Reimagining Camp Experience Through Research and Digital Strategy
Deep research driving enrollment and satisfaction improvements
Who They Are & Why This Moment Mattered
A large regional nonprofit serving families and youth operated dozens of summer camps across its footprint. Camps were a critical revenue driver and a cornerstone of their mission, but enrollment had become increasingly unpredictable. Parents reported difficulty choosing the right camp, kids had mixed experiences, and staff struggled with inconsistent processes.
The organization realized they hadn't conducted deep research on their camp experience in years. With rising competition, evolving parent expectations, and new leadership priorities, they needed clarity: what was working, what wasn't, and where to invest to improve both the parent and child experience.
The Real Problem & What Was at Stake
The initial request was for help conducting research. But the deeper issues were structural:
- •Parents couldn't easily evaluate or compare camp options
- •Staff experiences varied dramatically by location
- •Pain points in registration, check-in, programming, and communication created friction
- •Camp selection wasn't aligned with individual needs or interests
- •Leadership lacked visibility into what actually drove satisfaction and enrollment
If they didn't address these issues, they risked declining enrollment, lower satisfaction, and missed opportunities to strengthen one of their most important programs.
Constraints & Starting Point
We entered with several constraints:
- •A compressed timeline to gather insights before the next camp season
- •A wide range of locations with varying quality and consistency
- •Limited internal resources to document and analyze findings
- •No existing digital system to help parents discover the best-fit camps
- •A desire for both strategic clarity and actionable next steps
How We Approached It
We approached the engagement as both a research and strategy sprint. A small team immersed itself in parent journeys, child experiences, and staff workflows to understand not just what was happening, but why it was happening.
We used AI to cluster themes, analyze transcripts, and organize large sets of qualitative insights. Human judgment focused on spotting patterns, identifying emotional drivers, and defining the practical improvements that would meaningfully shape outcomes.
Each week, we delivered synthesized findings, visual frameworks, and early experience concepts to maintain alignment with leadership and program directors.
What We Did
Conduct Research Across Parents, Kids, and Staff
We ran interviews, field observations, and experience mapping sessions across multiple camp sites. We gathered perspectives from parents who loved the program, parents who were frustrated, returning campers, new campers, leadership, and frontline staff. This revealed clear points of friction: uncertainty about which camp to choose, inconsistent service quality, unclear expectations, and challenges with daily logistics.
Identify Decision Drivers and Pain Points
We synthesized insights into a detailed set of decision drivers for parents: safety, staff quality, camp fit, clarity of information, logistics, and perceived value. For kids, we identified the factors that created excitement vs. anxiety. For staff, we mapped operational challenges that affected program delivery.
Develop the Experience Strategy and Priority Improvements
We created a strategic roadmap centered on improving clarity in how camps were described and differentiated, standardizing key moments in the service experience, enhancing communication touchpoints, creating better onboarding and preparation experiences, and introducing tools to match children to camps based on interests and needs. These recommendations aligned leadership around the most impactful changes.
Build an AI-Powered Research Companion
To make insights more actionable, we created an AI agent that allowed the team to "talk to" the research. Staff could ask questions like: "What do parents care about most when choosing a camp?" "Where do kids feel most anxious?" "What improvements matter most for check-in?" This gave the organization instant access to the full depth of the findings.
Define the Vision for a Camp Navigator Platform
We ended by framing the concept for a new digital experience - a Camp Navigator - that would help families discover the right camp based on needs, interests, and availability. We provided an initial vision, structure, and workflow recommendations that leadership could move forward with.
The Outcome
Before
Leadership lacked clarity on why enrollment fluctuated. Parents felt overwhelmed choosing camps. Kids had variable experiences. Staff operated without consistent standards. Insights were scattered across conversations, documents, and memory.
After
A clear, research-backed strategy that identified the highest-impact improvements, provided a roadmap for enhancing parent, child, and staff experiences, enabled leadership to make confident decisions, introduced a future vision for a digital camp discovery tool, and made every insight accessible through an AI-powered companion. The organization gained direction, alignment, and a foundation for significant experience improvements.
What Changed Inside the Organization
The engagement strengthened cross-team alignment, gave leadership a clearer understanding of parent and child expectations, and created shared language around service quality. Staff felt heard, and leaders gained clarity on operational priorities. The AI companion became a powerful internal resource, making insights searchable and actionable for months after the project ended.
Why This Story Matters
Nonprofits and youth-service organizations often rely heavily on tradition, intuition, and institutional memory. But as parent expectations evolve and competition increases, research-led clarity becomes essential. This project shows how a focused research and strategy sprint can transform ambiguity into insight, build organizational alignment, and lay the groundwork for more personalized, modern, and scalable program experiences.
Key Takeaways
Parent and child decision drivers often differ from organizational assumptions
AI companions make research insights instantly accessible to any team member
Service consistency matters more than individual program excellence
Digital discovery tools can improve enrollment and satisfaction simultaneously
Services Delivered
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