It's just about fall. Do you feel it yet?

The leaves are changing. Apple cider is cidering. Pumpkin patches are patching. And camps everywhere are already thinking about one thing.

How do I get more kids to camp next summer? I know it’s what I think about all day.

Bad news first. I don't have the silver bullet for this. As far as I can tell it's some combination of running a great program + be easy to find online + be ready when a family says they are thinking about sending kids there for the first time.

{Travis will line this up with we have to have people “Know, Like, Trust” us. He has been telling camps this for a decade at least.}

But I do think there are some things we can do with the pieces we already have in place.

I, along with my Summer Camp Society business partner Doug Norrie, do a lot of writing about camp.

We send out weekly emails to our camp’s entire camp parent and alumni list with stories from the summer, things we're thinking, thoughts on articles read. (Oh, and we also write a weekly newsletter for camp pros as well! Check it out and sign up free here.)

That is a big effort. Not every camp does it. But if you were going to start, we do think there's one post every camp person can write right now that will accomplish a bunch of different goals.

It's easy, and it looks like this:

Subject Line: The 5 Things I Love About Camp

Preview Line: #4 is my favorite

Ok, so why does this post work? In sticking with number parallelism, let me count the 5 easy ways.

1. Permission to start. Blank Page Syndrome (BPS) is the biggest blocker of putting written words out into the world. Good news, this email is basically just a list. Five things. You can think of a left-handful of things you love about your camp, right?

2. Permission to wander. You can write about a bunch of different camp topics without having to expound or expand on any of them. Friends? Phone-free? Health? Staff? You name it. It can all go in here in a space where that would otherwise be tough.

3. The subject line does the work. People like lists. They really like lists about something they already love, which is your camp if they're on your parent or alumni list. And "#4 is my favorite" gives them a goal when they open. They want to see if they agree with you.

4. You can get weirdly specific. In my current version (I send one of these out once a year) I go into Rope Burning as a Color War event. Unique to camp, great image, and I legit love it. No need to unpack the whole thing.

5. It can come out of nowhere. So many camp pros are worried about sending something to families and having it read the wrong way, or seem like this one-time communication. Totally get it.

This one can just land in an inbox whenever. Even if you never reappeared, would anyone complain about you gushing about the place you love? No chance.

Oh, btw, here’s the one we wrote this year for parents. Check it out. 5 Things I Love About K&E 2.0​

Ok, that’s it.

5 Things YOU Love About Camp. Think of them. Write them down. 4-5 sentences for each. Intro. Closing. Sign off. Maybe a PS about registering for next year. Send to every email you have.

That’s warm message #1 out the door. Now, time to start working on the next one.

You Got This,

Jack

PS If you want to see how Doug and I write newsletters every week, and think about messaging.

Travis Note:

Last week, Jack and Doug did a webinar on this topic. I'd reach out to them directly and ask if you can get their recording.

​Click to sign up for their newsletter.​