Gottesman Capital Expansion Grants

Staff Housing and Spaces  

Over the last decade, camps have had to increase their number of supervisory staff, social workers, therapists, doctors, nurses, etc. and year-round professionals to better serve both their campers and college-aged staff.  Additionally, camps have had increased trouble retaining quality adult staff due to lack of appropriate housing.  For some camps, this has become a key factor limiting growth.  

The basic needs of adult staff include quality rooms that can accommodate partners and children, suitable space and tools provided to do work for their jobs outside of camp. 

Lastly, to help with bunk counselor recruitment and retention, camps need to invest in specific programs and support including staff meeting rooms, workspaces, lounges, etc. to ensure a quality experience for this critical segment of their population.  

Program Spaces and Infrastructure 

Across both day and overnight camps, aging and/or inadequate facilities represent a key barrier for growth and retention. Camps may have beds or bunk space to accommodate more campers, but the rest of the facilities limit their ability to accept and serve more campers and staff.  

Camps need to invest in quality program spaces, dining halls, climate-related upgrades (more covered outdoor space, improved ventilation, air-conditioning, etc.) and general infrastructure (paved walkways and roads, septic systems, etc.) to accommodate more people on their sites. Often these investments are critical for improving the camper and staff experience and/or to create the capacity to serve more people. Additionally, more camps are pursuing projects related to environmental sustainability and energy efficiency, reducing a camp’s environmental impact. 

Camper Bunks/Home Bases  

Projects adding new bunks or home bases have a high return on investment (ROI), helping camps efficiently serve more campers and increase tuition revenues over many years.   Depending on each camps’ session offerings, each new bunk can increase overall camper capacity and enrollment ranging, for example, anywhere from 12-48 campers per summer. 

• The grant application is open to Jewish day and overnight camps in FJC’s network 
• Camps must be a nonprofit organization with 501(c)(3) status or Canadian equivalent 
• Camp must have been in operation for at least three summers 
• Camps must serve a minimum of 200 campers each summer 
• Camps must currently be accredited by the American Camp Association (ACA) or Canadian equivalent 
• Camps must be located in the United States or Canada 

• There will be three rounds of funding applications (Winter/Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Fall 2026) 
• Grants will be up to a maximum of $750,000 per camp, with a minimum of $100,000 per camp (Please note: typical grants will range from $200K-$500K) 
• FJC will award up to 50% of the capital project and camps can only receive one grant during this three-year cycle  
• Priority will be given to camps with projects that help grow capacity (for campers and/or staff) 
• Camps must have 25% of funding pledged, raised or allocated in order to apply 
• Projects must be shovel ready within 18 months of the application. For Round 1, projects must be shovel ready by end of calendar year 2026.  

• Camp must be in good standing with FJC and meet all network criteria, including completing the annual Census on time and in full.  
• Participate in both CSI and SSI (at camp’s expense) from the first summer after being approved for this grant through three summers post capital project completion. This includes proper marketing, and dissemination and ensuring statistically significant response rate by parents and staff. Additionally, camps must select the appropriate building in the Facilities section (the capital funded project) to be evaluated in the surveys. 
• Commitment to growing the numbers of campers and staff attending your camp. Preference will be given to camps whose projects will generate growth. 
• Preference will be given to camps that have demonstrated FJC program and grant compliance, including quality and timely reporting in previous programs and grants. 
• Designated camp professional responsible for all communications, reporting and compliance. 
• Annual reporting (as needed) 
• Attend FJC’s biennial conference Leaders Assembly in 2026 and 2028 (at camps expense)