing
and recruitment strategies and retention plans based on the most informed
research data from the camp community. As far as whether ACA is making
headway on its desire to increase the number of children getting a camp
experience, these data suggest we are making some small gains but have
much room to improve.
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