“The pond is shallow, and many of the fish we try to catch can’t even swim,” one camp’s board member expressed his group’s exasperation during our discussion in an effort to help them hire a new camp director. And although we nodded knowingly, it is also fair to say that some folks fishing for talent have no idea which lure to use, where the best places to catch are, or even how to respect the relationship between the two parties.
Hiring an executive director is almost certainly one of the most consequential decisions a camp and/or retreat center will make. It impacts every facet of operations and is a primary differentiator of success, stability, and impact. Yet, it is rarely as straightforward as posting a job and selecting a candidate.
The process itself must be more than a talent-pool lottery, where we hope and pray for a great prize at the end. The process should expose how a board/ownership understands its own identity, operations, and future direction. It must also be seen as a critical role that only the fiduciary leaders of these complex organizations/businesses can undertake. There is simply no substitute for this, as it is the primary role of volunteer/owner leadership to ensure that the senior professional is hired, rewarded, evaluated, and, at times, terminated.
On a sidenote, and rarely said out loud but worth highlighting: too few leadership groups who hire an individual take any responsibility for that individual’s failure. Introspection is not necessarily a strong suit for boards or owners. (But that, friends, would be a different article entirely.)
Over an extended period, we have worked to distinguish the “lucky grab” method from a systemic, well-managed protocol. What follows are 10 key insights, designed to help you in the executive-level camp and retreat search environment. When done right, these can and will help ensure leadership finds clarity, direction, guidance, and, ultimately, the right leader for now and into the future.
1. Clarify Identity
Camps are loaded with generational traditions, legends, and lore, which can lead to use of emotionally charged yet vague language. So, one persistent challenge may be articulating exact needs to job candidates.
Terms like “magical,” “life-changing,” or “family-like” may describe culture, but they don’t provide a clear picture of current or future needs or the strategic direction an external applicant needs. To help distill what makes your camp distinct requires taking a step back to view it through an external lens and setting aside cherished memories. Moreover, making sure the mission, vision, values, and future goals can be articulated is essential. Only when we can define our own organizational identity can we seek the right match from an external candidate.
2. Giants to Realistic Replacement
When a camp’s personality is tied to a beloved founder or former executive, recruiting their successor can be daunting. Pedestalling the most recent senior professional can paint them as an irreplaceable giant, leaving no candidate or search committee feeling capable of filling those shoes.
To counteract this tendency, break down that legendary persona into tangible and realistic expectations. What qualities do you need the next leader to have going forward? What outcomes must be achieved? By distilling these traits, whether it’s strategic vision, relationship building, or operational knowledge, you can craft a job description that reflects achievable, forward-thinking leadership. This takes time and honest back-and-forth communication between your recruitment firm and search committee. Ultimately, your goal is to transform legendary admiration for the past into a clear, attractive profile that is appropriate and attainable for the future.
3. Get Your Financial House in Order First
Before a single resume lands in your inbox, make sure you know what you can afford to pay. Can you hand a finalist candidate a clean, readable budget and answer their question with confidence? Because they will ask, and they should.
Too many searches stall or sour not because the candidate wasn’t right, but because the organization wasn’t ready. Unclear financials signal instability. Unresolved cash flow challenges don’t disappear when a new director walks in the door; they become the new director’s first crisis. If your books are a mess, clean them up. Bringing a new director into a financial fog isn’t a hire but a setup for failure. The right candidate will see through it anyway.
4. Operational Insight as a Compass
In executive searches, understanding the camp’s operations is critical. As you delve into the recruitment process, you may uncover operational gaps in financial management, recruitment, marketing, governance, fundraising, or facilities. Such discoveries are really opportunities.
Having someone familiar with the organization’s operational aspects can ensure guidance is not just focused on the potential hire but also on the camp’s immediate and pressing needs. In essence, recruitment can help shape an operational picture and define the type of leader needed to tackle current and ongoing challenges.
This is where a camp insider’s perspective shines, allowing a common vocabulary to enter the process. Think of it like a chef hiring another chef: they speak the same language and know which ingredients are missing. By providing operational insights alongside recruitment, you ensure the new executive steps into a role aligned with where the camp is now and where it needs to go under their leadership.
5. Human vs. Nonhuman Engagement
Once you start the search, reviewing good resumes is more of an art than a science. These days, though, many candidates use artificial intelligence (AI) to write their resumes and cover letters. And, in a twist of irony, for some recruitment firms or committees, it has also become the go-to method for reviewing incoming resumes. So, camps have become vulnerable to the possibility that human perspective is being exiled in an industry built on relationships and personal connectivity.
Is it OK to have AI take a pile of 30+ resumes down to 10 based on carefully developed criteria? Absolutely. However, those final 10 need real eyes and discussion to whittle them down to a first-stage, informal online meeting group.
You can also use AI tools to determine the percentage amount of AI used to create the letter and resume itself.
Those reviewing the final 10 must understand the context and language, the skills and knowledge to operate a successful day camp, overnight camp, or retreat center. A skilled person can read between the lines. For example, if expanding camper numbers is a priority, does your reviewing protocol spot subtle markers of someone who has led enrollment strategies? Without this deeper understanding, it’s easy to pick someone with impressive yet mismatched experience just because AI told you so.
6. Decoding Applicant Questions
The interview process is not only about what you ask applicants. The questions candidates pose to you can reveal a great deal about their priorities, experience, knowledge, intelligence, and overall fit.
For example, when an applicant asks about registration timing and the you answer, “We open in February,” it may delight the candidate that there is time to confirm and resolve systemic issues. Either way, they are indicating industry knowledge, especially if you follow up the question by asking for their impression of your answer.
