Capacity Expansion Grants
FJC is excited to announce the Capacity Expansion Grants to help camps maintain and increase their capacity to serve more campers in 2021 which may have been limited due to COVID-related occupancy restrictions. Funding was made possible due to the generosity of the Jewish Community Response and Impact Fund.
FJC believes every child should be able to experience the magic of Jewish camp, especially this coming summer. We also believe that, with the proper supports in place, more campers than ever will turn to Jewish camp. To achieve this ambitious goal, this new grant program will help camps maintain and/or increase their capacity.
This is a matching grant that will provide money for camps to rent temporary structures and additional properties, purchase necessary equipment (excluding PPE equipment), and/or build needed infrastructure.
- Capacity matching grants will range in value at $50,000, $75,000, or $100,000.
- Camps will be required to match these grants at a 2:1 ratio (i.e. 50% of the FJC grant will need to be matched by the camp). Camps can fund their match through their operating budgets or through fundraising (at the camp’s discretion).
What are the eligibility requirements?
Eligibility Criteria:
FJC will evaluate each camp’s application based on a number of factors including cost-effectiveness, number of incremental campers, and geographic opportunities, among other considerations.
Preference will be given to overnight camps in the FJC network who meet the below criteria:
- Serve 200+ unique campers/summer
- Operate, on average, at 80% capacity utilization or above (utilizing data from summer 2019)
- Have ACA accreditation (or Canadian equivalent)
- Located in United States or Canada
For camps that do not meet all of these guidelines, considerations may be made on a case-by-case basis for camps that serve underserved communities and populations. Please contact FJC prior to applying.
What are the application requirements
Application Requirements:
In the application, camps will have to demonstrate/address the following:
- Description of projects to expand capacity and the budget for which they will use the funds
- How many additional campers will be served due to project?
- Who will be served:
- Will this increase ability to serve first-time campers?
- Will this allow camp to restructure certain bunk/division configurations?
- Will be utilized as isolation spaces for potential quarantines?
- Increased revenue the camp will be able to generate by serving more campers
- Fundraising plan for matching dollars
- Plans for collaboration with area institutions such as area day schools, synagogues, etc. that may have tents or other structures they could, rent, borrow, re-use, etc
Please note: FJC is working with Prizmah to promote resource sharing on the local level.
What is the application timeline?
Application Timeline
| Date | Activity |
| December 17, 2020 | Open Grant Application |
| January 31, 2021 | Application Deadline |
| Target Late February | Grant Notifications |
Click here for a PDF of the application questions.
Please be in touch with Rebeccak@jewishcamp.org with any questions.