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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Camp Quest West operates summer and weekend camps for secular children and families. Our goal is to promote
a sense of belonging to a large freethought community, encourage critical thinking, promote respect for others
who hold different viewpoints, and provide a safe and fun environment for personal and social development. We
are affiliated with National Camp Quest, the first secular summer camp for youth in the United States.
We have been operating Camp Quest West for five years now, and anticipate substantial growth in the next five.
Our plan is to grow to 200-400 summer campers by 2016 in three California locations and add weekend camps for
families. Our growth projection is based on past growth trends, growing market, volunteer commitment, and
strong participant identification. This document lays out our plan for meeting this growth and executing efficiently
and effectively. We will augment our staff, institutionalize our processes, and improve all aspects of our business.
As an organization whose tagline is Its Beyond Belief, Camp Quest West relies on solid planning and execution.
Our vision and strategy are translated into actionable plans executed by skilled staff and volunteers. All our camps
follow meticulously developed programs and are run by accomplished directors and counselors who are certified
in safe camp operations. We have a clear marketing plan aimed at increasing registration rates and a concrete
financial plan based on our operation history and conservative projections.
Being a non-profit, we rely on donations and participation fees. We maintain competitive camp costs and offer
subsidized rates for families in need. Our comprehensive fundraising plan includes corporate sponsorship, grant
seeking, street team fundraising, planned giving, online donations and a capital campaign. The latter is aimed at
raising funds for purchasing our own location, significantly lowering the cost of camp and providing us with more
opportunities and a new source of revenue. This goal goes beyond the 5 year horizon of this business plan, but its
roots are already planted in our financial plan.
THE BUSINESS
The market for summer camps has changed. No longer are families seeking a limited camp-in-the-woods
experience for their children. Special interest camps, like cooking and computers, are providing a service to
families looking to give their children something more.
1
A 2009 survey found that 15% of the US population admitted to having no religion, and this number is expected to
2
reach 25% before 2030. Here on the west coast, another survey found 18% of Californians reporting no religion.
These non-religious parents desire to pass their values on to their children. They wish to instill a certain skepticism
3
that reserves the right to look for ones own evidence, and to bestow the values of Humanism . Humanist families
want their children to meet others with similar worldviews, learn the importance of the scientific method, and
experience the outdoors in a safe, educational environment.
Our unique program meets these needs by combining high-octane critical thinking, science, and skepticism games
with the traditional all-American camp experience of archery, canoeing, swimming, crafts, and the great
outdoors.
We started as a one week, residential sleep-away camp for children in the summer of 2006. Originally operated as
a subcommittee of Atheist Alliance International which incubated us, we incorporated as an independent 501c3 in
2008. We became a licensee of Camp Quest, Inc, an internationally-recognized brand in the freethinking
community.
The unique market we serve catering specifically to children of atheists, humanists, skeptics and others with a
naturalistic worldview is growing. Our all-volunteer organization has grown at over 30% every year. At this rate,
we look forward to hosting more than 200 campers in 2016, spanning three facilities in California, with multiple
sessions and camp formats.
VISION
It is the vision of Camp Quest West to be as widely-recognized as the YMCA, and the favored non-profit
organization for freethinking families. We see todays campers proudly sending their grand-children to Camp Quest
West with the same pride and support that our volunteers have today.
Our proven methods for curriculum development, training, and community involvement will be a model for other
Camp Quest licensees. Our safety record will be ranked among the highest through the nationally-recognized
American Camp Association.
FUNDRAISING
Camp Quest West has developed a fundraising strategy with multiple initial focuses to determine what methods
are most successful. This will help prioritize efforts as we proceed.
Revenue earned through most fundraising efforts will be primarily spent on camperships (scholarships for
campers) and to our general fund which will assist with marketing and training. The exception is the Capital
Campaign, discussed later.
ANNUAL CAMPAIGN
Camp Quest Wests annual fundraising campaign consists of general donations, retail purchases, and corporate
sponsorship.
Together, these methods will total $21,000. Numbers provided in this section are for the 2012 calendar year, with
an expected growth 20% each year thereafter.
