Talent Innovation Grants

Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) believes that counselors are the linchpin of the camping experience. And yet, as the world changes, camps are finding it increasingly difficult to attract and retain the best staff possible. In October 2021, FJC convened a broad cross-section of the North American Jewish camp community to examine reasons for declining counselor recruitment and retention rates and to make recommendations about how to combat these trends systematically and collaboratively. This process illuminated a great deal about the counselor experience and its many current challenges and opportunities. Working as an ecosystem with a shared belief in the importance and power of Jewish camp, we must move beyond the structures and models that have been stagnating for years and reimagine a new and more resonant version of camp whose value proposition for campers, counselors, parents/caregivers, and the entire community, is stronger than ever.

Summer 2023 Grants

Enhance Your Summer Supervision
Applications due Friday, Feb. 24th

Are you looking for ways to retain staff while elevating your staff training? FJC is now accepting applications for its summer 2023 Talent Innovation Grants! Based on the success of our 2022 pilot, FJC will award ten day and overnight camps with grants to participate in the e21 Performance Management and Professional Development program for their supervisors and staff this summer. These ten camps will receive 50% off their e21 membership for two years (2023 & 2024) at a value of $4000, reducing the cost for selected camps to $2000/year.

Apply Now     Learn More about e21 at Camp

Previous Grants

FJC invested nearly $500,000 in the form of Talent Innovation Grants to 26 day and overnight camps across North America in the spring of 2022. Grants ranged from $5,000 to $40,000 and included funds to be used towards piloting new recruitment ambassador programs, compensation structures, supervision training, and other staff morale boosting initiatives. A group of camps were awarded funds towards the hiring of a year-round professional focused solely on the staff experience, recruitment, and retention. These year-round professionals meet bi-monthly with members of the FJC team to learn from one another and share best practices for camp staff retention and recruitment.

Please check back here soon to view the learnings from these pilot initiatives.