online camp registration project management system, Assignments of Computer Science

Download online camp registration project management system and more Assignments Computer Science in PDF only on Docsity! www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CAMP REGISTRATION www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 2 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide Introduction: Why do you need camp software? Part 1: Common camp registration problems and solutions. Part 2: Application Guide. Part 3: What to ask in your camp application. Part 4: Managing email communication with your camp management software. Part 5: Effortless reporting with an online registration software. Part 6: Registration Payments and Billing. Part 7: Parent and Camper Evaluations. Part 8: Using Your Software in the Low Season. After Conclusion: Why should your camp registration process be online? 8 9 10 11 12 3 4 5 6 7 CONTENTS www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 5 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide Reason 6: Be professional! For a camp, the registration process is your storefront. The first thing parents see is your website and your registration, not the camp itself, so you want to make a good first impression. If your system fails or doesn’t work properly or is hard to navigate and figure out, that doesn’t look so hot from the client’s perspective, right? It can also make you look a bit outdated technologically and quite frankly, sloppy. Parents might think, if they can’t get this together, what else can’t they get together and consider moving on to somewhere else. This eBook will take you through all the reasons why you need a camp registration software, how to use one, what features are most important and how to evaluate your options so you make the best choice for YOUR camp! www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 6 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide Finding the right software for your camp can be tough, but this eBook is here to help make the process of choosing a software that fits the needs of your camp a bit easier. You need to begin by asking yourself what the most common issues that come up during registration for your camp are and what software features you need to help address and solve those problems. Remember: The goal of a software is to lower your workload, automate manual processes and provide a great experience for your users. From there, think of specific issues you face during registration and what you need that is specific for your camp. While there is no one size fits all camp management solution, below are some common problems that camps often face with their registration and management, and how a software with that specific set of features can help solve those issues. Consider whether these are relevant for your camp and use the logic provided to apply to your own specific issues to figure out what you need from a software to address your needs. PART 1: COMMON CAMP REGISTRATION PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 7 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide Problem 1: Spending too much time writing emails to families. Communicating via email is how things are done these days, plain and simple. Parents are busy people and they rely on their phones to stay connected and updated on what they need to do. Email is the way most parents prefer to communicate since it is personal, they can save it if they need to act on it later and more than anything it allows them to take care of it when they have time (maybe they are with the kids right now). This means you need to communicate with camp parents before, during and after camp via email. It also means that the emails need to be personal and specific. All this together turns email into a real time suck for you! One of the main issues camps face is how to send out quality communication without having that single task being a full time job. So a solution to this problem is finding a software that automates this process as much as possible, without of course losing the personal touch of emailing your families. You need a software that will offer you flexibility to set triggered emails and filter through your campers to send the right messages to the right people. With many different variables, a communication system needs to adapt to your specific set of data. The solution to this problem is to look for a software that auto populates your camper’s info into your emails. This basically means you need to find a software that allows you to personalize every email without having to write every single one. So things like name, camp sessions, due dates for items depending on when they are attending, specific product and payment information, etc is all included in the email so it looks personal for them but the same basic structure of every email is the same for everyone. So if you want to send a payment reminder to all campers who have an outstanding payment for a session beginning June 1, you can do that with a few clicks. Just filter that specific set of campers, select the email they are meant to receive and off it goes! Another solution to this problem is automating a task that used to be done manually! A powerful filtering tool that lets you filter as specifically as you need to so your communication is targeted appropriately and you don’t get emails and calls back from families still confused, despite the email you sent out as to www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 10 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 11 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide Whether you do your application on paper, through a simple form online or with a registration software, there is a basic flow every application needs to have. The real goal when creating your camp’s application is making sure it flows well, making sure you don’t ask more than what you need (everyone hates filling out forms so make it as easy and brief as possible), while also making sure you are getting everything you need. PART 2: APPLICATION GUIDE www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 12 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide Every camp application needs the following parts: Part 1: Guardian Information Part 2: Camper(s) Information Part 3: Session Selection w/dates Part 4: Health Information + Forms Part 5: Legal - Disclosures, Terms and Conditions, etc. Part 6: Payment information - balance, due dates, how/where to pay. We will look later in the eBook about how integrating payments into an online camp application really helps to streamline the process and make registration easy for everyone. Imagine if the application structure above involved multiple campers in the same family and a variety of sessions. Accurately adding up the total amount owed gets tricky on paper and getting paid on time, or even assigning accurate payment due dates if payments are split up, can become a nightmare! So can getting all the necessary signatures for all health and legal forms, and ensuring information accuracy. Part 3 next will go into more detail about what to ask in your camp application and why each part, mentioned above, is so important. Sample Camp Application Form: www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 15 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide Terms and Conditions You most likely have something like this, but make sure it’s up to date and covers all of your legal bases. Terms and conditions is broad, as it can include health declaration, or any general “Camp Rules” form that you’d like parents and campers to sigh. The great thing about an online registration software is the ability to E-sign documents. Yes, this is legal! And a great way to get legal and medical issues handled within your registration process. Easy Payment Options I would advise, and we’ll discuss this later in the eBook, to include a payment solution within your registration software. This will seriously improve your on time payment rate and frankly is professional, easy and hassle free. However, if you don’t offer a payment solution online and within your process, make sure it is easy to calculate what the parent owes and how they can pay. Often with choosing different sessions, food packages, etc. the pricing can be confusing so make sure to make it simple, and make it obvious how to pay their final bill (via check, credit card form, etc.) process. Common Mistakes in Camp Applications Now that we’ve reviewed what to include in your application, now we focus on what you shouldn’t do when putting together your camp application. The bottom line here is go online, but just to be thorough, here’s an elaboration on that point! Don’t ask people to mail in an application, or anything for that matter! Really folks, paper applications are the worst! And they are more common than you think. When done right, they are fine. But too often they aren’t done right. People misplace them, they fill it out and mail it but then don’t send you the check, you can’t read their www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 16 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide is schooled in what questions to expect and how to answer, so this part will be a breeze for them too. Don’t send your applicants away from your site for payment. This was touched on earlier, but it always bears repeating. What if you were at a store and when you were ready to pay they sent you across the street for payment? Or asked you to go home and mail a check back. That would sound pretty ridiculous right? An integrated payment system is a must have feature for any camp management software. Once a parent is in the groove of completing your application, don’t ruin the mood by making payment an issue. Have the amount owed easily viewable and understood, and offer a big button that says “PAY NOW!” and watch the cash roll in. Don’t communicate poorly! Not only does the way in which you communicate information to parents say something about your business and your customer service, it’s also smart business on your end. If you communicate well with parents about registration (and about everything really) you will see more on time applications completed and faster payment, will abandon the process! handwriting, you input the information incorrectly into your excel doc, and on and on. Please, go online! And no, that doesn’t mean upload a PDF of your application and allow people to fill it out, print it and mail it in. Get online FOR REAL! Less is always more. People don’t like filling out forms. So, they spend the least amount of time actually doing it. Remember this when putting together your application. They will not read a long instruction list, or really much of anything. So make sure your application questions make sense, have easy to answer questions and flow well. Ask only what you need to ask and nothing more! Clear and detailed instructions win every time. The less confusion you create with your application, the more people will complete and pay! A online registration system gives you the edge up in this case as it can customize the process for each individual camper. It will ask the questions that make sense for that applicant to make the process unique, easy and quick! For example, if a parent answers that their child has no medical conditions, then all the questions related to medication, problems, doctor info, etc will be irrelevant and won’t even show up! Less confusion, less time. And I bet the parent who does have a kid with medical conditions www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 17 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide An online registration system will allow you to automate communication so you spend less time doing it and more time on other important stuff all while parents have an easy time completing your forms and paying you! A software that will send out triggered emails, for example when someone makes a payment they automatically get an email with an invoice and confirmation, is an invaluable resource. Sending emails to hundreds of campers that are personalized but that only take you a few clicks to send, amazing! A business tool you need in your tool box for sure. People like to be kept in the loop about things, so when they do an action with you (complete a form, make a payment, have an upcoming deadline), they like to know what’s up. Think of your automated communication as a challenge to have NO ONE need to call or email you to ask a question about their status because they will have received timely and informative emails at the right time from you the entire process. Communication really is the registration process itself, as with a great registration system with great features I’ll mention in a second, you are communicating effectively as the parent moves through your process. A progress bar as the parent moves through the process communicates how long until they are finished, and using red and green to show forms that are complete and incomplete communicate what else is left for the parent to complete and serve as a call to action (i.e. clicking on the incomplete form will take them to the form to complete). Triggered emails that go out with a link to what is missing - a form, payment, signature, etc communicate to the parent exactly what is needed. This type of communication built into your registration software helps to automate this communication on your behalf to your parents, so that registration goes smoothly and you don’t waste your time on answering questions or troubleshooting the application for each child because your process isn’t making it clear what is due, what is expected, etc. www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 20 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 21 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide payments aren’t sent to the entire session 1 group, but only to those in session 1 with outstanding payments. This cuts down on confusion and those inevitable calls from parents asking why they got an email about payment when they thought they paid in full already! A system that allows you to view this information (in our example above, who hasn’t paid for a specific session) is indispensable. It’s no fun to use an excel spreadsheet and go line by line to find who hasn’t paid, what they owe, write individual emails or worse, copy paste one generic “please pay” email and then respond to everyone with what they owe when they of course email you asking what their balance is. Why waste your valuable time when camp software can automate this all for you!? So, how can camp management software improve your communication? A system that allows you to filter and find the data you need to then send a specific message to is great. Be sure your software allows you to then auto populate each recipient’s information into the email. Going with our previous example of Session 1 campers who have an outstanding balance, once you have that list, the email that goes out shouldn’t be generic, even though you are targeting specific people instead of all of session 1. Many of our clients enjoy our email communication functionality because it’s really where the cost of a system pays them back in less work and less headaches when it comes to communicating information and keeping in touch with parents. A camp management software that does not give you easy email capabilities that fit your needs should be passed on immediately! A system that easily allows you to filter and find the campers you want to send specific emails to is even better! It allows you to target your communication so emails about completing PART 4: MANAGING EMAIL COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR REGISTRATION SOFTWARE. www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 22 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide The email should include the name of the person receiving it, their actual balance, including what they have paid thus far and how much they owe, what they owe for (if you have a breakdown of costs like deposit, extra case, extra activities, etc) and when it’s all due by. The goal of this email is that the parent reading it will know EXACTLY what is expected of them, how much they owe, how they can pay and when they have to do it all by. You want there to be NO need for them to hit reply to your email or call you because it’s clear what’s up. Tips on writing effective emails. 1. You should always try to keep emails and messages as simple as possible! People receive and read emails on their phone, iPad, etc. Don’t weigh your email down with lots of unnecessary information, weird graphics, etc. Your intention of the email is to get them to understand why you sent it (payment due, due date for forms, general information, etc), understand if there is an action item (i.e. make a payment) and how they can go about doing what you want them to do. A clear and concise email with easy to spot dates, amounts and links is your ticket to winning at emails! The recipient should be able to skim your email and understand what it’s about and what they need to do, if anything. Most people won’t read your emails in full, so keep that in mind when you’re putting it together. Example of a GREAT Registration Emails Dear Name, We are thrilled that you will be joining us on Feb 3rd for the Program name! I wanted to personally update you regarding your outstanding balance of $2,400. The deadline for full payment is: January 14, 2014. Please go into the online registration system at www.yourwebsite.com/register and make a payment before the payment deadline. Once you login the system will take you right to your payment page. If you have a card on file, paying will be as easy as clicking the “approve” button. The email you used in order to register is: support@regpacks.com If you do not remember your password please use the “forgot password” option on the login pag New Message TO We’re waiting for your FINAL PAYMENT for Program name Cc GO OD EM AIL www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 25 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 26 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide Reporting for camps is essential. You need to be able to use your data effectively by passing along the right information to a variety of staff members. A software should include awesome reporting functions that let you put your lists and documents together. Usually a quality software will allow you to create and produce many reports in a small amount of time. The efficiency of a software that automatically filters, finds and exports data can’t compare to filtering and sorting through an excel document and copying and pasting data, then creating the report so it’s readable and so on, is priceless. But what kind of reporting features exist and what should your software include in order to automate this process and be more efficient? This part will look at static vs. dynamic reports and how you can be using your reports to the fullest! Static vs. Dynamic Reports Instead of just thinking of a report as a list of information, for example: Name, age, session, and emergency contact information. A static report is just that, a specific set of information (all those points) and “ran” for a specific date range or for all campers in a specific session. Instead of thinking about this report as your “emergency contact report”, think of this report as a template of information that is put together in a specific way. You can create an emergency contact report for any set of data units - people from specific countries, states, etc. All campers coming for just 1 session, all campers coming for multiple sessions. The options are endless with a great software. If you think about reports dynamically you have a powerful method of creating an infinite amount of reports with infinite amounts of data. A static structure of reporting is unchanging but dynamic reports change according to the information you are seeking in any given moment. PART 5: EFFORTLESS REPORTING WITH YOUR ONLINE REGISTRATION SOFTWARE www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 27 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide So what does a good report look like? Depending on what you are looking for and what kind of data you are looking at, a report can be charts, rows and columns of text, graphs, or a list of monetary figures. If you are using financial data, you can create a report on one session of camp, the money you have earned so far for this session and the money that is still outstanding. You can create graphs of monthly or quarterly income and expenses covering all sessions. If you transport campers in any way, you can create reports for the person in charge of coordinating transportation with arrival information, address information, etc. A bunk counselor coordinating placement can receive a report with a breakdown of boys and girls, ages, any special needs, etc. The options are truly endless! How do dynamic reports or “views” benefit you? Views just mean the sets of information you need for different purposes. Views allows you to run reports on any set of data you can think of. For example, you can do a food allergy report for all campers coming in session 1. Or all campers coming for multiple sessions. Or all campers coming in every session throughout the summer.You can easily create this report and send it over to the food coordinator so they can produce the right type of food at the right times. www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 30 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide Session A from 6-1-2015 to 8-1-2015, earnings were $100,000; expenses were $50,000, for a total NET PROFIT of $50,000.” This way the reader understands the final point of the report and then has the data to back it up that they can sift through themselves. Having a database that produces reports in real time with up to date information is always going to achieve the ‘less is more’ goal because it’s the most accurate information you can provide. You aren’t just creating and sending reports using the best information, but it’s tailor made for your specific criteria. With an intelligent and flexible database you can order up a list of campers for a certain time period or who have some criteria you want to know about. From that list you can filter it again to receive more specific data you need, like their email addresses. From there, generate a new report with a different set of information - those continuing on to another session, those doing specific extra activities. Whatever you want! This kind of flexibility allows you to put together amazing and varied amounts of reports for your team. Better reporting leads to better communication with campers, parents and your staff. Reporting is an important and often overlooked aspect of your business. Having the ability to gain a clear picture of your business and learn from it is invaluable. Being able to sum up your data and see it in action can ease the burden of how you can make sense of all the information you have at once. With all the data I have, won’t the reports I run also be huge and overwhelming, even if they are dynamic? Remember: less is more. The point of a report is to take away the burden of the reader from sifting through mounds of information and giving them only what they need. You need to create a report that is digestible so remember that less is always more. How can you filter and present the data that will give the answer to the question the report is answering. In some cases, analyzing your digestible data and providing a 1-3 sentence summary helps the report become even more effective and relevant to the recipient if you feel the amount of data even in your ‘less is more’ report seems like a lot. For example, if you have a report about income from the previous session you might have tons of campers and therefore lots of names and numbers. Total it up and at the top write “In www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 31 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 32 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide The best way to boost your payment rate and see more on time payments is by choosing a management software that integrates payments into the process. You do NOT want a payment page to redirect to a new website, outside of your process. The real point of integrating the payment into the process is to keep the process simple and streamlined. If the user is redirected, it can be confusing and a certain amount of trust is lost. Integrating into your website also means that sending invoices and payment reminders is much easier. Sending Payment Invoices If you’ve already chosen a camp management software that has create email communication tools, this part is easy! Sending strategically timed payment reminder emails helps close the deal with parents who haven’t paid yet and thorough and straightforward payment invoice emails after completed payments keep parents in the know as to the status of their application. Below are two great examples of a payment request email and a payment invoice email. PART 6: REGISTRATION PAYMENTS AND BILLING 27% of people will leave the registration process when it’s on an external site! Registration External Site www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 35 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide Scheduled Payments and Payment Plans A great software will allow you to easily offer scheduled payments, automatic billing and payment plans to parents. With the high cost of camp these days, some