A Financial Look at Camp

The Caz Northwest Board recently closed the books on last summer, so it’s a good time to answer a question we hear frequently: did we break even? In other words, are we collecting enough money to keep the camp going financially?

It’s probably easiest to answer that question in per-person terms.

This table shows Caz Northwest’s approximate expenses, as of the fall of 2024. We collect $1080 and incur costs of $1200 for each paying camper.

Any resemblance to a USDA nutrition label is unintentional :-)

To fund the difference between our revenue and expenses, the board thanks generous donors within our community. We are preparing to share more about that topic soon and make it easy for you join that group (but if you simply can’t wait, we welcome donations here anytime).

The table above is a simplification, of course. Not all campers pay the same amount, and the board makes annual adjustments to balance between community members who pay differing fees. For example, we keep the price lower for campers who are younger than age 24. Full-time staff members do not pay to work at camp, nor do we collect tuition fees for one dependent per staff member, because we think it’s critical to our culture that professional artist/educators can bring loved-ones to camp. In 2024, our community consisted of 105 people, of which 77 were paying campers. Total fee revenues* from campers were $82,355, and total expenditures were $83,239.

If you’d like a more standard accounting view of Caz Northwest finances, or if you’d like to discuss financial and non-financial ways to help Caz achieve its mission, you can reach us at: jonathan “at” caznw.org or alissasobo “at” gmail.com

-Jonathan Shakes, Board Chair, and Alissa Sobo, Board Treasurer

*not including cash and in-kind donations