Measure what Matters

Leveraging Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Summer Camp Success 

Effective KPIs are essential for assessing a summer camp's performance and guiding decision-making. 

• Key metrics, such as enrollment rate, revenue growth, camper retention, and Net Promoter Score (NPS), offer insights into camp popularity and satisfaction. 

• Camps should regularly adapt and fine-tune their KPIs to align with their unique goals and objectives, driving growth and improvement. 

On my second day at my MD Camp, I was introduced to the financials. Recent years had been boom and then bust. Upgrades in our accounting system meant that the records only went back to 2006; beyond that, there was no feasible way to make meaningful comparisons, but the past 7 years had been less than great. 

A change in management and significant investments in the facility around 2006 created the environment for substantial growth. This coincided with a period when camping in the USA was flourishing, thanks to a robust economy. Enrollment and revenue were soaring. This expansion continued through 2008. While other camps were losing campers due to the Great Recession, we were still growing, though at a slower rate than before. Then something changed. At a time when other camps were recovering from the downturn, we went into a decline that lasted for five years.  

Everyone had their pet theory as to why the decline happened.  The most obvious one was that the Camp had had a brief struggle with bed bugs. This was at a time when the whole DC area was struggling with the same issue. The camp had handled both the outbreak and the damage to their reputation well. (Thats for another time). But it did not explain the continued decline.  

To understand what happened, we identified a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and used historical data to calculate each one for the previous seven years. By every metric, the camp was in decline. Revenue, enrollment, camper retention, multi-week campers, multi-sibling families, early-year enrollment, and Friday afternoon enrollments for the following Sunday were going down with no apparent link. One metric was defying gravity customer loyalty remained high, even for campers that had not returned.  Research in the fall of 2013 by Camp consultants had similar findings. 

In 2012, there was a shift from two-week to one-week sessions, which slowed the decline in enrollment. However, this experiment was abandoned in 2013, and the decline accelerated, with 2013 ended with the camp having achieved approximately 50% of its potential capacity. 

Starting in 2014 and continuing until summer 2019 (Covid then happened) things took a drastic turn. From fall of 2013 to 2019, there was an increase in revenue of a million dollars and the overnight program saw 100% growth.  

In 2016, we even had our first waitlists on the girls' side of camp. In 2018, our camp director, Kate, worked magic to keep the girls' side open by rearranging age groups and closing boys' cabins to open extra girls' ones; otherwise, the girls' side would have had a waitlist for every week. 2019 whole sessions were sold out within 30 days of registration going live. 

We made a mistake in 2016 when we rented space on the camp to an outside group, which, while profitable, caused a decline in our available bed space. It was a mistake we vowed never to repeat. 

How do these numbers stack up? The American Camp Association (ACA) reported that between 2009 and 2012, camping enrollment nationwide remained static after a brief drop in 2008. IBISWorld calculated that the annualized growth rate for summer camps from the end of the recession was 3.8%. If we had grown at that rate from 2013 onwards, we would have stayed on the solid orange line. 

Our Net Promoter Scores (NPS) also increased from 66 to a high in the 80s by 2017. The method by which we collected NPS scores changed after 2017 and is therefore no longer comparable, but they remained consistently high.  

During this same period of growth, we reduced our marketing costs from $40,000 in 2013 to less than $10,000 in 2017 due to a much more targeted and digital approach. 

Our payroll-to-revenue ratio remained consistently low, never exceeding 30%. However, it is important to note that this may not necessarily be a good thing in all cases. 

In summary, the numbers indicate a mix of challenges and successes in Camp MD's journey. The camp experienced periods of decline followed by remarkable growth.  

But this is not about me patting myself on the back.  It is about the use of KPIs and how continuous data analysis and data-driven decision-making allowed us to grow our program.  Between 2006 and 2012 there was no centralized effort to collect data and use it to inform decisions.  So, when things started to decline there was no data to turn into a story to explain it, so they clutched at straws.  This is not their fault as IT in a rural area, and lack of tools may have prevented the type of analysis we could do a few years later on smart phones. But now no one has an excuse. 

