Support ACA

ACA empowers camps to create quality experiences that build a world of belonging and growth. ACA:

• is the voice for all camps across the United States by promoting the educational and developmental benefits of a camp experience
• represents camp in Washington, D.C., and state houses around the country
• educates camps in key aspects of camp operation, particularly in areas related to program quality, health, and safety of campers and staff
• provides funds development resources to help camps with fundraising
• supports parents in making decisions for their children by sharing our proprietary research, resources, and by accrediting camps

Invest in Camp, Invest in Children

Making a contribution to the American Camp Association’s Annual Fund safeguards the future of the camp experience for thousands of deserving children each year.

Through accreditation, leadership, education and promotion, the ACA endeavors to enrich the lives of children and prepare them to be the leaders of tomorrow.

We do a great deal with the 50 percent of camp fees that come to the national office, but there is so much more that can be done and that you want to see accomplished.

Your dollars keep the framework of the ACA strong so, like a proud parent, it can effectively represent the camps in the ACA family and spread the word about the crucial life experiences they have to offer children of every background.

Your belief, commitment, and continued giving to the American Camp Association ensure that our collective and powerful voice on behalf of the camp experience is heard by all.

Thank you for your support.

Building Bridges of Understanding

The camp experience has the unique ability to break down economic, racial, geographic, religious, ethnic and social barriers. Camp celebrates diversity and promotes understanding. And open-hearted children become open-minded adults.

The American Camp Association invites you as an ACA-Accredited® camp to take an active role in promoting unity and an appreciation of differences among your campers. The ACA Camper Scholarship Program was designed to help ACA-accredited camps do that.

Each year, participating camps give scholarships to campers who cannot afford the entire camp fee and whose presence at camp will broaden the composition of the camp community.

Are you a parent or family member looking for scholarships?

The Foundation Board includes members who serve on the ACA Board of Directors and are appointed by the ACA Board of Directors. ACF also elects independent members to serve on its board.

ACF meets three times a year to address issues facing ACA and to determine how best the foundation can support ACA. We are fortunate to have the foundation as a resource and guide for the benefit of our membership association.

2025-2026 ACF Leadership

• Anne Derber, Chair
• Will Pierce
• Andy Shlensky
• Tony Stein
• Steve Suddeth
• Liz Fogel
• Steve Baskin, Chair, ACA Board of Directors
• Don Cheley, Emeritus
   

The Acorn Society

Remember your first camp experience? Remember laughing and singing camp songs at the top of your lungs? Remember the fast friends you made splashing around in the water and galloping down the straightaway in a head-to-head relay? Remember what it was like just to be a kid?

Unleash the Power of Camp This #GivingTuesday

Everyone has something to give, and every act of generosity counts. That’s the spirit of #GivingTuesday, a global celebration of giving and community.

Why Camp Matters

At the American Camp Association (ACA), we believe in the power of camp to build a world of belonging and growth. Camp is where young people feel valued, accepted, and celebrated for who they are. It’s where they take risks, discover strengths, and build confidence that lasts a lifetime. In a world that often emphasizes differences, camps are places where diversity is strength and every child belongs.

This #GivingTuesday, join us in ensuring every young person had the chance to experience the power of camp.

Help Us Reach Our Goals

Together, we can unlock the power of camp by reaching:

• 150 donors
• Gifts of $35 in honor of Giving Tuesday on December 2, 2025
• 50 first-time donors to grow our community
• 15 new monthly donors to sustain our mission year-round

The Power Behind Every Camp

Behind every camp experience are the professionals, the counselors, directors, and leaders, who make it possible. Your support helps ACA provide the training, resources, and accreditation standards that ensure every camp is a safe, inspiring place to learn and grow. Your gift makes a difference.

Join Us

Your generosity helps campers and camp professionals thrive. Together, we can build a world of belonging, growth, and joy. Give today and be one of the 150 donors to unlock the $30,000 match from Camp Soles!

