A camp match worked so well its funder is Doubling It.

On September 28, JCamp 180, a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in Agawam, Massachusetts, announced that the foundation's trustees had approved a new $50 million commitment to nonprofit Jewish overnight camps: $10 million a year in matching grants for five years, starting in 2027, for more than 100 camps. That doubles the annual amount of Forward Together, a five-year, $25 million match the foundation began in 2023. The larger grants replace what would have been its final year.

The design is not new, and that is the point. The foundation says the rules for 2027 will be generally the same as before. Here is how the match was built.

The goal

Forward Together was meant to help camps keep the donors they found during the pandemic, attract new ones, and pay for repairs. Costs are the pressure. JCamp 180 director Sarah Eisinger told eJewishPhilanthropy that two-thirds of affiliated camps operate within 3 percent of breaking even, as staffing, security, insurance, and food costs climb.

The setup

The foundation put up $5 million a year. Each camp received a base allocation from a formula built on camper weeks and beds, and had to raise $3 for every $1 of grant. eJewishPhilanthropy reported that allocations ranged from $4,000 for the smallest camp to $100,000 for the largest.

The play

1. Split the grant in half. At least half had to go to physical or capital improvements, and the rest was unrestricted. In the program's own example, a $50,000 grant matched by $150,000 produces $200,000, with $100,000 for each purpose.
2. Make the restricted half harder to match. The capital half could be matched only by unrestricted gifts or gifts restricted to improvements. The unrestricted half could be matched by any gift.
3. Put eligibility in writing. Cash, stocks, and bonds counted. In-kind gifts, art, real estate, government relief funds, and regular federation allocations did not, and anonymous gifts reported without full contact details were not matched.
4. Keep the clock to one year. Gifts had to arrive between January 1 and December 31, with a final report due February 1 and payment within 30 days of the report's approval.
5. Ask for the donor count. The final report asked for the number of donors, the total raised, and how the money was used, with photos of any capital project.
6. Pair money with coaching. JCamp 180 also provides consulting, training, and professional development to the camps it funds.

The result

The match was designed to draw $15 million a year from donors. Affiliated camps have reported raising more than $120 million a year, according to eJewishPhilanthropy, a total that includes gifts the match did not cause. The program reached about 10,000 funders, and 88 camps used it to start permanent endowments.

At Camp Ramah in California, the grant brought $83,500 a year, half for operations and half for maintenance. Executive director Rabbi Joe Menashe told eJewishPhilanthropy it paid for repairs such as siding, leaking floors, and air conditioners, and that no nonprofit Jewish camp balances its budget on tuition alone.

A small nonprofit does not need $10 million to borrow the structure. A board member or local business can offer a one-for-three match for GivingTuesday with the same three features: a split purpose, written rules, and a report that counts donors.