by Jon Malinowski, Ph.D.
As part of its efforts to better understand the needs of its members,
the American Camp Association (ACA) conducts periodic research on business
issues, the benefits of the summer camp experience, and youth development.
In November and December 2005, the association funded a major survey
on camp business operations. Each of ACA's 2,680 member camps was
sent a survey, and 1,097 usable responses were received, a 41 percent
return rate. The results indicate that the camp community remains a complicated
family with a great degree of diversity among its members.
Resident Camps
Resident camps that responded to the survey consisted of independent
camps (36 percent); agency camps (33 percent); and religious camps
(24 percent). Among the independent camps, for-profit camps were slightly
more represented than nonprofit camps (19 percent of all respondents
compared to 17 percent). Among agency camps, the YMCA (11 percent of
all respondents) and the Girl Scouts (8 percent of all respondents)
were the most commonly represented organizations.
Summer Youth Camp Fees
Among the responding residential camps, the average weekly fee for
summer youth camp was $597. The vast majority of residential camps,
approximately 65 percent, charge more than $300 per week for summer
camp, and 10 percent reported fees of $1,000 per week or more. Only
7 percent of respondents reported fees of under $100 per week. As shown
in Figure 1 below, New England has the highest median summer camp
registration fees, at $780 per week, while the Mid America states have
the lowest at just $325 for the median fee. The term median means that
50 percent of camps are below and 50 percent of camps are above this
number.
Not surprisingly, independent for-profit camps were most likely to report
high weekly fees. Nearly 42 percent of independent for-profits reported
fees above $1,000 per week, and another 42 percent indicated fees between
$700-$999. Among agency-affiliated camps, only 2 of 223 respondents indicated
fees above $1,000 per week, a number well under 1 percent. Similarly,
only 2 percent of religious-affiliated camps and 4 percent of independent
nonprofit residential camps reported weekly fees above $1,000 for camp.
Overall, the average weekly fees by sponsor were $377 for agency sponsored
camps, $566 for religious sponsored camps, $457 for independent nonprofits,
and $952 for independent for-profits.
Because of the camp community's roots in service, camps continue to
be generous givers of scholarships to campers or other guests at their
facilities. Of the residential camps responding, the average amount given
in scholarships during the relevant fiscal year was nearly $68,000 and
the median was $17,000. Again, this means that 50 percent of respondents
awarded more than $17,000 in scholarships, and 50 percent awarded less
than $17,000. Independent nonprofit residential camps were the most likely
to report scholarships of over $100,000 or more. Nearly 27 percent of
respondents in this category reported doing so. Independent for-profit
camps were most likely to report no scholarships. About 21 percent of
camps in this category reported no scholarships, compared with just 10
percent of agency residential camps, 8 percent of religious-sponsored
camps, and 8 percent of independent nonprofits.
Non-Camp Services and Months of Operation
A large number of residential camps reported offering services other
than summer youth camp programs. Over 40 percent of respondents indicated
that they offered either a retreat center, family camp programs, or outdoor/environmental
education programs. Furthermore, over 30 percent of all residential camps
offer weekend or daily rentals, site rental by other camps, day use programs,
or trip and/or travel camp. Finally, about 25 percent of all residential
camps reported conference center or day camp services. Regionally, retreat
centers were least common in New England and most common in the Mid Atlantic
and Mid America regions. Family camp services were most common in the
Mid America and Western regions.
These findings suggest that a typical residential camp is much more
than just a "summer" camp, and other aspects of the survey
seem to prove this. As expected, over 90 percent of all residential camps
report being in operation during June, July, and August, but the other
months of the year are not being neglected. As shown in Figure 2 below,
over 40 percent of resident camps report operations in January, February,
March, and November, over 50 percent are operating in April and October,
and over 60 percent operate in May and September. December is the least
common month for operation, but even then a full 39 percent of camps
reported operating. As might be expected, New England residential camps
report the lowest winter operations, with only 13-16 percent of all camps in
operation. Perhaps this shorter reported operating season is one reason that
weekly summer camp fees are higher in the New England states.