Sharing your good fortune with the American Camp Association through a planned gift means playing an enormous role in changing the lives of countless children for the better and perpetuating the joy the camp experience offers for generations. The most common forms of planned giving include:

Naming ACA as the Beneficiary of a Life Insurance Policy

You can leave a lasting legacy by naming ACA as sole or partial beneficiary of your life insurance policies. The amount of the death benefit contributed is deductible from your estate and inheritance taxes at death.

Gifting through a Life Insurance Policy — Receive an Income Tax Deduction

You may choose to make an irrevocable assignment of your life insurance policy to ACA, entitling you to an immediate income tax deduction for either the policy's fair market value or the net premiums paid, whichever is less. Contributions to pay subsequent premiums will result in additional income tax deductions.

Naming ACA as a Beneficiary in your Will or Living Trust

You can choose to assign a trustee to oversee transfer of funds from your estate to ACA upon your death. This ensures transfer is made according to your wishes.

Memorial and Tribute Gifts

ACA government relations and advocacy efforts achieved the following for camps. 

After reading through these activities, please consider using the benefits calculator to determine how much ACA has saved you over the past three years and then consider donating 5-10 percent of that amount to ensure ACA can continue to help camps into the future.

Inclusion of Summertime Dates in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) 

The original PPP program application did not allow the use of a summer date to calculate the loan, preventing camps from maximizing their loan amount. After significant advocacy and education from ACA, the Small Business Administration (SBA) agreed and added a summer date field on April 27, 2020. 

Additionally, ACA successfully advocated for the 2020 federal COVID relief bill to include a provision that allows any business to modify their original loan one time to take advantage of a summer date field to calculate the loan amount.  

Second PPP Draw 

The 2020 relief bill also allowed businesses with fewer than 300 employees that had been significantly impacted by the pandemic an opportunity to have a second draw on the PPP program. 

Overnight camps were also allowed to draw three months' worth of payroll instead of two. The organized camp was the only industry allowed to draw an additional month of funding. 

Tax-Free PPP Relief 

The original PPP program did not allow businesses to deduct any of the expenses covered by the loan. ACA successfully advocated for the original intent of the bill, which was to allow for the deduction of these expenses, essentially increasing the camp’s financial relief.   

Separated Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and PPP  

Initially, camps that received an EIDL grant of up to $10,000 were required to deduct that amount from the forgivable amount of their PPP loan. The new relief bill eliminated this requirement, so camps could keep their EIDL emergency grant dollars. 

Free Covid Testing from CDC for 2022  

ACA worked with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), state, local, and territorial health departments to allocate 5 million rapid, point-of-care, and over-the-counter tests per month to schools and camps serving students aged K-12 (up to 1.25 million tests per week) in the summer of 2022. 

In addition, ACA successfully advocated prioritizing camp staff as emergency workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine along with other essential workers.

Camp-School Partnerships - Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) 

ACA is currently working with the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) to provide incentives for camps and school districts to engage in partnerships over the next two years. This initiative provides 10 camps with $50,000 per camp over 2 years and to date in 2022 has served 1,643 students across eight states.  

We Need Your Support

Together, we are building the future by ensuring camps provide quality programs. ACA’s government relations work has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars of support for camps. Our goals continue to be ambitious. We need your support. Donate to ACA’s Annual Fund Campaign.  

Change a Life.

Just $35 will send a child to camp for one day and $500 for one week. Just one camp experience can positively change a child’s life forever.

Gifting stocks and/or bonds to ACA may actually cost you less than the same amount in a monetary gift. If the securities have appreciated and have been held by you for at least 12 months, they may be deductible in an amount up to 30 percent of your adjusted gross income. Amounts in excess of 30 percent may be deducted on tax returns for up to five additional years. The ACA can only accept marketable securities.

Instructions for Donating Stock to the American Camp Association: