Foundation for Jewish Camp, Inc.

Foundation for Jewish Camp is a catalyst for change throughout the field of Jewish Camp in North America, training and inspiring camp leaders, increasing demand and improving supply.
Foundation for Jewish Camp's goals include:
1. Leadership training for field professional development and retention
2. Enhancing the Jewish impact of camp summers
3. Developing programs to strengthen camps across the Jewish spectrum in North America
4. Making camp more accessible to first-time campers and families
5. Elevating the field of Jewish camp on the cultural and philanthropic agenda

FJC focuses on three strategic areas to enable the field of Jewish camp to deliver the best possible experience for each child at camp:

Leadership Development
Successful camps require talented and passionate leaders – both lay and professional. Through innovative training programs and consistent support, we will be able to sustain key talent, nurture the next generation of leaders, ensure the long-term success of our camps and sustain the field of Jewish camp.

Jewish Impact
Quality Jewish summer experiences allow campers and staff to explore what it means to be Jewish and become something meaningful that will follow them throughout their lives. Strengthening the quality and depth of Jewish content, Israel culture and Hebrew at camps are significant components that drive camper retention and reinforce the role of camp as an intentional experiential Jewish educational institution.

Field Expansion
More campers participating in Jewish summer experiences will lead to a vibrant Jewish community. Developing new opportunities that attract potential campers will expand the impact of Jewish camp to the broader Jewish community reflecting our diversity. Our One Happy Camper® program has enabled tens of thousands of young people to experience Jewish summer camp for the first time.

For nearly 20 years, the Foundation for Jewish Camp has been leading the field of Jewish camp, working today with approximately 300 day and overnight camps, serving more than 180,000 youth, teens and college-aged counselors across North America. This camp network spans the spectrum of denomination, affiliation and ideology.

FJC's biennial conference, Leaders Assembly, convenes and inspires 700+ leaders in the field including camp professionals, lay leaders and philanthropists. Leaders Assembly is recognized as the highest level of professional and lay leadership development, and is regarded as a highly influential opportunity for the field.

The FJC staff includes expertise in multiple fields: Jewish education, organizing, evaluation and data collection, marketing, communications and media, program development, leadership development and more. The professionals work with camps on all levels, to address both urgent needs and long term mission and vision work.

One Happy Camper®
In partnership with Jewish federations, foundations and camps across North America, OHC provides need-blind incentive grants of up to $1,000, to children attending non-profit Jewish overnight camp for the first time.
Impact: 82,000+ new campers

Cornerstone Fellowship
Now entering its 16th year, the Fellowship promotes Jewish culture change at camp by offering Jewish educational training to exemplary returning bunk staff and professional development to camp leaders.
Impact: over 3,000 fellows

Yitro Leadership Program
Using experts and recognized leaders from various disciplines, assistant and associate directors participating in the program are challenged to widen their lens of Jewish leadership over a two-year period in order to enhance the staff culture and Jewish experience at their camps.
Impact: 57 associate/assistant directors, with a new cohort starting in 2018

Executive Leadership Institute (ELI)
ELI, a first-of-its kind MBA boot camp for Jewish camp directors, provides intensive training in business management, fundraising, and leadership skills, allowing them to manage their camps as effective well-run businesses, weaving together the best of private sector leadership and management training with Jewish values and ethics to create professional training program for Jewish camp directors.
Impact: 52 camp directors, with a new cohort starting in 2018

Hiddur: Enhancing Jewish Growth and Learning at Camp
The Hiddur Initiative aims at helping camps become more effective at delivering Jewish educational experiences to their campers and staff, in ways that align with each camp's unique Jewish mission. Through the Hiddur Initiative, camps will use all of their senses to create reinvigorated models of Jewish learning and living at camp and year-round.
Impact: 8 camps will pilot the program throughout their entire camp population summer 2018

Specialty Camps Incubator
Develops and launches new specialty camps, designed to reach demographic and interest groups and geographic regions underserved by existing Jewish camps. Through a series of workshops and mentoring, the new camp directors work with experts to gain skills and create infrastructures for their camps across many disciplines.
Impact: 11 new camps; over 6,000 campers served. 6 new specialty camps will open summer 2018.

Building Loan Program
An interest-free loan program developed to support construction projects at nonprofit Jewish camps to attract and accommodate more campers. This allows the camp to complete construction projects at an accelerated rate, whereas funder pledges often pay out over multiple years. Qualified camps are eligible for FJC interest-free loan of up to 50% of their project cost, subject to the following maximum loan amounts: $750,000 for camps with fewer than 250 campers and $1 million for camps with more than 250 campers.
Impact: More than $36 million in loans has enabled projects totaling $139 million