Faith and Community Camp Scholarships and Funded Places
Give each reduced-fee or free place a clear funding source and a fair process. Budget the cost once and track the support available. Do not promise unlimited access places before knowing what the camp can sustain.
A scholarship or fee reduction should have a funding source and a fair process. Do not promise unlimited free places without knowing the cost.
Distinguish an empty place from a place that would otherwise be paid for. In the previous full forty-person example, waiving one $225 fee while still serving that participant reduces the $500 result to $275. Costs do not disappear. Three full fee waivers would reduce the result to a $175 loss unless new eligible support is added.
If a genuinely empty place is used, the extra direct cost may be lower, but staffing, support, and supplier commitments still need review. Do not turn this into a universal “free places cost only food” rule.
Keep donor income and internal allocations clear. Moving $500 from the organization's scholarship account to the camp is not a second $500 of external income for the organization. Your accountant should set the records correctly.
Use a private, simple access process. Ask only what is needed, explain decisions, and avoid public labels or different treatment for supported participants.
Do not make a child perform gratitude, give a testimonial, or meet a donor as a condition of ordinary camp care.
Your task: Set a funded access budget and track awards against it before confirming each place.
