Another tipping camp counselors thread - do you?

[magnoliaparadise]

Hi,

Two years ago, I researched this question on BBB and found a couple of very old threads (2008, 9, 10). I was hoping to ask for more recent views on this.

My DC (5) goes to a great day camp - by bus out of NYC for a very full day. She is only in the first session which ends soon (and was called '4 weeks' but with the holidays and start dates was really only 3 weeks and 2 days). So she is done on Friday and not going back. My DC has not missed a day and is very happy.

The head of the camp sent a mass email saying that although tipping wasn't required, here was suggested tips for each child if one chose to tip: the email outlined four counselors per each child and gave separate ranges per counselor per 4-week session from $50 to $20 for a total of $130. Plus about three to five other counselors in the e-mail that were noted 'discretionary' which were not included in the $130.

I never got tips when I was a camp counselor back in my home state so this is new to me! I think the camp is great and in many ways, I appreciate the counselors - I'm sure that the counselors worked hard! But the camp was already expensive for me and the 'tipping culture' is just everywhere lately and I find myself thinking about the camp and saying to myself, 'for that money, I wish the camp would pay the counselors well!'. (I don't know how much they make). I also barely got to know the counselors because I drop my DC off at the bus every day so I don't have a sense of them at all (I realize that that isn't the counselors' fault obviously).

I can see myself giving a little bit to each counselor - but when multiplied by the four counselors, the amount gets big and the 'little bit' (like $15 each) just seems so low (especially for the more senior counselors) that it almost feels to cheap to even do it at all. I don't know... please let me know what you think and what you've done - tipped or not, and if you have tipped, by how much.

TIA.

[fivi2]

Never even considered tipping a camp counselor at a day camp. I refuse to even let that cross my mind.

[Mikey0709]

Wow - my thoughts were that's more than I give the FULL year school teachers as a gift??? I'm all for $5 Starbucks cards and treating them to a beveridge..... i must be REALLY cheap!

[ilfaith]

I remember tipping the counselors at the end of summer back when I was a kid. But back then, I went to one camp for an entire summer (6-8 weeks). In our area now, most kids go to several different camps for a week or two at a time over the course of the summer. So between the kids and counselors not really developing a relationship over that short period of time, and the fact that with several camps there would be a lot of people to tip, we don't bother tipping.

Just wanted to add that the camps of my childhood were in NY and NJ...now we are in FL...so as some have said, the difference could be regional.

[Corie]

Never even considered tipping a camp counselor at a day camp. I refuse to even let that cross my mind.

I agree!! Never even crossed my mind to tip the camp counselors!

[Nechums]

I'm on Long Island and tipping is expected. It was the same way growing up in NJ. I hate it, but that's just the way it is. I factor it into the pricing of summer camp. By us, counselors don't get paid that much and heavily rely on tips. Sort of like waiters.

[hellokitty]

No, I have sent my kids to summer camps, sleep over and day camps and have never tipped. It never occured for me to tip. The sleep over camp my kids go to, the counselors are 100% volunteer and don't even get paid, they go, b/c they love it and like seeing their friends each summer.

[Philly Mom]

So I think this is very geographic specific and specific based on the "type" of camp for lack of better word. I may be wrong, but by your description, I can guess approx. how much you are paying for the summer and what camps could be comparable in your region. (I worked for a sleep away camp in Maine for many years and tuition was based on the NYC area day camps). At those camps, found in the NY/NJ suburbs as well as a few in the Philly/Boston areas, tips for counselors are expected though I nothing bad would happen if you did not give anything. I have no idea what is the correct amount, though if you want I can ask some friends who have kids those ages. I know my brother decided somewhere around $20/25 per counselor last year (he lives in Brooklyn) but he was upset because there were 4 counselors and he was not even sure who one of them was. He also gave the tip at the end of the summer, not earlier. Is your DC going back for the second session? I would want to know if there are different counselors for the second session if she is, because you should not have to tip twice. I assume the tipping request now is just for those kids only attending one session. FWIW, at the camp where I worked, we did not allow tips and were explicit about it. We warned parents from trying to give tips and counselors from accepting them. We had reprecussions if it was discovered, but we needed to be explicit because so many of the parents were used to giving tips at the day camps.

[erosenst]

At DD's overnight camp, they are specifically not allowed.

[wellyes]

That email was inappropriate. I can see the author's heart being in the right place- maybe he gets asked a lot - but that is not info for an email. Not from a school principal, daycare director or camp director.

[crl]

Never even considered tipping a camp counselor at a day camp. I refuse to even let that cross my mind.


Yeah that!
Catherine

[mom_hanna]

Nope, not for day camp or sleep away camp.

