Give the Gift of Camp This Holiday Season – The Perfect Gift and Campaign

Written by Social Summer Camp intern, Breanna Salinas.

What does the holiday season mean to you? For some, it means the time of year to guess what presents are hidden in the pile of wrapped gifts or just another vacation from school. For many, it’s the time to reflect and give back to their families, friends or communities.

With the holiday season quickly approaching, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with holiday parties, decorating homes or finding the perfect gifts for friends and family. Some may have ran out of gift ideas for the kids who don’t ask for much or for the kids who already have it all! Luckily, we’re here to help.

The best gifts to give are the gifts that keep on giving – a great example being the gift of camp! Summer camp opens many doors and teaches kids about the world and themselves beyond the classroom through activities and programs camps offer. Summer camp gives kids the opportunity for physical activity, social development, creative expression and team participation all while having fun with camp friends. Kids won’t remember their favorite memory with their iPod or toy they received on Christmas or Hanukkah, instead they’ll remember a summer camp experience. An experience like summer camp is a gift that kids will cherish for a lifetime.

As for camps or similar organizations, the gift of camp this holiday season should be used to your advantage! Promote your camp or create campaigns that can show families that the best gift to give is an experience that will live with the kids in their family forever.

Your campaign doesn’t have to only target parents with small children, you can use your campaign to target almost anyone! It’s not just parents who can provide summer camp experiences, but extended family too such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. If families don’t have camper-aged children, they can donate directly the camp scholarship funds or to the various summer camp foundations like SCOPE. Here are some tips on how you can reach an audience this holiday season:

Remind Families and Extended Family Members About Registering for Camp:

• Email Marketing: The holiday season is the greatest time of the year, but also the time of the year where people receive the most spam. You’ll want to reach potential campers through every channel, but be strategic in your email marketing plan – you don’t want to overwhelm your email list!
  • Customize a personal “From” line and email
  • Address your reader by name
  • Deliver a strong call to action
  • Disclose important information about enrollment dates or FAQs
  • Thank your consumer for their time or consideration
  • Send follow-up emails strategically

• Social Media Posts: Using photos from past years at camp can show your followers the fun activities and programs your camp can offer to their child or family member. Posting on your social networks is the best way to reach potential campers inexpensively!
• Targeted Ads: Target your ads straight to the source. Creating targeted ads are easy to do and can promote your campaign to the right audience. Facebook ads, for example, has made it extremely easy to target people based on their location, age, gender, occupation, and even marital or parental status! An example being if you are a camp in the Pennsylvania area, you can easily target mothers who have children aged 6-14 within 50 miles of your camp.
• Special Offers: If you have a deal or offer that could attract more campers to sign up for camp, don’t fail to mention it! For example, mention that your camp offers additional incentives when campers enroll before a certain date to receive a special camp t-shirt as a gift.

Additional Ways to Give the Gift of Camp:

• Give Resources: Tell your audience that they can give other kids the gift of camp by promoting charities and scholarship foundations they can donate to.
  • They can donate directly to camp of their choice or to programs like SCOPE.
  • The proceeds from these allow children who may not otherwise be able to attend camp due to financial reasons get the same opportunity as their friends.