Expanding Happy Hollow’s Impact on Central Indiana Youth
Strategic Planning for Mapt Solution’s Inaugural Transformation Challenge Winner
Happy Hollow Children’s Camp is an overnight camp located on an 850-acre campus in Brown County, Indiana. Happy Hollow primarily serves children from economically disadvantaged households, who have chronic asthma, or who attend outdoor educational programs at Happy Hollow through participation in field trips by schools or other organizations. Since Happy Hollow’s founding in 1951, more than 40,000 youth have attended a weeklong camp.
“Partnering with an outside organization helped us to get out of our own way and opened the door to new possibilities. We needed to know our limits and to put guardrails on what was important to us and could not change. Working with Mapt helped us to dream big and realize our potential.”
- Sara Noyed, Happy Hollow Executive Director
Happy Hollow’s Challenge
Like many, Happy Hollow faced post-pandemic challenges and recognized a need to step back and reimagine its operations and services to build sustainability and fortify its future success. These challenges and opportunities led Happy Hollow to the inaugural Mapt Solutions Transformation Challenge.
Phase 1 – Discovery & Landscape Review
Mapt engaged Happy Hollow’s stakeholders — including staff, board members, current and past campers and parents — to gather insight and feedback from the entire camp community and tapped into the knowledge of camps and organizations with similar missions to identify best practices across the summer camp landscape.
“Mapt became family through the process. They spent a lot of time with board, staff and key stakeholders individually, and though they weren’t afraid to push us, I always knew they had Happy Hollow’s best interests in mind.”
- Sara Noyed, Happy Hollow Executive Director
Learn more about the value of external perspective — and hear from Happy Hollow — in the blog post below.
After the discovery phase, Mapt incorporated its findings and the decisions from Happy Hollow’s leadership and board into a five-year strategic plan that will help Happy Hollow achieve the growth and impact it desires.
Phase 2 – Strategic Planning
“The strategic plan helped shed light on how to bring life back to camp.”
- Sara Noyed, Happy Hollow Executive Director
Hear what Happy Hollow Executive Director Sara Noyed and Board Member Bryan Swank had to say about the process.
Phase 3 – Implementation Support
Finally, Mapt put together a first-year implementation plan and delivered Happy Hollow a $25,000 check to support the organization in putting its strategic plan into action.
“Mapt has not only handed us a roadmap, but they participated in the journey. The Transformation Challenge opened the door to a much bigger opportunity than we would have discovered on our own.”
- Bryan Swank, Happy Hollow Board Member
Learn more about Mapt’s implementation plans in the blog post below.
Encouraging Success in Year One
In 2024, the Happy Hollow team began to implement the newly developed strategic plan. With Mapt’s support, the team focused on ensuring sustainable funding sources, leveraging the 850-acre campus to help its growth and evolution, developing year-round camp opportunities and revisiting procedures to reflect the youth served. Key improvements included:
Staff Growth: Successfully hiring key team members and growing their team.
Year-Round Programs: Expanding opportunities through the Camp 365 program for outdoor education, teambuilding, and family events.
Enhanced Collaboration: Improving communication and morale across staff and board members.