A couple months ago, I read a LinkedIn post that said talked about Gen Zers not getting their licenses and the impact that has for marketers. I think there are a TON of takeaways there for camps, too (like you probably need a way to get more staff to Walmart), but I've been a little stuck on the poster citing parental involvement as a reason.
And, look, generations are generalizations. I'm not saying this is 100% right or true for every single person, and I'm not even saying that it's necessarily right for the whole generation. But I am saying that if it's true for SOME people and it's not that hard for us to do, why wouldn't we? Partnering with staff families is an extension of illuminating the hidden curriculum — you're drawing back the curtain of camp for people who wouldn't otherwise see it, and hopefully, you're bringing more people in.
Bringing staff families in might help you avoid angry phone calls when something goes wrong, help set your staff up for more success, make it easier for staff to come back to camp, find new donors, find new board members, create new advocates, or so many other things. Camps serve SO MANY audiences, and at the end of the day, staff families are one.
To be clear, I'm imagining here. I haven't done any of these things, but I think about running camp this summer, I'm thinking about what this could look like.
Like I mentioned in my last blog, this is something I know other camps (at least YMCA Camp Greenville) are doing. When I think about doing it, I think about providing space to:
I've gotta be honest: I've been REALLY annoyed when I've gotten the camera back and seen tons of pictures of staff. Beyond sharing initial staff intros on social media, I really don't tell many stories about them. But maybe I should?
I'm not advocating for staff to take over everything we're sharing out, but I am advocating for them to be a bigger part of it.
There are so many things we could pretty easily do, and almost all of them would really serve more than one purpose. They'd help us build relationships with staff families, but they'd also help staff feel good, encourage people to share our stuff, show camper families and donors how incredible our staff are, and so much more. I talk a lot about how part of working at a Y association is making sure the camp staff look good to the association and making sure the association looks good to the camp staff (and the same is true for a lot of larger orgs). This is a great bridge for that, too.
HEAR ME OUT. Not only did I recently read a book where the camp invited staff families for visiting day, but I honestly think there's a time and place it could work as long as the staff are okay with it. Basically, any time camper families OR alumni are invited to camp, think about if camp families would make sense, too. They're part of your community, too.
I'm specifically thinking about doing one of our big traditions as part of staff training and inviting alumni back. I've done this before at a previous camp, and it worked really well. What if I extended that invite to staff families so they could experience this, too?
WHAT IF during staff training, I had staff members practice calling caregivers, and I got some of their caregivers to volunteer? Idk, maybe wild, but something to think about!
Super easy. Just invite them to like your social media and subscribe to your newsletter.
Or at least think about it. They most likely understand just how incredible camp is, and that might make them incredible donors, board members, or advocates. If not now, maybe eventually.
Family dynamics can be tricky, so with all of this, I'd ask staff to opt their families in or out. I'd give staff a rundown of some ways we may interact with their families and ask them for contact info of anyone they want included. Then, even if I have a prior relationship with a family, I'd only reach out to the people on the staff-provided list.
TEACH ME YOUR WAYS! I'd love to hear about the ways you're thinking about and interacting with staff families.
Allison's talking about ways to do that in our upcoming seminar. If you're reading this blog after the seminar, you can find it for purchase at the same link. It's just $29 for our 90-minute seminar!