GENERAL DONATIONS
It will be our goal to raise a minimum of $20,000 in 2012 through the following methods:
House Parties
Written and Email Pleas (including holiday mailers)
Street Teams (including friends, family, staff, and volunteers)
Significant Matching Donors
Three house parties (spanning different regions of California) will be announced by January to take place in March
or April. These parties will be for adults with an interest in supporting Camp Quest West. They will likely consist of
dinner, a presentation, a heart-warming testimonial from a camper and/or volunteer, and a plea for donations.
Throughout the year, multiple letter and email pleas will be sent to qualified donors and supporters. This will
include newsletters, thank-you cards, and annual donation reminders. It will be our goal to communicate with all
donors no fewer than 4 times a year. All mailed communications will include a return envelope. All emails will
include a link for online donations.
Beginning in February, street teams will begin to form to solicit donations from members friends, coworkers, and
families. These teams will consist of active Camp Quest West donors, staff, volunteers, and families. Initially a
recruitment email will be sent in February, with teams to form in March, and the campaign to run through May.
Street Teams will be given advice and materials to solicit new donors through mail, email, social networking, and
in-person. These will also attempt to coordinate with local house parties. A goal of 25 recruits is set for 2012,
forming between 5-8 teams.
The fundraising director will attempt to solicit one significant matching donor for the 2012 year, to be secured in
April and announced in May with the intent of boosting donations as we near the end of the fundraising cycle.
PRODUCT SALES
It should be mentioned that additional income will be earned through product sales, mostly consisting of camp
memorabilia, t-shirts, and photographs.
We may also, from time-to-time, receive items to be auctioned or sold such as autographed books, special event
tickets, and other rare items.
It is our goal to secure four items for auction, with a combined income of $500, each calendar year.
CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP
Through an advertisement-based sponsorship program, Camp Quest will seek donations totaling $3,000 from
businesses and organizations that have an interest in supporting freethought and children education.
Sample organizations include local coffee shops and restaurants, science and education-based organizations, and
freethought organizations (local, regional, and nationwide).
These donors will be recognized for their donation through a number of methods including:
Soon, a rate sheet will be developed that describes the sponsorship opportunities available and costs associated
with each.
AUXILIARY FUNDRAISING
In addition to the annual campaign, Camp Quest West will solicit but not budget for three types of income:
grants, planned giving, and financial assistance from Camp Quest National.
We expect that donations made through Auxiliary Fundraising will be earmarked for specific purposes such as
camperships, marketing, or program development. Undesignated donations will be spent per the boards
discretion, with 5% or more going to the Capital Campaign.
GRANTS
Beginning in January, our grant writer will seek out grants to apply for. At this moment, we do not yet have an
estimate as to how many grants Camp Quest West will be eligible for. We may assume 10 throughout the calendar
year, with the goal of applying for nearly all of these.
Grant availability and being awarded a grant is an unpredictable metric. Further, awarded grants often come tied
to specific spending requirements such as program development or science education.
Because of this, no income will be projected from grants. Any income received will be considered an unplanned
bonus to our financial statement.
PLANNED GIVING
Many members of the freethought movement are passionately committed to supporting freethought and children.
It is our goal to seek out those who are in a position to give significantly to Camp Quest West through a bequest, a
large gift, or an endowment.
A campaign will be developed in 2012 to see out those who might be targeted for planned giving, as well as
creating the marketing literature and strategy to approach them.
NATIONAL
As our national licensor develops its plan and goals, we have an opportunity to work with them and voice how we
expect them to support us. One such method is through passing a portion of their fundraising efforts to its
licensees.
This is already happening through the Helen Kagin memorial fund, through which we received $700 in 2010.
Though we expect this fund to decrease, we expect others to appear and be dispersed in a similar fashion.
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN
It is the goal of Camp Quest West to raise capital funds with which to purchase its own location, significantly
lowering the cost of camp and providing us with more opportunities, and possibly a new source of revenue (rent to
other camp associations).
In 2013 we will announce that 5% of all donations received will go straight to our capital campaign (unless
requested by the donor). Here it will earn interest and be earmarked specifically for the purchase of a camp
facility.
This is a long-term goal that far exceeds this five-year business plan. However, at our forecasted growth we expect
to have $6000 by the end of 2016 through annual campaign and corporate sponsorship alone.
