Here are some tools that you can use to promote camp to your students, parents and church!
Warren Willis Summer Camp 2018- The Table from Warren Willis Camp on Vimeo.
Use these tried and tested ideas from different Children and Youth Ministers around Florida. If you have other great ideas, please email them to asa.quinn@warrenwilliscamp.org
Word of Mouth-
Seems like a no brainer right...Even if you only have 2 or 3 kids interested in camp, take them. They will come home, excited and on fire to tell everyone that they know about the amazing experience they had at camp. One youth director said, "The first year I took kids to the Warren Willis Camp, I took 3 students. The third year we went, we brought over 50. Just because those 3 kids came home and wouldn't stop talking about it. Their enthusiasm was contagious!"
Camp Videos-
You will receive in a mailing from the camp a promotional dvd that has a promotional video on it. Need a video, email us, we'll send you one! Show these at your weekly event to get kids interested. If you came last year, show the weekly video. You can show this instead, and it will be so cool for your kids to see themselves and their friends at camp from last summer.
Camp Music-
It is incredible to sit in worship on a night at camp, and watch as God moves through the hearts and minds of the campers. The worship is amazing and campers hearts are moved by God through the music and the speaker's message each night. If you have worship at your weekly or monthly events, use some of the music that was played at camp this summer during this time.
Hold a Camp Night-
Dedicate an entire night of your program to build excitement and interest in summer camp. You can start the night by letting the kids make name tags, do some arts and crafts, play a little nine-square, and show the camp dvd. Finish it all up by asking some of the students that have been to camp before to share their testimony about how God worked in their lives while they were at camp. Need help with ideas? Email us and we would love to help. Know the date you're having your camp night? Email us, and we will try to get a camp staff or team member to attend!
Visit Camp or Attend a Year-Round Event-
There's probably no way to get your kids more excited about coming to camp, then actually bringing them to camp. Come spend the day at camp playing volleyball and having a picnic, plan your own weekend retreat, or attend one of the amazing retreats put on by the camp during the year. For more information about planning your own retreat, look under the Plan Your Own Retreat section of the web site.
Make it CHEAP!-
We all know that it can be difficult for some families to send their kids to camp, especially those families with multiple children. So help to off-set the cost of camp to help make it more affordable. Here are some ways:
-Warren Willis Camp Scholarships- Give your students a scholarship application. The Camp Ministry Team Scholarships approx. 900 campers a summer with Camp Scholarships.
- Fundraisers- Create a few fundraisers where the money earned by students can go directly to help pay for their week at camp.
- Adopt a camper- Ask groups in your church (United Methodist Men, United Methodist Women, Sunday School Classes, Individual Families) to adopt a camper and help pay for that child's camp fee.
- Budget for it- Some churches have the financial means to help scholarship their students to go to camp. If your church has the means and is willing, budget to pay $50-$100 of your kids camp fee.