Question 1

How do we get started?

Accepted Answer

Tell us about your program through our contact form. We're onboarding a limited number of founding partners personally right now, so we'll reply the same business day and get you set up. From there, setup is self-serve: a live launch checklist walks you through every step, so you can be set up in a weekend and taking registrations within days.

Question 2

What is a founding partner?

Accepted Answer

One of the first programs on CampPulse 360. Founding partners get a direct line to the founders, a say in what we build next, and a lower per-registration rate than list price, locked in for as long as they're with us.

Question 3

Is there a limit on founding partners?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We're onboarding a limited number of programs personally this season, so every setup gets our full attention.

Question 4

Do we need a sales call or an implementation project?

Accepted Answer

No. There's no implementation project and no required setup call. If you'd like a walkthrough first, book a 30-minute demo: we'll learn how your program runs, show you the relevant workflows, and outline a clear next step. No hard sell.

Question 5

Can you help us migrate data from our old system?

Accepted Answer

Yes, as a separate, billable service. Tell us what you use today and we'll scope it with you. Setting up your camps and sessions is covered by AI Builder and the launch checklist.

Question 6

What kind of support do you provide?

Accepted Answer

Email support from our team on every plan, and we aim to reply the same business day. Every reply comes from a person, never a bot. Founding partners also get a direct line to the founders.

Question 7

Where are the help guides?

Accepted Answer

Inside the app. Customers get 39 step-by-step guides, guidance on every screen, and an AI help search, all available once they're signed in to CampPulse 360.

Question 8

Do you offer training?

Accepted Answer

In-product guidance and the in-app guides mean most teams learn as they go. Live, hands-on training sessions can be scheduled as a separate, billable service.

Question 9

How does pricing work?

Accepted Answer

Every plan includes every feature. You pay a monthly subscription (none on Scout), a per-registration fee, and a platform percentage, plus Stripe's processing fee, which goes to Stripe, not to us. Higher tiers cost more per month but less per registration. Current rates for your market are on our pricing page.

Question 10

What counts as a registration?

Accepted Answer

One participant enrolled in one session or program. If a family registers two children for two sessions each, that's four registrations.

Question 11

Is Scout free?

Accepted Answer

Scout has no monthly subscription fee, but it isn't free: you pay the per-registration fee and platform fee when families register and pay. Any size of program can start on Scout.

Question 12

Which plan is right for us?

Accepted Answer

It depends on your registration volume, because every plan has the same features. Scout costs least for smaller programs. As registrations grow, the lower fees on Ranger or Expedition outweigh their monthly cost. The cost calculator on our pricing page shows which tier is cheapest for you.

Question 13

Are there hidden fees or setup fees?

Accepted Answer

No. There are no required setup fees, no onboarding fees, and no feature gates. The only optional extra is AI Builder, which has a one-time fee shown before you're billed.

Question 14

Are there contracts? Can we switch plans?

Accepted Answer

No contracts and no cancellation fees. Upgrade or downgrade whenever you need; changes take effect at the start of your next billing cycle.

Question 15

How do payment processing fees work?

Accepted Answer

Payments run through your own Stripe account. Stripe charges its standard processing fee, which goes to Stripe, and CampPulse adds the platform percentage for your plan. In the U.S., families can also pay by ACH bank debit, which Stripe charges at 0.8%, capped at $5 per transaction.

Question 16

What kinds of programs is CampPulse built for?

Accepted Answer

Camps and seasonal programs, sports academies and leagues, dance and swim programs, after-school and tutoring programs, day care, faith-based and community camps, and retreats. If you run structured sessions with registration, eligibility rules, and payments, CampPulse fits.

Question 17

Can we use our own terms, like "team" or "student"?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Rename the core terms (camp, session, camper, cabin) once in Settings, and navigation, forms, emails, and reports all follow. A sports club's "cabins" become teams; a tutoring center's "campers" become students.

Question 18

Can families register multiple children at once?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Several children, sessions, and add-ons go in one cart and one checkout, with one household invoice at the end.

Question 19

How does CampPulse prevent overbooking?

Accepted Answer

Capacity is enforced before a spot can even go in a cart: by session, and by cabin, age, grade, and gender where you set it. Each spot in a cart is held for five minutes while the family checks out and released automatically if they walk away, so two families can never pay for the same last spot.

Question 20

Can we control when registration opens?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Schedule registration windows per session (fixed dates, or relative ones like "opens 60 days before"), and turn sessions and add-ons on or off for online registration instantly.

Question 21

Do you support add-ons?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Transportation, extended care, meal plans, trips, merchandise, and uniforms, tied to camps or sessions and billed on the same invoice. Add-ons can carry their own sizes and options, so a jersey can be ordered in S, M, or L.

Question 22

Can we run recurring classes or terms?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Sessions can recur daily, weekly, or monthly, so a weekly swim class or a term of tutoring is as natural as a one-week summer session.

Question 23

Do we get a public page for our programs?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if you want one. Your open sessions can live on a public catalog at your own subdomain that search engines can find, and every session has a link that drops families straight into registration. It's off by default.

Question 24

Can we set up next year's program?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Create new sessions with new dates whenever you're ready, with their own registration windows and balance due dates.

Question 25

What happens to past sessions?

Accepted Answer

Nothing to manage. Once a session's dates pass it's no longer open for registration, but it stays in your records for reporting and history.

Question 26

How does billing work?

Accepted Answer

CampPulse generates household-level invoices with line items grouped by child. Each invoice tracks its own status (Entered, Partially Paid, Fully Paid) and payment history, and a household finance view rolls up all-time charges, payments, refunds, and what's still outstanding.

Question 27

Can families pay a deposit now and the rest later?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Require a deposit at checkout and set a balance due date per camp or session. Families pay the balance from their portal, and the system tracks it, so nobody has to remember to chase it.