With donations received through planned giving and grants (when applicable), it will be our goal to purchase a
property in fewer than 15 years.
2013
2014
Annual Campaign
General
Products
Sponsorship
Sub Total
Capital
$
$
$
$
$
20,000
500
3,000
23,500
1,175
Auxillary Fundraising
Grants
Planned
National
Grand Total
$
$
$
$
1,000 $
- $
700 $
25,200 $
1,000 $
- $
2,000 $
31,200 $
Capital Balance
1,175 $
2,585 $
$
$
$
$
$
24,000
600
3,600
28,200
1,410
$
$
$
$
$
28,800
720
4,320
33,840
1,692
2015
$
$
$
$
$
34,560
864
5,184
40,608
2,030
2016
$
$
$
$
$
41,472
1,037
6,221
48,730
2,436
5,000 $
- $
3,000 $
41,840 $
5,000 $
$
4,000 $
49,608 $
8,000
5,000
61,730
4,277 $
6,307 $
8,744
2012
General
Products
Sponsorship
Grants
National
SERVICE
PROGRAM OFFERINGS
Our core business is running week long summer camp sessions for children 8-17. To help build community during
the off season, we run regional camper parties in the winter and spring. Additionally, beginning Fall 2012, we will
host a weekend family camp. Every party and session has a threefold aim: building community, fostering
awareness of Freethought heritage, and increasing critical thinking skills while having fun.
A typical day at our summer camp:
7:00
Wake up bell
7:30
Breakfast Assembly
8:30
Cleanup
9:15
Team Games
10:15
Water Break
10:30
Freethought Activity
11:30
Lunch Assembly
12:30
Flat-on-Bunk Time
1:15
Elective
2:00
Water Break
2:15
Free Time (pool, archery, canoe, crafts, chill zone, lemonade stand, tech center open)
5:15
Dinner Assembly
6:15
7:15
Freethought Activity
8:15
Evening Activity
9:30
In Cabins
10:00
Lights Out
We aim to marry fun critical thinking Freethought activities with the traditional All American camp experience of
hiking, canoeing, swimming, crafts and the great outdoors. Our regional parties look like an abbreviated camp
experience, with time for socializing, lunch and a Freethought game. Family camp will also be similar, having
structured activities in the mornings and evenings, including some staff-run supervised activities for kids to give
parents time to interact with each other, with family free time in the afternoons.
Our Freethought activities can be grouped into three areas: Hard Science, Skepticism and Humanism.
Hard Science
Double blind studies
Evolution simulation
Pendulums and sundials
Skepticism
Learn to be a psychic
Make your own UFO photo
Water dowsing tests
Humanism
Turn away bullies with masks
Feeling down? Self talk
Humanism? What is it?
Each meal includes an introduction of a famous Freethought hero, such as Mark Twain or Margaret Sanger. Staff
remind campers that people who thought a little differently about religion have done great things in the world
and hopefully one day their poster might be shown at a future camp quest discussing the amazing things they will
do.
Kids return to camp because they make friends at camp. In order to break up cliques and provide more
opportunities for friendship, we provide two main structures for campers: the cabin and the team. Each cabin is
segregated by gender and by age. The teams mix campers up including both genders and a mixture of campers
from several cabins. Some kids find their best friends in their cabins while other kids find it easier to make friends
with slightly younger or older children which is possible through the teams.
Camp Philosophy
Basic Schedule & Responsibilities
Behavior Management
Emergency Procedures
Starting this year, in-state staff will go through a 7-hour in-person training before camp. Out of state staff will be
asked to review the manual with follow-ups by phone.
We are working toward American Camp Association accreditation with expectation of having that in place by 2013.
2012
July session
July session
2013
July session
July session
Oct weekend
Oct weekend
Apr weekend
2014
July session
July session
nd
2 week
June week
Oct weekend
Apr weekend
2015
July session
July session
nd
2 week
June week
Oct weekend
Apr weekend
2016
July session
July session
nd
2 week
June week
Oct weekend
Apr weekend
MARKETING STRATEGY
Our marketing goal is to spread the word about Camp Quest West among our target audience. This includes
atheists, humanists, freethinkers, and the passively non-religious. While the former demographics are our main
focus, the latter is much larger and more challenging to reach. Many non-religious people begin to identify with
humanism or other forms of freethought once they get exposed to them. Our mission is to reach out to these
people and make it easy for them to formalize their secular thoughts. We do this by making our marketing
message accessible and easy to digest and by using modern social media vehicles.
