1. Purpose & How to Use This Manual

This manual helps Directors plan and run safe, welcoming, spiritually-grounded camps that transform lives and build community.

What This Manual Does

Protects campers and staff through clear risk management and child protection standards. Provides practical tools for planning, staffing, budgeting, and running camps. Reduces burnout by clarifying roles, timelines, and support structures. Preserves institutional knowledge so each year gets easier. Offers growth strategies and tactics to expand your camp and build deeper community.

How to Use This Manual

Start with the legal essentials. Read Section 5 (Youth/Vulnerable Person Certification), Section 8 (High-Risk Activities), and Section 9 (Risk Management & Child Protection) first. These sections protect your campers, your staff, and our Community.

Then build your camp. Use Section 4 (Director Role & Timeline), Section 6 (Staffing & Training), Section 7 (Planning), and Section 10 (Program Models) to plan and execute.

Finally, grow your camp and your impact. Section 11 (Marketing & Communications) and the growth tactics embedded throughout help you reach more families, increase registrations, and build a stronger, more vibrant camping community year over year.

Treat This as a Living Document

Update this manual with your experience and feedback. Capture what worked, what didn't, and what needs to change. Share it all with Vonda@communityofchrist.ca. Your notes save hours of work and prevent repeated mistakes.

Making the Next Director's Job Easier

Standing on shoulders means the next Director starts higher than you did. That's growth. That's how camps thrive for generations.

Leave breadcrumbs. Save your email templates, your budget spreadsheet, your staff recruitment list, your promotional materials. Store them so the next Director can find them.

Name your successor. Don't wait until you're burned out. Identify and invite your Assistant Director 18-24 months before you step down. Give them the benefit of experience. Invite them as a LIT. Train them. Hand off gradually. Use the Succession Worksheet and see Section 6 (Staffing & Succession) for recruiting tools.

Share your timeline. What you did when, what you wish you'd done earlier, what you'll never do again.

Update this manual. Add campground-specific insights to Appendix A. Add your local contacts to Appendix E. Add your lessons to the relevant sections.

Document everything. Not just what worked—document WHY it worked. Not just what failed—document what you'd do differently.

Every choice you make either helps or hurts your successor. Choose help.

Your most important legacy isn't this year's camp. It's making next year's camp easier to run.