Gross Revenues
Respondents to the survey were asked to report an estimated gross revenue
in their current fiscal year from all sources. The average for residential
camps was $961,000 and the median was $540,000. Approximately 13 percent
of camps reported estimated total gross revenues of over $2 million and
16 percent estimate between $1-1.9 million. At the other end of the spectrum,
8 percent of camps estimate gross revenues of under $100,000 for the
year. New England residential camps reported the highest estimated total
gross revenues, at $1.2 million. Mid Atlantic residential camps reported
the next highest median estimated revenues, at $624,000, followed by
Southern camps ($560,000); Mid America camps ($400,000); and Western
camps ($331,000).
Well over half of all revenue reported by residential camps, nearly
59 percent, comes from summer camp registration fees. After these fees,
group rental fees and contributions each account for about a tenth
of the respondent camps' gross revenues. New England camps seem to
be the most dependent on camp registration fees. In these states, nearly
76 percent of revenue comes from this source. Also, and as is to be
expected, independent for-profit camps rely more heavily on camper
registration fees. Over 89 percent of the revenue for independent for-profits
was estimated to come from camper fees, compared to just 45 percent for independent
nonprofit residential camps.
Residential Camp Expenses and Profitability
Labor is the largest expense for residential camps according to the respondents,
accounting for 40 percent of outlays. The next single largest expense reported
was food, at 11.4 percent of expenses, and program items and supplies, at 8.3
percent of all costs. Maintenance and insurance were the next largest expenses.
Overall, average estimated expenses reported by residential camps were $896,000,
with a median of $530,000. Independent for-profit camps have the highest expenses
of all camp types, with average outlays of nearly $1.4 million. This was substantially
higher than independent nonprofits ($955,000); agency-sponsored residential camps
($782,000); or religious-sponsored residential respondents ($638,000). New England
camps have estimated median expenses that are over $350,000 higher than those
of residential camps in any other region.
Based on the data provided by survey respondents, a simple measure of
profitability was calculated by subtracting expenses from revenue.
Overall, 19 percent of residential camps show no "profit";
46 percent show a profit; and 25 percent of residential camps show
a loss. Among camps that show a profit, 13 percent had returns of $300,000
or more, and 24 percent had profits of $100,000-$299,999. This means
that the vast majority of camps showing a profit, nearly 63 percent,
generated returns of less than $100,000. Among residential camps that reported
expenses greater than revenues, nearly 19 percent had calculated losses of over
$100,000, 49 percent had deficits of between $10,000 and $99,999, and 20 percent
showed losses of less than $10,000.
Day Camps
A total of 305 day camps participated in this study. About 43 percent
of the camps were agency-sponsored, and the vast majority of these camps
are affiliated with the YMCA. Approximately 37 percent of the day camps
participating are independent, divided roughly equally among for-profit
and nonprofit entities. Religious-sponsored camps constituted just 6
percent of the respondents. Municipal or government day camps (7 percent)
and day camps in multiple categories rounded out the respondents. Agency-sponsored
day camps were more commonly from the Western or Mid America regions
while the New England and Mid Atlantic states had more independent programs.
Municipal- or government-sponsored day camps were more common in Southern states
than in other regions.
Summer Youth Camp Fees
As expected, weekly fees for day camps are lower than for residential
camps. Approximately 66 percent of day camps charge between $100-299
for a week. Only 3 percent of all day camps responding reported fees
of over $700 per week. Overall, the average fee for a week at one of
the participating day camps was $303. Agency-sponsored day camps reported
the lowest average fees, at just $157, followed in order of increasing
cost by religious-sponsored programs ($222); independent for-profit camps
($494); and independent nonprofit camps ($570). The fact that nonprofit
camps have higher average fees is skewed a bit by a few programs with high fees.