Like in the fast food, fashion, and music industries, the child is often the decision maker when it comes to choosing
a summer camp but the parents are the ones paying the bill. Our challenge is twofold: reaching out to kids while
satisfying parents. We tell kids about our fun and enriching activities, and reassure parents about our location,
safety, program, staff, and more.
4
5
Number of Campers
14
30
4
N/A
50
66
92
Return Rate
43%
5
30%
53%
54%
MARKETING CYCLE
We plan our marketing activities on an annual cycle and follow this high-level timeline:
Characteristics
Social Media
Paid Advertising
Blog and
Newsletter
Marketing Material
Preparation
August December
The main activity during this
period is preparation for the
next registration cycle which
starts in January
None
New blog post once every
two weeks, a newsletter
once every 6 weeks
Plan camp activities aimed
at generating marketing
material, like taking pictures
and shooting video
COMPETITION
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
International Brand
Strong participant identification with values
Strong volunteer interest
Experienced leadership team
Corporate, institutional mindset
Donor base of over 100 donors
5 successful years running camp
Experience incubating regional growth
Independent corporation with 501c3 status
WEAKNESSES
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
Parents choose the tier that works for their family. All campers get the same camp experience.
non-religious parents looking to pass on their values: science, humanism, thinking for oneself and questioning
everything. Second, we will highlight our almost unique program pairing high-octane science with a traditional All
American camp experience. Finally, we will rely on and foster strong community networks by highlighting our
incredible volunteers and role models and also increasing the number of our off-season parties and gatherings.
PERSONNEL
Running a successful camp includes both the seasonal staff working at camp and all of the people involved behind
the scenes in pre-camp preparation task forces like marketing, fundraising and registration. Task force volunteers
come primarily from the camp parent community and alumni seasonal staff. We sometimes recruit from local
Freethought community organizations.
Since more volunteers are interested in spending a week at camp than doing work during the off-season, our camp
preparation tasks are centralized into task forces shared across the camp sessions to get the most bang for our
volunteer buck and create standardized, institutionalized practices across the board.
While we currently run an all-volunteer shop, scaling will require some professional assistance. We plan to carve
out the least popular and most regimented task and contract those out. Over the next five years, the tasks we plan
to contract out include: registration, donor and volunteer follow-up and bookkeeping services. We plan to use an
administrative assistant contracting service starting at 160 hours in 2013 and scaling 20-30% a year as our camp
participation grows. Similarly, we will engage a bookkeeping service starting in 2013 to assist us with our quarterly
financial statements.
MANAGEMENT
Camp Quest West has a history of growing and mentoring volunteers. Here are a number of our key management
leaders:
David is the newly elected chair of the annual Sacramento Freethought Day, which recently improved
attendance by 400% and coordinated with local, regional, and national freethinking groups including
the FFRF and United COR. Locally, he led supporters of church/state separation in demonstration
against the City of Lodi for holding invocations during city council meetings and has been a
spokesperson for the freethought community in Sacramento.
David has taught at University of the Pacifics School of Engineering in the field of Computer Science.
By day, Brian works as a promoter, technical consultant and sound engineer. He has worked such gala
events as the Indie West Fest and Oxnard Boys and Girls Club Battle of the Bands. In 2011, he was
named one of the best Ventura County DJ's by VCReporter. His skills in this area have allowed us to
host top quality end-of-camp dances with a mix of music designed to keep kids of all ages having fun
together on the dance floor.
Brian has shown a commitment to the Freethought community, serving as the membership
coordinator for Atheists United in Los Angeles. His connections in Southern California will be
invaluable as we expand into that region.
Online Marketing
o This team manages all of our online advertising and the website
Regional Marketing
o This team works to host camp parties during the year for alumni and future campers and staff.
Operations
o This team handles registration, transportation, insurance and regulatory compliance
Curriculum Development
o This team plans camp activities and curricula
Staffing
o This team makes seasonal staffing decisions, basically vetting and training volunteers.
