After the most successful summer in Jewish camping history, the Foundation for Jewish Camp has a roadmap for the years ahead. 

Today the organization released its 2026-2030 strategic plan, which includes increased emphasis on research, leadership initiatives and scholarships, with newly created roles at the agency to meet the needs of today’s campers.  

The plan stems from a listening tour held last year, conducted by the strategic planning company ABW Partners, that involved conversations with over 100 stakeholders — funders, camp directors, partner organizations, parents and young adults. 

Across the board, everyone agreed that there is a vast need for investment in Jewish camping due to rising costs for both camps and families, as well as the increase in antisemitism and mental illness facing today’s Jewish youth.

“We’re in a really pivotal moment for Jewish life, where there is a rise of antisemitism, young people are disconnected and less affiliated with normal Jewish organizations,” Jamie Simon, CEO of Foundation of Jewish Camp, told eJewishPhilanthropy. “The youth mental health crisis is on the rise. Camps are facing challenges, so there’s just this really pivotal moment for young people, and Jewish camp offers an antidote.”

Last summer, 160,000 campers attended an FJC-affiliated camp, which Simon estimates to be 16% of Jewish children between the ages of 7 and 17.  Families also requested more than $58 million in financial aid, with camps distributing $47.2 million — $33.5 million for overnight camps and $13.7 million for day camps — a more than $7 million increase from the year prior. According to an FJC census, without that assistance, 37% of families said they could not have afforded camp.

The strategic plan aims to ensure camp is available to everyone who wants to attend and to accommodate them by making “bold moves,” Simon said, including “breakthrough investments designed to dramatically expand access to Jewish camp.” The increased access will be aimed directly at lower- and middle-income families.

“Funders have been stepping up and investing in Jewish camp,” Simon said. “They see what we see, which is that Jewish camp is building young people to feel connected to their Jewish identity, connected to community, inspired to participate, and [donors are] stepping up in big ways to support camps’ ability to thrive and create these incredible spaces of learning and growth for young people.”

Over the past two years, FJC has raised over $55 million for Jewish camping. These commitments build other major investments in the field, including the largest grant in FJCs history, the $15 million Gottesman Capital Expansion; and the $12.35 million Yashar Initiative, funded by The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, to improve accessibility for campers with disabilities.

FJC has identified three priorities for the years to come: advancing the business of camp, building Jewish learners and leaders and advocating for Jewish camp through research and partnerships.

“Let’s say we’re really successful in advancing the business of camp, and we come up with really creative new affordability initiatives, and we invest in facilities and increase capital at camps to do all these amazing things, and then we drive enrollment,” Simon said. “We have to also ensure camps are excellent, and that’s where building Jewish learners and leaders comes in. We want to make sure that camps have the tools and resources they need to strengthen Jewish identity, to foster connections to Israel, develop leadership skills, and so these [strategic priorities] really do build on each other.

“Advancing the business of camp is the most expensive of the three, because facilities and affordability have high costs,” Simon continued. “They also have high rewards.”

To support campers, infrastructure needs to be up to date, but many camp facilities haven’t been renovated in over 50 years, she said. “Behind every transformative experience in camp there is infrastructure, there is facilities, affordability, careers, and we want to help camps reach more families, adapt with purpose and operate with confidence.”

A 2025 study performed by Stanford University and the Jewish Federation of North America’s BeWell initiative found that camp is the No. 1 place where Jewish teens feel that they can be themselves. Still, “the outside world comes into camp,” Simon said. “We also know that mental [health needs are] on the rise. We also know that screen addiction is a real problem and [campers are] more used to scrolling than having a conversation in the woods.” To aid campers and staff, FJC is helping camps add resources to support mental health. 

Another focus of the plan is to assist camps with attracting, retaining and supporting a strong pipeline of year-round professionals with competitive compensation and clear career pathways. This is especially important, Simon said, because according to Leading Edge’s “State of Jewish Nonprofit Talent 2025” report, over 50% of current Jewish professionals worked at a Jewish camp.

“Camp directors are the heartbeat of camp, and we want to ensure that camps can attract the best talent and retain the best talent,” Simon, who was a camp director for 18 years. “Camp directors used to [have] a 30-year career… and now camp directors are leaving after five to seven years.”

This fall, FJC is relaunching its two-year Executive Leadership Institute in partnership with the Marcus Foundation, which has been paused since 2019. In 2008, Simon was part of the initiative’s second cohort, and she credits the program with being “one of the reasons I’m still in this field.”

FJC is also shifting current talent into new roles, with four new vice-president positions overseeing strategic grantmaking and funding, leadership development and training, learning and research and network and convening departments. The grantmaking and research teams are growing, and the organization recently hired a director of grantmaking and will soon begin a search for a director of affordability.

FJC Board Chair Jeffrey Solomon, who is also the vice chair of TD Bank U.S., said he thought of the strategic plan in business terms.

“When I make investments, I’m looking at not just the concept of whether or not I think something will be successful — I want to understand how and why, and if I make an investment in something, why my money is going to actually help the company achieve its goals,” he said. “We’re applying that same discipline here to Jewish camping.”

FJC is going to “use research internally and externally to better tell the story, to better advocate for Jewish camp and to help the community see the impact as an essential investment, both in people’s time and resources,” Simon said. “My goal would be, in 10 years, when you’re sitting around your Shabbat dinner table, you’re not asking yourself, ‘Should my kid go to Jewish camp?’ but rather when and which one.”