School camp fund
Close the gap between what a curriculum camp costs and what families can give: a voluntary camp donation, targeted fundraisers, grants and a quiet hardship pool so no child misses out.
Typically raises
$5,000
$1,500–15,000 per campaignest.
About $167 per organiser hour
Based on one year group camp
Is it right for us?
- Money
- $2,000–10,000
- Work
- Weeks, part-time
- Helpers
- 3–6 people
- Lead time
- 4+ months
- Red tape
- None
Common: camp fundraising is routine at most schools
- People
- 3-8: camp teacher, PTA treasurer, fundraiser leads (estimate)
- Organiser time
- 20-40 hours across fundraisers and grant applications (estimate)
- Lead time
- 2-3 terms: book the camp a year out and start fundraising two terms before (estimate)
- Up-front cost
- Nothing up front. Depends on the fundraisers chosen; the fund itself costs nothing (estimate).
- Risk
- Low for the fund; deposits paid to the camp provider are the main exposure.
How it works
The money, as an example sum
Sell at $115 a camp donation, keep $115, so 44 camp donations = $5,060. That’s about the typical result.
Using the figures on this page. Your prices and costs will differ.
Where the money figure comes from
No NZ benchmark of camp-fund totals found; figures are estimates. Cost context: a basic 2-3 night beach camp is about $300 a child (Reddit r/newzealand, anecdotal); a two-night camp for a year group costs about $4,000 even with donated help (RNZ); a subsidised 3-day package from The Kind Foundation is $320 a camper, down from $750 (RNZ).
Last checked October 2026. Ran this? Tell us what you raised and we’ll use real results to improve the figures.
Step by step
- Cost the camp per child: transport, accommodation, food, activities, relievers.
- Decide the voluntary donation to ask, and say clearly it is optional and no child will miss out.
- Set a fundraising target for the gap between total cost and expected donations.
- Pick 2-3 fundraisers the camp cohort can run (a spellathon, a pre-order product, a stall at the gala).
- Apply to community trusts or gaming trusts for transport or activity costs well before the camp.
- Hold a confidential hardship pool managed by the principal or office; point families to Variety's Kiwi Kid Sponsorship.
- Offer payment plans through the school portal.
- Bank all money in school accounts; credit fundraising to the cohort, not to individual children (estimate).
- After camp, report income and costs to families and roll any surplus to the next cohort.
Getting the word out
Even a well-run plan fails if nobody hears about it. There are two asks, and the first one goes out first.
- Ask for help
- Members to pass the ask on to people they know.
- Ask people to buy
- People and businesses to give.
- When to start
- Ask for helpers first, as soon as the date is set. Start the public ask about 6–8 weeks out, and book newsletter and paper notices before that: small newsletters close early.
Where to put it
- Asking people yourselfMost yeses come from someone asking directly. Give every member a short message they can send to family and workmates.
- Email lists and group chatsYour members’ email list and the class, team or church group chats. Short, with one date or one link.
- School, club and church newslettersYour own newsletter is free and read by the families most likely to say yes. Check when it closes.
- Local Facebook pages and community groupsPost in your town’s community page and local groups (check their rules), and share from your group’s own page.
The full guide to getting the word out: every channel from flyers to the evening news, with lead times and costs.
What you’ll need
- Place
- Not neededNone needed
- Landowner’s permission
- Not needed
- Council permit
- Not needed
- Food rules
- Not neededNo food sold
- Alcohol
- Not neededNo alcohol sold
- Gambling rules
- Not neededNot gambling
A curriculum overnight camp can only be a voluntary donation and no child can be excluded for not paying, including in donations-scheme schools. Optional extra-curricular trips can be charged.
Make more from it
Community or gaming trust grant for transport
often $1,000-5,000 (estimate)
trusts fund youth outdoor education
Point families to Variety Kiwi Kid Sponsorship
covers individual camp costs for eligible children (Variety)
keeps hardship support confidential and off the school budget
Stack it: on its own, about $5,000. With the add-on above, roughly
$8,000est.
What you can get donated
Variety's Kiwi Kid Sponsorship can help families with school camp costs (Variety). Local Lions, Rotary and community trusts sometimes fund camps (estimate). KidsCan supplies food, jackets, shoes and health products, not camp fees (KidsCan).
Tips
- Subsidised camps exist: The Kind Foundation offers reduced packages for low-decile schools (RNZ).
- Ask the camp provider about free places for parent helpers; Piha Campgrounds does not charge teachers or helpers (RNZ).
- Southbridge School asked $115 for a Year 5 camp in 2026 by keeping it local (Southbridge School, via Hail).
Watch out for
- Calling a curriculum camp 'fee' or 'compulsory' breaks MoE rules and erodes trust.
- Crediting fundraising to individual children turns a voluntary donation into a de facto fee (estimate).
- Leaving grant applications too late; trusts often decide months out.
School camp fund: checklist
0 of 10 done
Before
While it runs
After
A curriculum overnight camp can only be a voluntary donation and no child can be excluded for not paying, including in donations-scheme schools. Optional extra-curricular trips can be charged.
* General fundraising information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Money figures are examples and estimates, not promises. Check current official requirements before you commit. About this guide