Episode Details

Many camps struggle with visibility—not because their programs lack value, but because the right families, churches, and retreat planners never discover them.

Mark opens the episode with a practical camp marketing tip on following up with retreat inquiries that have gone silent, sharing a simple email subject line that can restart conversations and recover lost bookings. Then Carl shares how an unexpected project at Refreshing Mountain Camp introduced him to Google Ads and ultimately launched a career helping camps grow through digital marketing.

The conversation then turns to one of the biggest opportunities available to nonprofit camps: the Google Ad Grant. Carl explains how eligible 501(c)(3) organizations can receive up to $10,000 per month in free Google advertising, walks through the application process, campaign setup, keyword strategy, and the common mistakes that prevent camps from seeing results. He also shares real examples of camps using the grant to generate more registrations, retreat inquiries, and community engagement, along with his perspective on how AI is changing search and what camp leaders should be doing to stay visible online.

Keywords

Google Ads Grant, nonprofit marketing, camp marketing, retreat center marketing, Google advertising, camp enrollment, nonprofit advertising, digital marketing, summer camps, retreat bookings

Sound Bites

"About fifty percent of the camps I talk to have no idea the grant program exists."

"One of the biggest mistakes camps make is they apply for the grant and then they never do anything else with it."

"The reality is organic listings just continue to get pushed further and further down."

"You could start showing up at the top of Google and not have to pay for the ads."

Hosts

Mark P. Fisher, Inspiring Growth

Carl Lefever, Improve & Grow

Resources

How to Apply for a Google Ads Grant
https://growyourcamppodcast.com/blog/how-to-apply-for-google-ad-grant/

Google for Nonprofits Program Website
https://www.google.com/nonprofits/

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Music licensed through Soundstripe.

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