Camp Administration 101: Surveys And Evaluations
An important process in moving a program forward and meeting participants’ needs
By Jason Schaitz
Make it a priority to survey and evaluate every aspect of an operation before, during, and after each camp session. Without detailed feedback, it’s difficult to tell how things are going. This process is ongoing, although the majority of information will be compiled once a program ends. Here are some guidelines:
Pre-Camp
Pull the evaluation from the previous year and review notes as soon as you begin planning for an upcoming season.
Share the results at camp staff meetings and trainings to review all the previous issues and discuss how to improve.
Make a plan to implement improvements.
During Camp
Keep a log on all incidents and issues that occur throughout camp. Include the positives on what is going well and any negatives on what is not working.
Constantly get feedback from staff members, both individually and as a group.
Talk to parents and campers whenever possible to gather valuable feedback on their experiences or suggestions.
After Camp
Survey parents on all aspects of camp, including activities, schedules, facilities, staff members, etc.
Organize notes from camp to add to the post-evaluation.
Survey staff members for their feedback and experience.
Hold a post-camp meeting with staff members and volunteers to review survey results and allow them to provide additional feedback.
Compile notes, staff feedback, and parent surveys into one comprehensive report. Make sure to note all the situations that came up, what went wrong or didn’t work, what went right and worked well, and any opportunities to improve.
Make It Count
Surveying parents and staff members is an essential part of the evaluation process to ensure honest, unbiased feedback. Many times, you will discover feedback on issues that you had no idea existed. The same goes for positive feedback you may not have realized was making such a great impact. Make sure to be as thorough as possible. Since you will only get one chance to collect feedback, make sure the information you gather is useful and helpful. There are many online tools to assist with surveys. Here are some examples to consider for each group.
Parent Surveys
Keep these anonymous to get the most truthful answers. Start by asking some background information, such as an age group, which week their child attended, etc. Different groups of participants will have different types of answers, so it’s good to be able to filter these. Here are some suggestions on survey information:
Use both multiple-choice and open-ended questions.
Ask where they saw the camp advertised to help with marketing.
Ask if they would recommend the program to a friend and if not, why.
Ask if their child will be returning next year and if not, why.
Ask about their child’s favorite activities and trips.
Ask about activities or trips campers didn’t like.
Ask about the camp schedule.
Ask questions on communication/organization of the program.
Ask about their experience with staff members.
Ask questions on facilities.
Set up a 1-5 ranking system, and let them rank all aspects of camp, such as activities, staff, facilities, trips, etc.
Get parents’ suggestions for improvement.
You can expect 10 to 20 percent of parents to respond. If you have never done a survey before, the average will be slightly higher. Once surveys are conducted regularly, the number will taper off slightly. For better results, consider offering entry into a raffle for a prize as an incentive to participate.
Staff Surveys
Make surveys mandatory for all staff members to complete during their last week of camp. The results in reports can be anonymous to allow for open discussion without anyone feeling embarrassed. Explain to staff members how the process will work to obtain honest answers.
Ask similar questions as on the parent survey about activities, trips, the schedule, equipment, what worked, what didn’t work, etc.
Obtain feedback about their training and how it can be improved.
Find out what you can provide staff members before and during camp to make them better prepared and make their job easier.
Ask if they will return next year and if not, why?
Ask about their experience working with other staff members and how the team functioned throughout the program.
Ask about the communication from you and other staff members.
Evaluation Reports
Once you organize the notes and compile the parent/camper and staff surveys, put it all together in a single report. The report should have four main components:
Program outline. This is an overview of the camp. It can include the number of participants, camp dates, where the camp was promoted or advertised, when registration occurred and how it went, how many trips there were, etc.
Survey results. These are the raw, unedited results from parents and staff members compiled as a group. It’s not necessary to provide every individual survey here, just the compiled answers to the questions.
Incidents and glitches. This component is a list of issues that came up during camp or things that may not have worked as well as planned.
Opportunities to improve. This is a list of solutions on how to move the program forward. From this, develop a plan on how to implement these improvements.
Fine-tuning and staying on top of this process is essential to identifying issues within an operation and finding opportunities to improve. Parents and staff members will appreciate being heard and will notice when you take action on their feedback. Ignoring the survey and evaluation process will prohibit the program from moving forward and advancing to meet the needs of staff members and participants. Put the necessary effort into this process and take it seriously to make sure a program is operating at the highest level.
Jason Schaitz is a Parks and Recreation Director with 15 years’ experience managing camps and recreation programs. He also created and manages www.thesummercampsource.com with the goal of providing free resources for any type of camp, afterschool, or childcare program. Take your camp to the next level by visiting The Summer Camp Source and check out the Camp App, Camp Resources, Camp News, and Camp Administration 101 educational series.
