Character Grant Program Update

To celebrate all the different stages of character at camp, we are thrilled to announce that there will still be three grant pathways that a camp can apply for: Planning Grants, Implementation Grants, or Network Planning Grants!  The timeline for ACA’s Character at Camp is being adjusted to better align with the needs of our camp leaders as they head into summer.

New dates will be announced soon, but we anticipate that applications will open in summer 2025, that the application deadline will be fall 2025, and that award announcements will come out winter 2025/2026.

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Initiative Overview

The Character at Camp initiative will be conducted during the next six years. ACA will make available in-person and virtual training opportunities, educational tools, and other resources to camps to strengthen, expand, or establish character development programs at the more than 15,000 year-round and summer camps across the US. As a direct result of this new initiative, ACA will invite camp leaders to participate in educational and peer-learning opportunities, networking, training, other experiences to learn how to help develop character skills and traits at camp. ACA will work with camp professionals, youth-development experts, and others to create new educational resources, training, and assessment tools to provide camps with opportunities to engage in this important initiative.

Starting in 2025, all eligible nonprofit camps will have the opportunity to apply for competitive one-, two-, or three-year grants to support their character development programs. Eligible organizations will be able to apply for funding in amounts ranging from $5,000 to up to $300,000 based on the length of the grant period. Funds may be used for staffing, training, curricula, assessment, communications, and/or outreach and partnership efforts to support camps’ specific goals related to character development. The initiative will support a broad range of camps serving young people from varied backgrounds and experiences, including under-resourced and underrepresented youth, as well as provide funding for developing character-based programming that is culturally relevant and values the diverse perspectives of youth and families.