Attendees at the 2022 JCamp 180 Conference participated in a fast-paced experiential activity called World Café. During this exercise, participants responded to six different questions to help them consider how to best engage their supporters and build on their fundraising successes...today, tomorrow, and forever.
Here are the six questions participants considered. Click on a question to see highlights/themes of the responses to that question shared during the conference.
- How has the “Why” for giving to camp changed beyond the acute crisis of the pandemic era?
- What might motivate existing donors to make camp an even higher priority for their giving?
- How might we engage and inspire the next generation to make giving to camp cool?
- How might we multiply our capacity by engaging more Board Members and other volunteers in fulfilling fundraising experiences?
- What fundraising behaviors should we start, stop, or strengthen?
- How might more camps be motivated to realize the benefits of endowment building?
1. How has the “Why” for giving to camp changed beyond the acute crisis of the pandemic era?
Themes and highlighted responses to this question:
- Camp makes better humans, future leaders in the Jewish world
- The pandemic highlighted the importance of camp – camp is a “need” not a “want” for both mental health and Jewish identity/community
- There is a real, continued need for financial assistance for many families to send their children to camp - we must ensure any family that wants to send their children to Jewish camp are able to.
2. What might motivate existing donors to make camp an even higher priority for their giving?
Themes and highlighted responses to this question:
- Increase the transparent sharing of camp finances with supporters
- Inspire donors with stories of their impact – testimonials, videos, etc.
- Engage donors more intimately – ask for advice, ask to connect with their networks, etc.
- Listen and learn more about donor interests and find their “why” for giving to camp; continue to build relationships with donors
- Position camp as an incubator for future leaders in the Jewish community
3. How might we engage and inspire the next generation to make giving to camp cool?
Themes and highlighted responses to this question:
- Recognize small, consistent giving from younger alumni; make monthly giving options available
- Engage young alumni – special events, camp visits, camp committee participation, newsletters
- Provide meaningful volunteer opportunities for young alumni – invite them to share "because of camp…” testimonials; invite them to participate meaningfully on committees; ask them to make thank you calls, etc.
- Engage younger family members of current donors in conversations
- Show that giving to camp is the norm for their peer group (social proof)
- Inspire campers, staff, and young alumni by involving them in developing capital campaigns and fundraising plans
- Implement youth-focused campaigns – peer-to-peer; social media campaigns; giving circles; friend-raising; etc.
4. How might we multiply our capacity by engaging more Board Members and other volunteers in fulfilling fundraising experiences?
Themes and highlighted responses to this question:
- Talk to each board member to learn their interests, expertise, and any obstacles to board engagement; then match them with responsibilities in their comfort zone where they can be successful
- Share and celebrate successes of board/committee member in fundraising process, no matter how small – ripples
- Engage board members in stewardship, relationship building, and sharing their own story of why the support camp
- Partner board/committee members with professional staff on donor conversations and solicitations
- Provide training, example scripts, and success stories in fundraising to increase comfort level
- Develop board pipeline: engage non-board members on committees with smaller, strategic goals
- Develop long-term pipeline: educate and engage campers/staff in culture of philanthropy
5. What fundraising behaviors should we start, stop, or strengthen?
Themes and highlighted responses to this question:
- Start
- Thinking abundance: There are many people and orgs out there that would support camp – or support camp more deeply – if you cultivate relationships and ask them
- Reporting back to donors more regularly throughout the year – share their impact
- Listening to donors – for their “why” and for their advice; developing more personal relationships
- Engaging campers in philanthropy – involve them in stewardship/gratitude; implement service projects at camp; model giving; etc.
- Stop
- Self-doubt/fear – no more apologizing for asking people to invest in camp
- Doing what you’ve always done – be purposeful in every development activity. Rethink everything – auctions; golf events; etc.
- Making donor decisions for them – you don’t know if they are willing to support camp until you ask
- Strengthen
- Reporting impact back to donors
- Camp’s case for support, including vision
- Collecting and sharing stories of impact from campers, families, staff, alumni, board/committee members, and donors via text, audio, and video.
- Investing in the team and systems – training/professional development; develop and share fundraising plan; invest in database training and data cleanup; etc.
- Legacy program – solicitation and stewardship
6. How might more camps be motivated to realize the benefits of endowment building?
Themes and highlighted responses to this question:
- Education
- Share widely they you are building an endowment and how donors can support it
- Explain why an endowment is important for the long-term sustainability of camp
- Share examples of what an endowment can accomplish – scholarship support; limit stress on annual fundraising; rainy-day fund; etc.
- Talk about how an endowment could help if another crisis occurs in the future
- Show that endowments can be unrestricted or restricted to donor’s interests (if they intersect with camp needs)
- Be clear that endowment gifts are NOT just for older donors
- Storytelling
- Share success stories
- Collect and share stories from endowment donors illustrating why they support endowment
- Create a story for what the next 10, 20, 50 years can look like at camp with (or without) a strong endowment
- Make integrated asks
- Create a committee focused on endowment
- Stress that giving to endowment is leaving a legacy and supporting the camp for generations – children, grandchildren, and beyond