Pick Your Own Price: Tiered Pricing for Summer Camp Explained

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Tiered pricing has been growing in popularity for all types of summer camps. Pioneered by YMCA camps, the flexible fee approach has spread to religious camps, recreation department camps and scout camps.

This has been developing for several years, as evidenced by this 2009 NYTime.com blog post, Pick Your Own Price for Summer Camp.

Options for every family

Pecometh has decided to offer a pick your own price system for our 2013 summer camp programs. We’re not leading the pack on this, but feel that it will be a positive thing for our camper families. The basic idea behind tiered pricing is it gives families the freedom to choose a camp fee that fits their financial situation.

The summer camp experience is the same for every camper, regardless of which price tier is chosen.

Most camps use a three-tier system and, while explanations vary, the tiers recognize that some families are able to pay the full cost of camp, while others have the freedom to choose a subsidized cost without having to fill out any forms. 

The typical explanation goes something like:

Tier 1 (highest price) the full cost of camp
Tier 2 (middle price) partially subsidized fee
Tier 3 (lowest price) fully subsidized fee

Some camps call this an honor system that recognizes that the cost of camp has traditionally been subsidized by an agency or parent institution.

The majority of camps, including Pecometh, are now receiving significantly less in the form of subsidies. Rather than raise prices on all families, tiered pricing essentially asks families with greater financial means to subsidize those who can’t pay the full cost of camp.

In almost all cases, camps offer additional scholarships for campers who need greater financial assistance.  At Pecometh, we’ll do whatever it takes to get a child to camp, regardless of finances.

You might think that eveyone will choose the lowest tier, but the experience of most camps I spoke with is that they get a surprising number of families who choose the middle or high tier.

What works for Panera Bread…

There’s a real world example of this that’s being demonstrated by the restaurant chain Panera Bread. Their version of Pick Your Own Price is called Pay What You Can.

The non-profit Panera Bread Foundation recently opened its fourth Panera Cares ® Cafe in Chicago, IL, adding to locations in St. Louis, MO, Dearborn, MI and Portland. OR (Update: Panera has added a fifth location in Boston, MA).

The Panera Cares Cafes don’t list any prices and they don’t have cash registers. 

Instead, they have suggested donation levels and donation bins. The menu is consistent with for-profit Panera Bread Cafes.

The big difference is that each person picks what they can pay. Panera calls this a shared responsibility model. Those who can afford to pay more are helping those who can’t pay much, if anything at all. The business model is clearly working, since they continue to open new cafes.

….could make a big difference for Campers!

In the same way, tiered pricing is working for summer camps. It’s helping them to respond to changing economic conditions while giving famililes the chance to pick the option that works for them.

Of all the camps that Ive heard from or heard about, the overwhelming sentiment is that their camp families appreciate having the choice.

One camp even switched their pricing from fixed pricing to tiered pricing in the middle of the camp registration season and didn’t receive any complaints.

This is a business model that’s clearly working for camps and their families.

To read more about our programs, as well as our dates and rates, download our brochure:

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