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for a summer camp can help measure various aspects of its performance and effectiveness. These KPIs can provide valuable insights into areas that may need improvement or areas where the camp is excelling. Here is a list of KPIs that make sense for a summer camp: 

1. Enrollment Rate: Measure the percentage of available camp slots that are filled. This KPI helps assess the camp's popularity and demand.  You can make comparisons to previous years.  Speed of enrollment is also important.  When people are signing up, this can not only inform your marketing but help you understand if you are someones first choice, or last-minute scramble. 

2. Revenue Growth: Track the camp's revenue over time to gauge financial health and sustainability.  Do this in today's dollars, but also compare it to previous years as if you were still charging previous years' prices.  If your revenue growth is only due to increase price you need to know 

3. Camper Retention Rate: Calculate the percentage of campers who return each year. High retention rates indicate camper satisfaction and loyalty. 

4. Average Length of Stay: Measure how long campers typically stay at the camp. This can help in session planning and understanding camper preferences.  This also helped us create multi-week discounts. 60% of campers came for a single session in 2014 with 30% coming for two.  by 2018 we had flipped these numbers with 50% coming for 2 weeks or more. 

5. Waitlist Rate: Monitor the number of campers on the waitlist for specific sessions. A high waitlist rate suggests high demand. 

6. Net Promoter Score (NPS): Survey campers and their families to assess overall satisfaction and willingness to recommend the camp to others. High NPS scores indicate happy campers and families. 

7. Camp Session Utilization: Calculate the percentage of available camp sessions that are filled. This KPI helps ensure efficient resource allocation. 

8. Gender-Specific Enrollment: Analyze enrollment by gender to identify any gender imbalances in camp attendance. 

9. Sibling Enrollment Rate: Measure the percentage of campers who have siblings also attending the camp. High sibling enrollment can indicate family satisfaction and loyalty. 

10. Early Enrollment Rate: Track the percentage of camp slots filled during early enrollment periods. This can help assess marketing effectiveness and planning. 

11. Marketing Cost per Camper: Calculate the cost of marketing per newly enrolled camper. Lower costs indicate efficient marketing strategies. 

12. Staff-to-Camper Ratio: Ensure that the staff-to-camper ratio is within safe and appropriate limits.  Track this as aa percentage of revenue and as a raw number. By tracking this we were forced to reduce the number of 5- and 6-year-old beds as the ratios were higher, but so were the dropout rates as parents of young campers got nervous about their camper staying away from home. 

13. Accident and Incident Rates: Monitor the number of accidents and incidents that occur during camp sessions to ensure camper safety.  Be careful how you monitor this as (Goodhart Law) and certainly do not incentivize it. (Unless your familiar with Paul Oniel) 

15. Health and Safety Compliance: create audits for everything and do them repeatedly.  Publish the result internally   

17. Feedback and Complaints: Track camper and parent feedback and complaints to address issues promptly and improve the camp's operations. (see KPI 13) 

19. Return on Investment (ROI): Calculate the ROI of specific marketing campaigns or investments in camp facilities and programs.  Paintball, horses, and jewelry are extremely expensive programs.  They look great in pictures but what are the actual costs per user?  Ask if these programs were not on offer, would these campers still attend the program? 

These KPIs can vary depending on the camp's specific goals, size, and offerings. Camps should regularly review and adjust their KPIs to align with their objectives and measure their progress effectively.  At first, they seem overwhelming to track, but with excel (and some Youtube how to’s if you need them) you will be able to build a comprehensive dashboard that will give you a daily snapshot of your camps progress. Once you are in the habit of updating your dashboard it becomes quick and seamless and give your suggestions or decisions a degree of data driven authority. 

Without rubust KPI’s we would not have been able to see what was an wasn’t working. It was the KPI’s that leds away from pet narratives and excuses to hard truths, that lead to lasting change.