By the program director’s own account, the team raised money backwards. It secured agency commitments, the National Guard exercise and the Department of Forestry exercise first, then went looking for cash. “And then we said, you can’t stop us now. We need an agency to give us 250,000 cash,” Taylor told the site host in a July debrief. “And so they did. And so we did all this for under 300,000 cash.”
Oregon Housing and Community Services became the lead sponsor for educator and student participation. Support from the Portland General Electric Foundation and the Department of Forestry funded student scholarships so the camp could be free. The PGE Foundation contributed a $10,000 chair’s grant outside its normal cycle, routed through the education sponsor as an eligible host organization.
The sponsorship ask to industry used three tiers:
Tier | What it funds |
$75,000 | Makes the camp free for students |
$100,000 | 20 build-out kits for regional disaster preparedness, placed where the sponsor chooses |
$150,000 | All educator, counselor and camp management stipends |
The camp offered sponsors recruiting access at the camp and its career fair, logo placement on camp materials, and statewide exposure through partner networks.
What the cash paid for:
Educator and counselor stipends: $3,000 each for the week, plus light preparation and wrap-up
Student participation at no cost to familiesHow to fund a Ready2Respond camp
Build kits and materials
Food, supplies and PPE not provided in kind
Lessons for a new region:
Raise money in the summer and fall before your camp. The backwards order worked once, under pressure. It compressed everything else into the last month.
Name a fiscal sponsor with a responsive liaison. Leadership listed this first among the three things to fix. Funds should flow through an education entity or nonprofit that can receive grants and pay stipends, with someone who can make decisions quickly.
Decide before camp who can spend money during camp. In 2026 there was no agreed week-of budget or purchasing authority, and a coordinator ended up buying supplies on a personal card.
Learn your funders’ calendars. The PGE Foundation’s competitive grants open in November and close in January, and the foundation expects a report before the end of December to stay eligible. Its reporting asks for demographics reached, impact, how the camp used the funds and lessons learned.
Budget for transportation. Camp was free, but families and schools had to get students to the site. It was the last unfunded line in 2026 and a barrier for students from distant regions.
The team intends to start the next phase in the right order. Taylor said Oregon’s Workforce and Talent Development Board was discussing a fundraising effort of $1.5 million to $2 million to seed camps in all five regions, raised before planning begins.