If you have reached this post it is because you are possibly thinking of organizing your own summer campus. Organizing a campus can seem like a complicated task. New technologies are of great help and we must rely on them. Currently there are a multitude of free tools that can facilitate the organization of your campus.
Here we show you the best apps for creating and organizing a campus:
1. CMS to publish your campus – WordPress
If you don’t have a website, you can make a very simple one in WordPress, as a landing page with campus information, contact information, links to social networks and the registration link.
If you already have a page made in WordPress, you can add a section called “Campus”, and publish all the information so that your athletes are up to date. Keep in mind that if you work well the SEO of your website you will have more chances of having visits from people who do not know about your club.
Creating a wordpress is free, however, it will have a server cost, it depends on where you host your website. In the same way, you will also have to pay for a web domain (if you don’t have it yet). Some WordPress templates are also costly, but in many cases, they will save you a lot of work.
2. Web-app to manage registrations and payments – Clubtis
Streamline the registration and payment process for participants by creating a registration and payment form in Clubtis. Publish all your activities for free and get hundreds of athletes who surf the internet to find your campus.
Also, if your usual way of registering is not the most optimal (paper registration, by email, Google Forms + transfer …), Clubtis is a super easy to use solution that will streamline the processes for club, and for athletes.
3. Web to design the poster and images – Canva
You can design the poster and all the visual content that you want to publish about your campus. Both for social networks and for your website. This tool is very simple and you don’t have to have design notions to use it.
You can find templates that will be very useful to you. You also have the option to share any design you make with the rest of your team. Professional design, with hardly any knowledge. It’s wonderful!
4. Web-app to organize daily activities – Google Calendar
For you as well as for the organization team and monitors, it is essential to use a shared calendar. If Google stands out for something, it is for its variety of free tools, very advanced and with a multitude of options.
If you want to go further, you can also make a public calendar for all participants. With this application you will have everything organized in a clear and simple way.
In addition, if changes arise, you can modify the calendar so that all guests receive an alert. You can also use it as a confirmation of attendees, asking athletes to mark which days they will attend.
5. Web-app to organize tasks – Trello
List all the tasks that you and your team have to do and add them to a Trello board. Use the Kanban methodology of to-dos, running and finished, and organize all the work. It is possible to link it to the calendar, to be able to schedule tasks.
It may sound like “bullshit”, but when you have multiple tasks to do, it’s the best way to target them all and prioritize them. You will also be able to control the execution of pending tasks for the rest of the team.
6. Communication – Email
We don’t tell you anything new, but email is essential on your campus. I know that you are probably used to communicating on WhatsApp, but the most operational way of making formal and automatic communications is by email.
Send informative emails when registration is done, a few days before and during campus. Take advantage of this channel for important notices and to receive feedback at the conclusion of the campus.
Of course you can combine it with WhatsApp for example, but the email must be your main channel, and the “official” one.
7. Diffusion
For dissemination, you can count on a website and posters. But those who take the cake are social networks. You have to be very clear about who you are addressing. If your target is parents or children. And based on that, adapt the publications in each of the networks.
The most interesting are Instagram and Facebook, due to the volume of users, and the possibility of placing ads (although these are paid) on Instagram Ads and Facebook Ads.
8. App to know the weather – Accuweather
During campus, it is very important to know the weather forecasts. Maybe you hadn’t even considered it. But if your activity is outdoors, and it’s going to rain for the next two days, it would be interesting to know, right?
Accuweather is one of the most accurate tools. We highly recommend that you use this one.
9. Attendance confirmation app – Esportter
Esportter is a web-app to manage your sports club. It will allow you to have a calendar of activities, organize your members and teams, manage payments … All this is great for the day-to-day life of your club.
But for your campus, perhaps, what interests you the most is the attendance confirmation functionality. You can add your athletes, and have your monitors go through the list in a matter of seconds, and then have a history.
You will know who has come, who has not, who was late and who has justified the absence. You can also write comments about attendance.
10. Web-app to store documentation and photos – Google Drive
Finally, it is essential that you store all the documentation somewhere. Although it is true that with tools such as Clubtis or Esportter you can request documentation, you may want to save the documentation that they have sent you, and your own (photos, contracts …) in a safe place.
For this, we recommend Google Drive, with a free tier more than enough to store and share everything you think is appropriate
Here we have left you the essential tools to start with your campus, you only need time and dedication for it to become the best summer experience. If you have a particular need, ask us, as we can advise you which is the best app for it. In the meantime, we leave you with our eBook on How to organize a summer campus. Surely it comes from pearls. Let’s get to work!