Ensuring your session has everything in place to be successful can be quite challenging. There are so many moving parts and tasks that need to be taken care of, and it can honestly be a bit overwhelming. With the right program management software, you should be able to take on the challenge with ease and have plenty of time to take care of what matters most: your participants.
Take a look at 10 tasks your program management system can help you with year-round to make your job even easier.
Pre-Session
Before you get in the weeds during your session/camp, you need to first prepared for it. To make the most out of your plans, make sure to do the following to set your staff up for success.
1. Create Sessions
Before anyone can register for your camps and programs, you need to create them in whatever management software you use. If this isn’t your first rodeo, you should be able to easily duplicate previous sessions and change pertinent information as necessary. Don’t forget to include blackout dates!
2. Get Participants Signed Up
Market Your Upcoming Session
If you have an email segment made up of past participants, send them a custom email inviting them to an early bird registration where they can sign up at a discounted rate. Once the early bird registration ends (whenever you deem it so), you can begin marketing your upcoming session via paid or organic social media, on your organization’s website, through email blasts and campaigns, in community groups on Facebook, at local schools within their newsletters, in the local newspaper and via flyers that can be placed in key areas around the community.
3. Collect Registration Payments
The best way to make it easier for your registrants to pay, and ultimately be more willing to register, is to simplify fee collection with online registration, flexible payment plans and applicable discounts. Make it as easy as possible for participants to register and pay from anywhere, anytime via their mobile devices or their computers, and watch your registrations and revenue grow.
4. Collect Documents & Forms
Once payment has been collected, you'll need to collect registration, waivers and supplemental forms. With great management software, you should be able to easily track receipt of all mandatory documents within the system to know who’s submitted and who has not. If participants are missing required documents or filled them out incorrectly, you’ll need to reach out to them via their preferred communication method to get those forms taken care of in a timely manner.
5. Build Customized Lists of Participants
You’re going to need to reach out to participants from time to time with updates about your programs and camps. A great way to manage on-going communications with ease is by creating email lists. This allows different groups (participants, administrators, instructors, etc.) to receive different messages, which ultimately helps you out in the long run.
During Session
The time has come, and the session/camp has begun! Make sure you have everything you need to have a successful time and remember to do the following while the session/camp is happening.
6. Communicate Upcoming Events & Session Updates
Now that your session/camp has begun, you need to take advantage of the excitement by communicating upcoming events and session updates. Send out emails, texts and social media updates about new programs that you’re offering, fun things happening during the session and new merchandise. Don’t forget to manage your email communications with segments and lists, and send out custom emails for each to add that personalized touch.
7. Access in-depth, Customizable Reporting
Set your organization up for success by utilizing customizable reporting on your camp or program management system of choice. It’s through insights and metrics that you can see how well your camps and programs are doing to determine if you need to pivot or add more in order to grow and increase revenue.
Post-Session
Congratulations! You’ve made it through another amazing session. Here’s what you need to do to ensure that your organization is primed and ready for the next one!
8. Celebrate the Session’s Success
Share your camp/session wins with email updates that include recaps, as well as photos, videos and anything else that parents of participants will love! Don’t forget to share via social media, as well as your organization’s website.
Another great way to celebrate the success of the session is to send out custom emails that recognize participants and thank instructors for all the amazing things they accomplished.
9. Get Next Sessions Registration Setup
Now that the last session has ended, you’ll need to open registration for the next one. Boost registration by allowing early access to the registration page for your previous participants.
Retain past registrants by taking advantage of the success from the last session and sending out email blasts to past participants that offer discounts and promotions for upcoming sessions. Repeat registrants will be happy to return if there are loyalty discounts in place that they can easily use.
10. Report on Successes & Shortcomings
The best way to learn from previous sessions is to access financial reporting, view year-over-year or session-over-session data and take a deep dive into how the session went. Depending on what you discover, you can determine what the next steps are that will help your organization soar to new heights.
Run Your Sessions Smoothly With Premier Camp Management Software
At ACTIVE we help camps across the country stay top of mind among their audiences and grow year after year with seamless, easy-to-use camp management software. Once we learn a bit more about your camp, we can connect you with a software specialist to find the perfect technology for your unique needs. Whether you need day camp registration software to cut down on processing time or a more focused solution to generate revenue, our experts are here for you.
Get started today to take your camp to the next level—this year and beyond!
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