Question 28

Do payouts come straight to us?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Payments go through your own Stripe account, connected or created during setup, and pay out to you on your own Stripe schedule. CampPulse is never in the middle of your money, and card and bank details are never stored on our servers.

Question 29

Can families pay by cash or cheque?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Staff record cash, cheque, or bank transfer payments in the same ledger as online payments, so every balance stays accurate.

Question 30

How do cancellations and refunds work?

Accepted Answer

The system computes the settlement for you: cancellation fees come from your own fee catalogue, refunds go back to the original card or bank account, and a credit is applied when no money needs to move. Refunds show as initiated until the processor confirms them, so you never tell a parent the money is back before it is.

Question 31

Which currencies and taxes do you support?

Accepted Answer

CampPulse runs in your organization's currency, set once during setup, and accepts international cards through Stripe. Define your own tax rates (sales tax, VAT, GST, HST, PST, and more) by jurisdiction. Editing a rate never rewrites tax already charged on past registrations.

Question 32

Does CampPulse use AI to assign cabins or groups?

Accepted Answer

Yes. AI Placement matches parents' keep-together and keep-apart requests against your roster and proposes a full cabin or group placement for staff to review. Keep-apart is a hard rule the system never violates; keep-together is honored wherever it can be, and when it can't, you're told why. Nothing reaches the live roster until staff approve it.

Question 33

Can AI help set up my camps and sessions?

Accepted Answer

Yes. AI Builder reads your existing website, a brochure or PDF, or pasted text, and drafts your camps, sessions, and add-ons from it. Nothing is committed until you review and confirm, and imported sessions start with online registration off so you can finish configuring first.

Question 34

Can I ask CampPulse questions about my data?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Pulse IQ lets you ask a question in plain English, like which sessions are underfilled with three weeks to go, and get back a table or chart. Save any answer as a reusable report and pin it to a dashboard.

Question 35

Does AI cost extra?

Accepted Answer

AI Placement and Pulse IQ are included on every plan. AI Builder is an optional setup tool with a one-time fee, shown before you're billed; it never becomes a recurring charge.

Question 36

Is our data used to train AI models?

Accepted Answer

No. Children's information, medical information, and registration data aren't used to train third-party AI models. AI providers process data only to run the features you use, under contract, and can't use it for their own purposes.

Question 37

Does the AI make decisions on its own?

Accepted Answer

No. Every AI suggestion, whether it's a placement, a setup draft, or a report, is something you review and approve. The AI proposes; it never decides on your behalf.

Question 38

What can parents do in the portal?

Accepted Answer

Parents get a dashboard that names exactly what needs attention: any outstanding balance with a Pay Now button, which child's health and safety information is incomplete (and which fields are missing), and any unread messages. Household details, documents, and billing all live in one place too.

Question 39

Can parents pay their balance online?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Parents can pay their remaining balance from the portal at any time before it's due, including with the same card used for the deposit, and see their full invoice history.

Question 40

Can parents upload medical forms and documents themselves?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Families upload their own medical forms and waivers directly against the right child, so staff aren't chasing paperwork by email.

Question 41

Can families add camp dates to their own calendar?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each household gets a private calendar link that subscribes their sessions straight into Apple, Google, or Outlook Calendar, so dates stay current automatically.

Question 42

Is there a mobile app?

Accepted Answer

Not yet, and families don't need one: CampPulse works in any phone, tablet, or computer browser, with nothing to install. A native mobile app is on our roadmap.

Question 43

Is our data secure?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Authentication runs through Clerk, a dedicated identity provider, and every data path is scoped to your organization on the server, so organizations stay isolated from each other. Customer data, including backups and uploaded files, is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS. Payments run through Stripe, so card details never touch our servers.

Question 44

Who on our staff can see medical and background-check information?

Accepted Answer

Only the roles you authorize. Access is role-based, with granular permissions, so a seasonal counselor's login doesn't include background checks or the bank reconciliation.

Question 45

Where is our data hosted?

Accepted Answer

In the United States, in the US East region, with Render as our hosting provider. PulseCore, the company behind CampPulse 360, is based in Ontario, Canada. Customer data is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS wherever it's stored.

Question 46

Who owns the data?

Accepted Answer

You do. CampPulse never sells or repurposes your information.

Question 47

Can we export our data if we leave?

Accepted Answer

Yes. For a transition period after you cancel, typically 30 days, you can request an export of your data in a standard electronic format. A standard export is included; custom or repeated exports may carry a fee.

Question 48

Can CampPulse handle multiple locations?

Accepted Answer

Yes, within one time zone and one currency. You can run multiple camps, programs, and locations in one organization as long as they share a time zone and currency. Programs in different countries or regions each get their own CampPulse organization.

Question 49

Can we expand to new programs later?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Add new programs, sessions, and add-ons at any time without restructuring anything.

Question 50

Will we outgrow CampPulse?

Accepted Answer

Not in features: every plan has every feature, so growing means changing your plan, or not, rather than changing systems.

Question 51

Why was CampPulse created?

Accepted Answer

Our four founders saw camp registration from both sides: as parents signing up their own kids, and from inside the camp software industry, where one of us spent more than ten years working with hundreds of camps across North America and New Zealand. The other three are software developers with over 50 years of combined experience. We built CampPulse 360 because "just dealing with it" wasn't good enough anymore.

Question 52

Where is CampPulse based?

Accepted Answer

In Ontario, Canada, where CampPulse 360 is designed and built. It works for programs wherever they run, in their own currency and time zone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Getting Started & Support

Pricing & Plans

Registration & Programs

Payments & Billing

AI & Automation

Parent Portal

Security & Data

Growth & Scale

About CampPulse

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