PLATINUM2023

CARE CAMPS

Healing Happens Here

Billings, MT   |  carecamps.org

Mission

To give joy, hope, and the healing power of the outdoors to children with cancer and their families at a specialized oncology camp.

Ruling year info

1992

Executive Director

Gwynn Sullivan

Main address

1440 1/2 Grand Ave

Billings, MT 59102 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

86-0691641

NTEE code info

Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution (E12)

Children's and Youth Services (P30)

Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution (T12)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Cancer can be devastating to a person at any age. During childhood it can be especially destructive for the child's psychological growth and development. At a time when most children are deciding which sport to play, pediatric cancer patient have their lives disrupted as they are faced with harsh treatment methods such as chemotherapy and radiation, in an attempt to eradicate the cancer from their bodies. This is where Care Camps steps in. At medically supervised camps, children expand their quality of life by spending time in the great outdoors with other kids who understand what they're going through-all while receiving the treatments they need. The average cost to send a child to camp for a week has skyrocketed to $1,800 and there is no cost to the child or family to attend. We provide funding to make this happen.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Onocology Camps

Through its charitable fundraising efforts, Care Camps will provide necessary support to send kids with cancer to medically supervised cancer camps where they can have fun, build awesome friendships, feel the joy that comes from camping and spending time in nature, make memories that will help them heal and ultimately return home feeling renewed and filled with hope.

Population(s) Served
Children and youth
People with diseases and illnesses

Where we work

Affiliations & memberships

COCAi 2014

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Total dollars received in contributions

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth, Families, People with diseases and illnesses

Related Program

Onocology Camps

Type of Metric

Other - describing something else

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of Facebook followers

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth

Related Program

Onocology Camps

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of independent organizations served

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth, Families, People with diseases and illnesses

Related Program

Onocology Camps

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Number of people on the organization's email list

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth, Family relationships

Related Program

Onocology Camps

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of health outcomes improved

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adults, Children and youth, People with diseases and illnesses

Related Program

Onocology Camps

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

2020 and 2021 were significantly impacted by COVID. Many camps did not run regular programming opting for virtual experiences.

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Our goal is provide funding for any child with cancer, who wants to attend an oncology camp, the opportunity to go at no cost to the child's family. Being sick or different involves a change in nearly every aspect of a child's life. Children will experience changes in their relationships with other people and in their perceptions of themselves. Illness deprives the child of control of daily routine, privacy, relationships with family and friends and control of life itself. Camp allows children with cancer the opportunity to be themselves, by allowing their focus to be off their disease and on meeting friends, swimming, sailing, horseback riding and making crafts. By participating in enriching camp experiences, these children gain confidence in themselves and learn activities that they can carry with them throughout their lives. At Care Camps children develop skills and abilities, as well as discover that they are still able to do many of the same activities as everyone else.
Camps have proven to be a beneficial environment for all children-especially those with cancer. Though the camp experience they can learn many of the skills necessary to meet the extraordinary challenges that they will face while fighting their disease and the everyday struggles of life.

To make this happen we engage campground owners and managers to raise money at their locations through events and activities as well as through the reservation process. We have the generous support of Kampgrounds of America (KOA Inc) who provide resources and advise. We engage companies and employees in the RV/Outdoor industry through cause marketing and online campaigns. We also have several Ambassadors who help to raise awareness at a National level and also raise funds for our cause. The combined efforts of these generous and passionate people allow us to send more kids with cancer to camp.

Through our fundraising efforts we currently raise approximately $3 million a year in donations to provide a life changing experience to the kids with cancer that get to go to camp. We have the capability of reaching out on an national level and have many partners that work with us to build awareness, which in turn generates donations. We also have a special relationship with the camps through their camp association COCAi, which allows us to get funds to the camps through a grant process. We currently fund 135 camps across North America.

The organization has raised more than $23 million since its inception in 1984 to provide funding to oncology camps. Our goal is to continue to fund as many camp experiences as possible, until there is a cure for childhood cancer and our services are no longer needed. In the interim we will continue to work on engagement, national recognition and outreach to donors, as well as acting as liaisons with the oncology camps we support.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.
  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    Oncology Camps across North America

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback

Financials

CARE CAMPS
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

CARE CAMPS

Board of directors
as of 02/24/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board co-chair

Wade Elliott

Utility Supply Group

Term: 2015 - 2023


Board co-chair

Mark Lemoine

Coloma/St Joseph KOA

Term: 2022 - 2027

Carlene Morris

Southeast Publications

Barry Stern

Automarine LLC

Jay Cooke

Lake Livingston/Onalaska KOA

Susan Marcoux

1000 Island/Mallorytown KOA

Rebecca Kirch

Consultant-Pediatric Oncology

Wade Elliott

Utility Supply Group

Mark Lemoine

Coloma/St Joseph KOA

Shawn Peterson

Tempest Technologies

Tim Allen

Kristina Akin (Helbert)

Bristol/Kingsport KOA

Debora Hankinson

Alamosa KOA

Jason Hershberger

Forest River

Kathy Holland

KOA Inc

Jamie Rademacher

JACZ Managment LLC

Jeff Rodino

Patrick Industries

David Vaughan

Indianapolis KOA

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 2/24/2023

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Equity strategies

Last updated: 02/24/2023

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.