[essnce629]

Uh, the thought would never even cross my mind to tip a camp counselor and this is DS1's 5th year at camp!

[cuca_]

I think this is regional. We used to live in Westchester County and the camp my DD went to always sent home the names of the counselors for tip purposes. I had friends whose kids went to different camps and they got the same type of communication at the end of the summer. Tips for counselors are the norm in that area. We are now in another part of the country and we have not gotten any tip information from summer camps. I even asked a friend our first summer here and she said that it is generally not done, unless you want to give a very small gift card to a very special counselor.

[dcmom2b3]

I'll send a note of appreciation with a Starbucks or Visa gift card ($20-25) to her counselors. I also give the bus driver a thank you note with a cash gift of $30-50. Funny, though, I hadn't thought of them as tips. I have no idea what other parents do.

[KpbS]

I've never, ever heard of this. I went to a month long sleep away camp growing up and it would have been bizarre to tip the counselors. I imagine they would have refused. But, I guess it could be regional and different in a day camp vs. sleep away camp setting.

[sidmand]

Okay, I'll bite. I was a camp counselor at a day camp in NJ. I ALWAYS received tips (I didn't know that at first!) and the tips I got we're usually more than I made all summer! I think I only made about $800 but the tips added up to over $1000. Keep in mind this was about 25 years ago (eek) and kids went for either 4 or 8 weeks.

[petesgirl]

Well I have no camp experience but I am old fashioned in that I still think tips should be earned. So I would say if there is a special person that really seems to have left a good mark on DC and kind of went above and beyond average, give that person a tip and a thank you note.

[YouAreTheFocus]

Wow, this is all news to me! I went to overnight camps all over the northeast when I was younger, and then taught at several while in college. My parents never tipped my counselors, and I never received any tips.

[Nechums]

Just want to add, that we get a letter sent home from camp also. I agree it's tacky, but all the camps here do it. When I tip, I give the exact suggested amount sent in the camp letter. I'll give more if I feel the counselor went over and beyond in any capacity.

[pinkmomagain]

It definitely seems to be regional as in the NY/NJ area it is the norm. Of the two camps I send my kids to, one doesn't say anything about tipping (ie. doesn't give any guidance to parents about it either way), and the other insists on no tipping (very expensive without traditional counselors). The first my oldest is working as a CIT this year -- she gets paid nothing ($0), is working her butt off, and the kids love her. So I am hoping that she does get some tips!

[missym]

I worked at summer camps in the Midwest and Colorado, and we were not allowed to accept tips, though there were exceptions for gifts that were home-baked. ;) We loved it when parents would bring chocolate chip cookies for the staff.

I think you have to go with the generally accepted culture, though I would have found that letter off-putting.

[123LuckyMom]

I think this is regional. We used to live in Westchester County and the camp my DD went to always sent home the names of the counselors for tip purposes. I had friends whose kids went to different camps and they got the same type of communication at the end of the summer. Tips for counselors are the norm in that area. We are now in another part of the country and we have not gotten any tip information from summer camps. I even asked a friend our first summer here and she said that it is generally not done, unless you want to give a very small gift card to a very special counselor.

See, this was me growing up. I went to two month sleep away camps every summer that cost about the same as college tuition :0! The camps were in Maine, mostly. I don't remember my parents ever tipping. I'm going to ask my mother, but it never would have crossed my mind that that would be expected. I went to a very fancy day camp, too, in Westchester, on the same campus as my nursery school. I was too little to notice, so there may have been tipping there. I would have been very surprised by that email!

[rachelh]

Wow! I did not have a chance to read most the of the responses but the few that I read all seemed to be shocked that tips are expected. I worked at a day camp for a number of years and always got tips - everyone did and it was expected. I don't remember how much I actually was paid from the camp but it was a joke and everyone expected to make extra in tips.

Also, every day camp DD has been to sent home a suggested tip schedule. I never even thought of not giving.

[Philly Mom]

See, this was me growing up. I went to two month sleep away camps every summer that cost about the same as college tuition :0! The camps were in Maine, mostly. I don't remember my parents ever tipping. I'm going to ask my mother, but it never would have crossed my mind that that would be expected. I went to a very fancy day camp, too, in Westchester, on the same campus as my nursery school. I was too little to notice, so there may have been tipping there. I would have been very surprised by that email!

Day camps in the NYC region normally encourage tipping, whereas, Maine sleep away camps forbid tipping.

[mytwosons]

My first response was it had never occurred to me to tip a camp counselor. I used to go to a week long sleep away camp, which was quite expensive, and my parents never tipped. My kids have only done day camps and we have never tipped. However, when younger, they did some camps at their preschool and I always got the teachers a little gift because they were so great and it felt more like a teacher gift than camp counselor.