Initiative's Mission:
Double the number of Jewish kids who attend Jewish camps in North America

Grant:
$250,000 Cutting Edge Grant for their Jewish Overnight Summer Camp Support Initiative

About the Program:
About 70 percent of Southern California Jewish families with camp-age kids are not familiar with any Jewish camps in the region.*

And if you look at families that do send their kids to Jewish camp, only 40 percent say they will send them back the following year - this is compared to 60 percent who will return to non-Jewish camps.*

Armed with this startling data, the Foundation for Jewish Camping applied for and received a $250,000 Cutting Edge Grant from the Jewish Community Foundation to increase enrollment of first-time campers, improve retention rates for existing campers, and keep a finger on the pulse of what Jewish families and children want to get out of their camping experience.

Since receiving the grant in 2007, the Foundation for Jewish Camping convened a two-day training session with local camp leaders to share best practices and learn how to market their services effectively. They have also begun laying the groundwork for delivering an online customer satisfaction survey for campers and parents who will attend Jewish camp during summer, 2008.

According to Jerry Silverman, president of the Foundation for Jewish Camping, "the grant is allowing us to bring in top experts to train camps on key areas of technology, communications, and fundraising while also conducting surveys to learn from the customer what is important to them."

"We have a real obsession and passion about always raising the bar," said Silverman. "The Jewish Community Foundation has been a terrific partner. They are extremely thorough and have offered us the opportunity to discuss our grant with their board and have a dialogue-a give-and-take-that has been a valuable part of the learning process.

* Findings come from a comprehensive study conducted In 2006 by the New York-based Foundation for Jewish Camping, funded by the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles.