2019 Dates and Tuition Table
Wilderness Trips
- All Sessions
- Multiple Trips
- Ages 12-17
- Please click the button for all details
Two Weeks
- Ages 8 - 16
- ----------
- Session III:
- June 23 – July 6
- ----------
- Session IV:
- July 7 – July 20
- ----------
- Session V:
- July 21 – Aug 3
One Week
- Ages 8 - 16
- ----------
- Session I:
- June 9 - June 15
- ----------
- Session II:
- June 16 - June 22
- ----------
- Session VI:
- Aug 4 – Aug 10
Mini-Camp
- Ages 7 - 8
- June 6 - 8
CIRCLE (Part I)
- Ages 16 - 18
- Late October - May
- Challenged to continue through part II
CIRCLE (Part II)
- Ages 16-18
- June 16 - July 7
Note, transportation from the Bay area is available for campers from that vicinity (campers come from all over!). That chartered bus service is $60 each way. Of course, any family is welcome to drive their child(ren) to camp, and tour the grounds as well. 🙂
Personally, perhaps from my days of research, I would be interested in where the money from my camper goes. It is both interesting and important to note that Camp Augusta is supported by camper fees and generous donations from individuals. We do NOT receive any support from any government or agency; Camp Augusta is an entirely self-supporting, independent non-profit camp.
| Staff Salary | 35% | All counselors, village leaders, equestrian staff, masters of fun and games, program directors, assistant directors, office staff, bookkeeper, kitchen staff, recruiters, CIRCLE staff, arts director, and director. There are three, year-round staff included. |
| Workers Compensation | 9% | Covers staff if they are injured. |
| Payroll Taxes | 3% | Uncle Sam |
| International fees | 2% | International staff have all kinds of fees from SEVIS to agencies to travel and more. |
| Program | 11% | Everything related to running all programs, except for new programs, which are entirely funded via donations. |
| Site | 8% | Some new mattresses and tents, clearing out the grease and kitchen lines, volunteer work weekend tasks (small improvements), cleaning the site up after a fall and winter laying dormant, road repairs, wood chips for various areas, pumping septic tanks, and scores of other things. New facilities are via donations. |
| Food | 9% | Yummy! Whole foods made from scratch with love |
| Insurance | 5% | Autos, business interruption, facilities, background checks, health, liability, and directors and officers |
| Utilities | 4% | Phone, internet, web server, propane, trash, and electricity. |
| Staff recruiting | 1% | We need about 500 applications to find the 20 or so new staff annually. This is for advertising. |
| Training | 2% | Lifeguards, CPR, 1st aide, Wilderness First Responders, Camp Horsemanship Association training, ropes course trainings, and other professional development. Also includes staff banquet. |
| Transportation | 3% | We rent numerous vans, gas for those, bus company, and an occasional vehicle for trips when we don’t have vans. |
| Taxes | 1% | Some voter-passed measures we do have to pay, even as a nonprofit. |
| Other | 6% | Includes medical supplies, coverage for minor injuries and illness, store, office, shirts, finance charges, etc. |
.
Except for counselors, who make about the industry average of roughly $2.50 an hour, the year-round staff make about half (sometimes less) of positions in their normal professional fields. Within camping, it is about 20% less than average. Why?
The value of camp is the exceptional 2:1 camper-to-staff overall ratio (not including kitchen or other non-camper direct position!), the wide and unique diversity of activities, the unequaled training staff receive, and the wonderful environment in which Camp Augusta is located. Those four things provide for meaningful relationships, opportunities, and experiences that remain an exceptional value in camping. Please see the “Camp Augusta Difference” page. Again, without the generosity of individuals that support the vision and mission of Camp Augusta, we would not be able to have the facilities and programs that we do — those are not funded via tuition.
There you go! Now you know more about how Camp Augusta spends the money we take in. We frugally examine the budget every year, so that we can offer campers and families the best camping experience Camp Augusta can afford. The Camp Augusta website is entirely created in house, for free. Questions? Please ask the director! 🙂
Full refunds are available presuming we are able to fill the space (i.e. camp session is full and someone from the waiting list takes your forfeited spot). This has been possible for 9 years in a row, however, there can be no guarantee a forfeited spot will be replaced. The closer it gets to the summer or session, the less likely it is, because people make other plans.
- Spots are transferable to someone of the same gender, coming the same session (parents may give/sell spot unless we can fill it) as long as it is 2 weeks prior to the start of the session.
- Campers who leave due to physical illness or injury are refunded 50% of the remaining days.
- No refund is made for early withdrawal, late arrival, or dismissal due to poor camper behavior. No refunds are made for psychological or behavioral problems of a camper.
- Horsemanship and all other activities (no hidden charges)
- Staff-designed custom T-shirt for the given year
- Overnight backpacking trip, rock climbing trip, Yuba trips, and other day excursions
- 24 hour supervision by staff (1:2 overall ratio) who have been exceptionally well screened and trained . . . the most extensive training in the US we know about.
- Three great meals a day & snack prepared by a professional food-service staff
- Natural playground with waterfalls, forest, a lake, and the Yuba River recreational area
- Check out the “Camp Augusta Difference” page
- Our programs’ diversity and breadth are unequaled in California camps, and includes numerous programs unavailable anywhere else
- Comparable camps charge significantly more, often several hundred – ask for the comparison charts and graphs. ($450 for two-week sessions, on average: range = $1000 more to on par, with nearly every other camp charging more, and offering less).
- Many things included in our tuition are extra at other places – often adding $100 — $300 to the stated tuition. This fact is not included in the above calculus.
- As a non-profit, we don’t pay taxes, we receive donations, staff work for less, thousands of hours of labor are donated, and we receive grants. These allow us to offer a high-quality program at a non-profit rate. Indeed, were we a for-profit camp, we would be $1900 for a one-week session and $3600 for a two-week session.
- Nearly all of our new programs are funded from camp-family donations — ask about a program or facility you may wish to sponsor!
Camp Augusta is a nonprofit organization