Similarly, if a candidate asks nothing about the budget or finances in general, that silence speaks volumes. The best candidates want to understand what they are walking into financially, not just culturally.
Acknowledging the importance of an inquisitive mind helps highlight a candidate’s degree of sophistication. Ultimately, the questions applicants ask are a two-way mirror. Consider writing them down to compare to what you asked them.
7. Address the Big Three
Every candidate has the same three questions bouncing around in their heads:
- What’s the pay?
- Who will be my supervisor?
- Where will I live?
Salary is often the most straightforward, though it can be a wake-up call for some candidates when they realize their range does not align with reality. While you can nearly always find someone to do a job at the lower end of the range, attracting top talent costs more. It is, therefore, naive to discount a candidate solely on salary (especially if the differential is a few thousand dollars), as any perceived savings disappear rapidly if the new leader is not capable.
The supervisor dynamic is equally key. Potential candidates want to know how the board operates, what the chairperson’s role is in evaluation, and whether you have a history of best practice evaluation and reward. They may even want to know how the camp community (seasonal staff, parents, and alums) might influence their salary, if at all.
Housing can be a wild card. Failing to recognize the need for appropriate (read clean, bright, air-conditioned, etc.) housing can signal to a candidate that their and their family’s health and well-being are not a priority. Treat housing as a strategic must and not an afterthought. With the pace of leadership turnover and generational shifts in executive tenure, housing is one element that can make or break a placement. Camp housing needs to be addressed well before the search for the next director is underway. Oh, and don’t tell a candidate that housing is part of their salary. For so many reasons that won’t resonate.
8. The Power of Communication
The search process is nerve-racking for applicants, especially when they’re also considering other opportunities. In the recruitment dance, communication is vital. Therefore, how you engage with them can be a deciding factor.
Timeliness is about efficiency and respect. Transparent updates, even when there’s no immediate news, will foster trust. When candidates feel nurtured and respected, they can begin to build an emotional connection before they’re hired. Alternatively, if communication falters, you risk losing top candidates to more responsive organizations. Treat each applicant as a future partner who, even if they are not your final choice, will talk to others and either praise or speak poorly of you. Superior communication pays dividends long after the offer is made — and not only with the individual to whom you extend an offer.
9. The Cost of Wrong
What does it cost when a hire doesn’t work out? Whether they are terminated or choose to leave, there can be separation costs, legal fees, interim coverage, a second search, and operational disruption. This is before accounting for frayed donor relationships and potentially brand damage, staff who depart alongside the director, and even enrollment dips.
All this to say that spending appropriately on a search and taking the time to do it right isn’t an expense — its insurance! Leadership who treat a search as only a budget line item to minimize the costs often end up paying far more in the long run.
10. Timing Impacts the Talent Pool
In executive recruitment, timing shapes the depth and breadth of the candidate pool. If a search can hold until late summer, you likely have a greater chance of finding the ideal person.
By August or September, many camp leaders are finishing their current seasons. Most executive-level leaders won’t consider a move mid-summer, and it would be a red flag if they did. The fall is when applicants are best primed to consider new opportunities. The example of free agency in professional sports is a fair comparison. At the start of the off-season, teams have a stronger candidate bench to choose from. It really is that simple.
Planning for transitions, where possible, helps to create a runway for both recruitment and thoughtful onboarding. Searching in March or April limits your pool and may raise concerns about your camp. Timing really can shape who walks through the door.
Wait, There’s More
It would be great if all the steps mentioned were orderly, predictable, and fair, but things rarely go according to plan. Many pitfalls and opportunities help to shape these critical hiring scenarios. If you don’t have a written succession plan, you need one. If your board has no experience undertaking a search of this kind, ask for help. If your financial situation is unclear or hard to understand, get it sorted. And don’t wait until you’re in the middle of your search to figure it out. Financial clarity is a prerequisite, not a parallel track. Do you have the budget to pay a search firm for their expertise and guidance? If you are dealing with other crises, consider solving them before assuming the new person will take care of them.
Recruiting an executive leader is rarely just about filling a role. It’s a chance to examine operations, communications, governance/ownership, and current structure. If done thoughtfully, an executive search can reveal opportunities and threats that are valuable to your organization and help propel you toward greater strength, stability, and impact.
The most successful searches are not the fastest or the easiest; they are the ones done with intentionality.
Photos courtesy of McGaw YMCA Camp Echo, Evanston, IL; Emerald Cove Day Camp, San Juan Capistrano, CA.
Dan Weir is a senior consultant at Immersive1st and cofounder of Day Camp Community. A hiring and talent development expert for camps and youth-serving organizations, he brings over 20 years of experience in camp leadership, recruiting campers, and staff culture. He specializes in executive director searches and is a member of SHRM, grounding his work in best practices in human resources and talent strategy. Dan holds a Master’s degree in Youth Development and can be reached at [email protected]
Hunter Gold is a senior consultant at Immersive1st and a former nonprofit executive and camp owner with 25+ years in operations, finance, and leadership. He is passionate about helping boards and directors find clarity and confidence through financial literacy and operations. He is currently a fractional CFO for several organizations. Hunter can be reached at [email protected]
David Phillips is the principal of Immersive1st. A lifelong communal professional, he is passionate about doing important things with good people who make a difference. He is a frequent speaker and presenter at conferences and an author on various organizational topics. He holds an MSW in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh, with a focus on community organization and development. David can be reached at [email protected]
