In the fall of 2016, I collaborated with Community GroundWorks, and wrote a business plan to build Troy Kids’ Garden Day Camp. We launched the camp in the summer of 2017.
Collaborator:
Ginny Hughs, Education Director at Community GroundWorks.
Goals of Writing Business Plan:
- Explore viability of starting a new camp.
- Launch camp as soon as possible – if not the summer of 2017, then the next year.
Goals of Launching Day Camp:
- Make a profit, which could support their educational programming, to buffer unpredictable and scarce grant funding.
- Include more kids in the Kids’ Garden – whether those children were new to Community GroundWorks, or whether their families subscribed to the farm CSA or community garden plots, but never played in the Kid’s Garden.
Business Plan Documents:
Document Title: Troy Garden Camp Business Plan
Authors: Amanda Hoffman
Editors and Contributors: Ginny Hughs
Date Completed: February 9, 2017. Edited by Ginny through July 11, 2017.
Document Description: This document shares the plan for launching, licensing, advertising, financing, running, staffing, and growing the camp. It also shares the camp’s mission and goals for its customers and for Community GroundWorks.
Document Title: One-Pager
Authors: Amanda Hoffman
Editors and Contributors: Ginny Hughs
Date Completed: December 7, 2016
Document Description: This document was drafted to succinctly and colorfully describe the goals of the camp, to orient and attract potential partners and sponsors.
Success Stories:
- The camp was launched. According to Ginny, the camp “almost broke even.”
- A grant was obtained, and sponsored a week of camp for the children of families that requested financial assistance. The donor stipulated that the money fund arts-related programming, so the camp hosted a week of Art in the Garden camp.
- Families that had never interacted with Troy Gardens sent their kids to camp. One child brought a flyer home from school. Her mother told us, “This is the first time she’s brought something home from school and said, ‘I want to do this.’ Usually it’s hard to get her ready in the morning – getting up, brushing her hair – but not this week!”
- The camp will continue next year, and evolve to fit the needs and resources of camp families and Community GroundWorks.
Read the Business Plan Profile to learn more about our journey launching Troy Kid’s Garden Day Camp