Where the Money Goes
With Summer Dreams' sole purpose being to send children to summer camp, our decision making process in deciding where to direct our funds is very important. Because of this, Summer Dreams has developed criteria and a selection process to help determine where our annual donations are made.

First, Summer Dreams must decide how much money it is going to provide to various camps and/or campers. By December 31st of each year, the Board of Directors decides how much total money will be granted during that year. By law, the charity is required to grant at least eighty percent of all the receipted donations it receives in the previous year. It is largely on that basis that the total annual grant is determined although in each year of our existence, we have exceeded the eighty percent requirement.

Next, the charity must review all requests for money. To that end Summer Dreams has a Selection Committee that receives and reviews all written applications that are received by January 31 of each year. All applicants for funds from Summer Dreams must demonstrate a financial need that is impeding a camper's ability to attend camp. Further, a camp requesting funds must demonstrate that the funds obtained from Summer Dreams will be used primarily so that more children can attend camp.

Summer Dreams is required by law to only consider funding a summer camp directly if that camp is registered charitable organization with Revenue Canada. As well, the charity will only consider sending funds to a camp if the camp is accredited by the Ontario Camps Association (OCA), or at least associated with an accredited camp. This assures Summer Dreams that the camp being funded adheres to certain standards. As well, children being sent to camp with the assistance of Summer Dreams are required to attend summer camps accredited by the Ontario Camps Association (OCA).

It must be noted that Summer Dreams does not pick a camp for a child. That decision can best be made by the parent or guardian and thus we leave that decision to the people closest to the child.

After the Selection Committee selects the camps and individuals to fund, it recommends the selections to the Board for approval. Based on those recommendations, the Board formally selects the camp and individual recipients, in or around April 15th of each year.

With more worthy requests for funds than actual funds, the selection process is both difficult and important. Depending on the requests and the funds available, different criteria are emphasized to greater or lesser degrees. That being said, with the foundation of a fair process and a principled but flexible criteria, Summer Dream's goal of sending as many children to quality camps as possible is never overlooked and always prevails.