parents don’t feel comfortable or simply can’t afford to pay their full bill all in one shot. If an alternative plan isn’t offered, they might put off payment until they gather the funds, which sometimes works without you nagging them but most often results in you nagging them and getting paid at the last second. Why go through this with all of your campers!? Set up the payment plans that work for your business in terms of cash flow and then allow parents to set it up while they are registering. The payment plans should charge automatically, and send an email after every transaction, so this shouldn’t be any more work for you or the parent than if they had paid in full. This solution means you get paid more money faster and on time in the end, without any effort on anyone’s part. Parents don’t have to remember payment deadlines and you don’t have to spend time reminding them! Do I really need to offer online payments? It’s expensive and seems complicated! Yes, you do. The cost to process payments online is less than the money you are losing both in business and in the time of your employees facilitating the payment issues and process manually. Offering payments online also allows your camp to be ‘open’ 24/7. Payments can be made any time, invoices are sent automatically and multiple methods are available to ensure payments can be made easily by parents without issue. Online payments also means easier accounting for you and your staff. Easily view your income and balances still owed so you can focus on important tasks that can’t be automated! Plus, let’s not forget the real reason to use online payments - it’s easier! People love the easier option. It’s easier to input your credit card info, which many know by heart anyway, than it is to go get your checkbook, write a check, put it in an envelope, find a stamp, take it to the mailbox, and hope that all the info is on the check so you can match the check to the camper! Whew, I’m tired just typing that. But seriously, online payments is better for your clients! www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 36 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 37 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide PART 7: PARENT AND CAMPER EVALUATIONS The first benefit to using your registration software for evaluations is that it’s just easier. The second benefit is, you will most likely get way more responses than you ever had before. And the third, is all the benefits, which will be highlighted below, to using what data you gather to benefit your camp. Evaluations through your software are easier! With a great system that allows you to create forms easily and in any format you want, with the added bonus of a communication system that can easily personalize and send out emails to every camper and their families, is a cinch. Don’t create a form, print it, mail it or hand it out and except a ton of response. Too many steps! Send out an email, with a link and watch the responses pour in! You can also do fun things with the software that will help you get the most out of evaluations. For example, make sure the software saves each answer immediately so if the parent abandons the process in the middle, you still have the questions they did answer on record. The forms can also pre populate with the camper’s and parent’s information to make the process easier and quicker for the person filling it out. The session they attended, counselor they were assigned and any other relevant information can be added automatically to make the process flow. If you want your So now you’ve moved your paper or mediocre online registration process to a great camp management software. Awesome! Yay! Why then, are you not utilizing it to conduct your camp evaluations!? It seems like a no brainer when it’s said, but many camps who are using a great software are still using paper for evaluations. I can almost guarantee that paper isn’t doing for you what your software could be doing for you! Sure you get some responses back and often times they are enlightening and helpful. Get the most out of this feedback to make positive changes to your camp and improve upon some aspects that are clearly not a hit with everyone. www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 40 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 41 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide PART 8: USING YOUR SOFTWARE IN THE LOW SEASON When you think of your camp registration software, you think an active process for registering campers leading up to summer. But did you know, your camp software can act as a sales platform to help you manage your data, design your future marketing strategy and help you better prepare for your next summer? You collect a ton of information during registration, and the possibilities with what you can do with the data is endless! Besides just saving it to roll over to your next registration season, you can capitalize on the information you’ve received and make it work for you. www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 42 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide Use your software’s timestamp and recent actions tools to see which parents haven’t logged in a while and create an email promotion to reengage with them. Offer automated discounts for doing more business with you. This includes early bird and late bird pricing. Camp Software as a Complete Sales Platform Your camp registration software is really a long terms sales solution for your camp. Your software should not just collect information for you, but give you access to a backend to really work with and manage your data. When you think about registration as a way to gather all the data you need to improve your marketing and grow your camp, you can see how your registration software plays a vital role as a sales platform. When will I have time to do all of these great things? Your low season is the best time to do this! You finally have a chance to breathe and relax. You are probably reading this eBook in your low reason because you finally have the time! Often times, camps assume that their registration software isn’t needed during their low season since they aren’t “registering” anyone. When you understand that your What do you do with all the information you’ve collected? Using the filtering function in your registration software is the best tool you have! Once you’ve collected information