The median fees are $230 for the nonprofit programs and $400 for the for-profit
day camps. Thus, while nonprofits have higher average day camp fees, the bottom
50 percent of day camps in this category charge less than the bottom 50 percent
of camps in the for-profit category. Regionally, as shown in Figure 1 on page
18, median weekly fees were highest in the Mid Atlantic states ($275); followed
by the New England and Western states ($193); the Mid America states ($160);
and the Southern states ($100).
In terms of scholarships, agency-sponsored camps report the highest
level of giving, with a median amount of $14,600. Religious-sponsored
day camps and independent for-profit camps both had median scholarships
of $10,000, and independent nonprofits indicated median scholarships
of $5,000. Overall, 100 percent of religious, 98 percent of agency,
80 percent of for-profit independent, and 77 percent of independent
nonprofit day camps provide scholarships.
Non-Camp Services and Months
of Operation
Day camps are less likely than residential camps to offer other services
beyond youth camp programs. The most common services offered were outdoor
or environmental education programs (23 percent of respondents); trip
or travel camp (23 percent); and day use programs (22 percent). Site
rentals, community centers, and daily rentals were reported by 7-9 percent
of the respondents.
Given these findings, it's not surprising that we see a more limited
calendar of operations for most day camps (see Figure 2 on page 19).
While 93-99 percent of all day camps were in operation during June,
July, and August, in no other month did the percentage of day camps
in operation crack 30 percent. April, May, and September were operating
months for between 25-29 percent of day camps, and all other months
were only times of operation for between 16-24 percent of responding
day camps. Thus, "summer camp" is a much more accurate term for most
day camp programs than for residential programs that more commonly offer services
beyond youth camp programs over the course of the year.
Gross Revenues
With their lower weekly fees, it's not surprising that day camps have
lower gross revenues than residential camps. The average gross revenue
for the participating day camps was $637,000, but half of all day camps
reported revenue of less than $268,000. Independent for-profit camps
have the highest grosses, averaging $1.6 million. Independent nonprofits
reported average revenues of $615,000, followed by religious day camps
($600,000) and agency-sponsored programs ($274,000). Geographically,
Mid Atlantic camps reported the highest gross revenues, $600,000, and
Southern camps indicated the lowest figures, just $60,000.
Because day camps offer fewer programs other than youth camp programs,
it's not surprising that revenue for day camps comes largely from camper
registration fees. In fact, the day camp respondents to this survey reported
that over 80 percent of their gross revenue comes from camper fees. No
other single source accounts for even 5 percent of the average gross
revenues of the responding camps. This makes day camps particularly vulnerable,
when compared to residential camps, to economic, social, or legal issues
that might reduce camp enrollment. For most day camps, a 10 percent reduction
in enrollment translates to about an 8 percent loss of revenue. For the
residential camps participating in this survey, that loss would be more
in the range of just 6 percent of revenue.
Day Camp Expenses and Profitability
Day camps spend a higher percentage of their budgets on labor (54 percent)
compared to residential camps (40 percent). Program supplies and transportation
costs are the next largest single budget items, accounting for 10.2 percent
and 7.6 percent of expenses, respectfully. Overall, day camps in this
study reported average expenses of $522,000. Independent for-profit camps
have the highest expenses, averaging nearly $1.4 million, followed by
religious day camps ($588,000); independent nonprofits ($461,000); and
agency programs ($230,000). Reported expenses were highest in the Mid
Atlantic region and lowest in the Southern states.
As defined as revenue minus expenses, only 13 percent of the day camps
participating show a loss while 60 percent indicate a profit. Nearly
21 percent of all day camps in the study report profits of over $100,000.
Conversely, only 2 percent of all day camps have an estimated loss of
over $100,000.
Conclusion
In addition to providing statistics about the operating status of current
ACA members, this study highlights the diversity of the association's
membership. Expenses and revenue vary widely by camp type (day or resident);
camp sponsor (agency, independent, etc.); and geographic location. Because
of this, the national and regional leadership of the association must
continue to carefully evaluate the needs of all members and to work together
to insure that national policies meet regional and local needs whenever
possible.
Originally published in the 2006 September/October
issue of Camping Magazine. |