Fundraising/Finance
o This team is in charge of fundraising.
o This team works with the treasurer to enable timely financial reports.
Accreditation (temporary)
o Getting ACA accreditation is a big job the first time, so we have a separate task force for this.
Once we have accreditation, this will move into operations where it will be simply a matter of
maintaining accreditation.
These task forces are very important. Not only do they perform important pre-camp tasks, but this is also where
we grow our future board members and camp directors. In all cases, one must plan for attrition. Volunteers may
need to step back at times to deal with family, job or other personal matters. To deal with normal attrition, one
must have bite-sized tasks, good documentation for each task force and continually grow and recruit new faces
onto each task force so that there is a critical mass of volunteers at any one time to get things done and preserve
institutional knowledge.
The chart below shows where we plan to allocate volunteer resources in our task forces. You can see that the
Accreditation task force will be discontinued after the task is completed. (Monitoring accreditation will move to
operations). The registration/operations team will shrink to a skeleton crew as we begin to rely on professional
services in that area. The finance/fundraising team will grow slowly. This is an important task force, but also a
difficult area to grow due to American cultural fears about asking other people for money. This will be a critical
area to focus on mentoring and keeping attrition to a minimum. The staffing task force will level off as we reach
the optimal number of people working on interviewing and vetting new staff and reviewing staff training annually.
We will focus, long term, on recruiting volunteers into regional party planning, curriculum development and online
marketing. These are areas where volunteer labor really is the best (curriculum development), you really cant
have too many volunteers (online marketing) and where greater participation is a strategic piece of increasing our
community network (regional parties).
2013
2014
2015
2016
Accreditation
Registration/Operations
Curriculum Development
Finance/Fundraising
Staffing
Regional Parties
Online Marketing
In addition to rank-and-file task force members, we will require project management to oversee and keep work on
track. In 2012, we have a head project manager and two assistant project managers. Our goal is to mentor new
project managers each year with the goal of eventually having an equal number of project managers as camp
locations.
SEASONAL NEEDS
Seasonal needs are primarily driven by the number of campers and sessions. Since were dealing with volunteers
who are often working professionals, we expect that most will be able to volunteer for one week only. This means
that we need to replicate key positions for each new session.
Camp Director
o Overall boss. Leads management team. Deals with logistical contingencies
Program Head
o Keeps camp on schedule. Manages the activity leaders
Head Staffer
o Mentors cabin staff. Deals with discipline issues.
Nurse
o Maintains health records and wellness center.
Counselors
o Direct supervision of the children. Some counselors manage cabins, others run activities.
Currently, we have more camp counselors apply than positions available. Camp counselors come from secular
college groups and adult Freethought groups. We feel confident that we can recruit enough staff to keep up with
camp enrollment, even at a 1:3 staff/camper ratio. If anything, the challenge is the other way around to grow
fast enough to provide sufficient volunteer opportunities for our burgeoning secular young adult community! Our
best staffers at each session will be hand-selected to attend family camp where they will have a staff reunion and
provide a couple of hours of running-around games for the children during Parent Social Hour.
Head staffers and program heads will be recruited for the following year from among the pool of our best staffers
during a session. Ideally, each camp session would have a camp director, mens and womens head staffer, and
program head. However, at new locations, while camps are small, some roles may be filled by the same person.
For instance, the camp director may also be the program head, or the mens and womens head staffer may be the
same person.
The main challenge will be recruiting, training and maintaining camp directors and nursing support, especially as
we begin to hold family camps at additional locations. In 2012, our current camp director will focus on mentoring
the two new camp directors we have recruited and will be sending to the American Camp Association Basic Camp
Directors Course. From now until 2014, we will need to recruit an additional camp director for the coastal camp
and an assistant camp director for the Los Angeles area. Having an assistant camp director in Los Angeles will
enable the camp director and the assistant to trade off during our first-ever 2-week session while still maintaining
continuity. We will not recruit new camp directors for family camp weekends, but will run them with one of our
existing camp directors.
Each session of childrens camp must have a camp nurse. Nursing support will be recruited online and will be
offered a campership for their child. If we are unable to recruit a nurse, we must hire one from the nursing
registry.
FINANCIAL DATA