about your campers, and families, you can use it to understand how your camp performed, target specific groups of parents to connect with, and lock in your families year after year. Using your software’s email tools also plays a huge role.Here are a few scenarios on how to use your camp software to complete your onboarding: Target parents that started, but never completed their applications by sending them an email inviting them to finish the process. Email them to check out what you are offering next summer to encourage them to come back. This group of users is a sales opportunity that shouldn’t missed! Filter parents who have answered a question in your application about camp sessions they’d like to see in the future. You can generate a list of ideas from this information to improve your camp options for next year. Essentially, you can evaluate what campers and their parents loved, what they want to see, and what people didn’t like so much to grow and improve for the future. (See Part 7 above for more on using your software for evaluations). www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 45 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide AFTER CONCLUSION: WHY SHOULD YOUR EGISTRATION PROCESS BE ONLINE? Reason 1: It’s cost effective! Yes of course, a software costs money. More money than making your own application and sending it off to parents or allowing them to download a PDF online. That work’s just fine for our needs, many camps say, so why pay? From years of experience working with camps, I have never had a client say they want to go back to paper after experiencing the online process. Reason 2: Going online can improve your business! Providing registration online makes your process easier, gets you paid faster, and will net you more completed applications. It pays for itself in admin time you would be spending on your registration that can now be spent on other things. Try it, you’ll see! Reason 3: Improves communication, payments, and reporting. A software that automates emails, payments and invoicing, and makes reporting easy and valuable is worth it’s weight in gold. A system that makes registration easier for your parents and your staff, keeps everyone on task and up to date and helps your bottom line, saves everyone times and gives your parents a positive service experience with your camp before they even show up on day 1! If the answer isn’t clear already after this entire eBook, or if you’re like me and skimmed over each section and came here to get to the meat of things, there are FOUR reasons why, YES, your camp should be using an online registration process. www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 46 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide going to be slightly different. Some families have multiple children attending and some only are enrolling one child. Going online means creating a unique experience for each camper during registration. Show the forms that they need and nothing more. Make registration easier, streamlined and get parents on the way to finishing and paying as fast as possible! The first impression anyone has with your camp isn’t on the day they drop their kids off but when they visit your website and begin your registration process. If you present a confusing, out of date application, you will spend too much time responding and addressing issues instead of communicating meaningful with parents and prepping for the summer. Build trust in your brand by putting your best foot forward and using a great quality camp management software from the start. Instead of wasting hours emailing due dates to parents, following up on missing forms, creating payment receipts, processing payments, entering tons of data manually into spreadsheets and copying and pasting into report after reports for every member of your staff - use a great camp management software! It’s really that simple! A camp management software serves you every step of the way - from before camp starts, through camp, into evaluations, into next summer and beyond! Reason 4: It makes the process personal and easy for every camper. Paper applications are usually long and full of forms that aren’t always a match to each camper as everyone’s registration is www.regpacks.com | 1212 Broadway Oakland California, 94612 USA | Toll Free: 1.855.377.7707 Phone: 510.208.5515 47 | Your Ultimate Registration Guide Your camp is a business and it should be run as such when it comes to payments, communication and the application process. From the second a parent expresses interest in your camp, you need to provide an excellent experience. Just because campers have a great time and you run an awesome camp doesn’t mean that doesn’t extend to your registration and data management tools. You never want there to be a flaw in your system - whether it’s about your application or your outdoor activities. You want parents to think of you - whether about registration or your camp experiences - wow, this camp has it together! They are awesome. They are on top of it. They are great! A camp client of Regpack said about using camp management software: “The campers and especially their parents, are essentially customers. I don’t think anyone in the camping world likes to necessarily think of it like that but more or less it’s a customer service industry and we want these customers having the best possible experience from the get go, from the minute they express interest, which is pretty much the sign-up point, to the minute they finish camp. In order to have that great camp experience, you want a flawless system. [A camp registration software] is the first step in that experience, since it is just so user friendly and clean, works perfectly and it looks good. To have something as simple as the aesthetics of it and creating a registration that is simple and user friendly, that’s huge. [Using] the back end of the camp management software makes the staffing side of it so simple since you can produce any sort of report you need within minutes. The system allows us to get in contact easily with parents and campers either before the summer or while the summer is going on. The system is so easy to use and you have a database right at the click of the finger, that’s what makes [using software] worth it. So you have the great customer experience that makes it so much smoother for everyone. And ideally it helps get more kids in camp.”