Case Study: Camp Killooleet
Everything, and More When Ready:
How the Standard Suite Perfectly Serves a Small Sleepaway Camp
Camp Killooleet was founded in 1927 and is located in Hancock, Vermont. A classic sleepaway camp, Killooleet provides 85-100 campers with opportunities to try various sports and arts activities during a single seven-week session. The campers are supported by 50 staff members, including Paul Eagle, the Admin and Wellness Coordinator. Paul directed the search process to find the ideal camp management platform and joined the Campminder community in 2022. “We were looking for that one-stop shop,” Paul explains.
Killooleet has found Campminder’s Standard Suite an ideal fit as a smaller camp. They’ve adopted different parts of the system each year, allowing the team to grow in their expertise. Paul says that smaller camps shouldn’t worry that Campminder is too much for them, “everything we’ve needed so far has been in there because it is so versatile.”
Sync on Standard
Camp Killooleet had previously used Active to manage camp operations, but felt it was limited to just registration—and they needed more. The team was also ready to abandon the systemless chaos that left their data spread across multiple tools. “We took recommendations from other camps and had some demos, and Campminder was the one for us.”
They started using registration and forms immediately and have incorporated different parts of the system into their operations each year. “It’s a game changer. The price point is very reasonable and we’re getting everything we need and more.” The benefits to parents are a major plus as well. “it’s nice because they can log on and they can see everything in one place.”
Centered on Health
Prior to using Campminder, Paul and the rest of the health team often found themselves reviewing camper forms very close to the start of camp. This added stress to these important roles.
Campminder has significantly increased the timeliness of form submission, which has been especially useful for Paul and the camp nurses. They’re able to review each camper’s health history much earlier, which allows them to identify campers who need special accommodations and address them well before camp starts. “It allows us to get forms in timely, review all the paperwork before camp, and then reach out to the parents for information if we need it.”
In the Interest of Staff
The simplified Staff Interest Form in 2023 is designed to create a first point of interaction between camps and potential staff that doesn’t overwhelm applicants. Camps often found that there was abandonment mid-process due to form fatigue. Paul and the team put this new tool into action right away. “It worked really well because you’re not asking 18- and 20-year-olds to fill out pages of questions when they don’t even know who we are yet.”
The streamlined form that asks only basic questions as a first step in the hiring process netted them amazing results. The number of applicants to Killooleet nearly doubled because the flow and process were intuitive and clear. “It gives us just enough information to decide if we want to schedule an interview.”
It’s All That
