The enrollment experience
How families start enrolling
There are three ways a family can begin the enrollment process.
Open registration is the standard path. Families visit your camp's registration page and enter their email address to get started. If you have multiple seasons open, they'll choose which one to enroll for. Campfront sends a 6-digit verification code to their email, which they enter to confirm their identity before proceeding.
Invitation lets you pre-create an enrollment for a specific family. The parent receives an email with a unique link. When they click it, the cart is already set up with their camper and session selections - they just need to review, complete any remaining steps, and pay. For more on this, see Inviting a camper to enroll.
Priority access uses a code you distribute to returning families or special groups, giving them early access to registration before general enrollment opens.
Step by step: what parents see
Family and camper information
After verifying their email, parents provide their own details (name, phone number, and address) and then add one or more campers. For each camper, they'll enter the name, date of birth, gender, grade, school, and their relationship to the child. If your camp collects camper contact details (Camp settings > Information), campers at or above the grade you set also get their own email and cell fields, optional or required depending on your setting.
If the parent already has an account from a previous year, their information and existing campers are pre-filled - they can update anything that's changed and add new campers as needed.
If you ask families how they heard about you, the question appears on this step or after checkout, depending on your Information settings. Families who have enrolled with you before aren't asked again.
Campers who don’t fit a session
Sometimes a returning camper no longer fits any of your camper groups. They may have aged out above your oldest group, be too young for your youngest, or have a grade that falls in a gap between two groups. Campfront leaves that camper on the list but doesn’t tick them by default, and shows a badge (Aged out, Too young, or No sessions) so the family sees why.
The family can still add them. When they do, the camper is skipped on the session step and recorded as a lead rather than an enrollment. They aren’t charged and don’t take a session spot. The review page and the confirmation email both explain that there’s no session for that camper’s grade this year, and that you’ll keep their details on file. On your side, the camper’s profile gets a pinned note with the reason. See Working leads and prospects.
Session selection
Parents choose which sessions each camper will attend. Campfront automatically filters the available sessions based on each camper's grade and gender (depending on how you've configured your camper groups), so families only see sessions their child is eligible for.
Each session card shows the name, dates, price, and remaining spots if you've set a capacity limit for that session. If a session has pricing tiers, those expand once the session is selected.
Add-ons
If you've configured add-ons for the selected sessions, parents choose which extras to include. Parents see this step labeled Extras in the wizard. Required add-ons are pre-selected and can't be removed. Optional ones can be toggled on or off. Each add-on shows its name, description, and price. This step is skipped entirely if there are no eligible add-ons.
Additional questions
If the sessions or session groups a family picked carry additional questions, parents answer them here, one form at a time for each camper. Answers save as a draft, and a form scoped per family is asked once for the family. See Additional questions.
Review
The review page shows everything the parent has selected: campers, sessions, add-ons, and a full price breakdown including any discounts and taxes. Parents can apply a discount code here if they have one, and they must accept your enrollment agreement before continuing.
If any selected sessions require approval, the page explains that the enrollment will be submitted for review rather than confirmed immediately.
Checkout
Parents choose a payment plan from the options you've configured - pay in full, deposit plus balance, or installments. Each option shows what's due today and any future payment dates. If you offer a pay-in-full discount, it's highlighted here. Parents see this step labeled Payment in the wizard.
They then select a payment method (credit card, debit card, ACH bank transfer, or check - depending on what you've enabled) and enter their payment details. Convenience fees are shown in real time as they change payment methods.
Confirmation
Once payment is processed, parents see a confirmation page with their confirmation number, a summary of everything they enrolled for, and a link to download their receipt. If the enrollment requires approval, the messaging explains that the application has been submitted and they'll hear back soon.
From here, parents can continue to the parent portal to manage their camper's forms, medical information, transport, and billing.
The parent portal
After enrollment, families access the parent portal by logging into your camp's Campfront site. Here's what they can do.
Dashboard
The dashboard shows a countdown to camp, a list of enrolled campers with their sessions, any outstanding actions that need attention (incomplete forms, missing medical info, upcoming payments), and a real-time activity feed showing recent updates from your team.
Camper management
Each camper has a dedicated profile within the parent portal, organized into sections:
Personal lets parents view and update their child's details and school information. Contacts holds relatives, emergency contacts, and the school contact. Medical covers conditions, allergies, medications (with detailed dosage and timing), dietary requirements, immunizations, emergency contacts, insurance, and care providers. Parents can upload documents like immunization records and allergy care plans. Forms shows all assigned forms with their status - outstanding, completed, or optional - with due dates clearly marked. Transport lets parents request arrival and departure transport, choosing between bus (with route and stop selection), public transport, private shuttle, self-drive, or drop-off. If they have multiple children in the same session, they can apply the same transport to siblings in one step. Billing shows the financial picture for that camper's enrollment - balance, payment history, upcoming payments, and transaction details.
Family billing
The family-level billing section shows a combined view across all campers. Parents can view upcoming and past payments, manage saved payment methods (cards, bank accounts), make ad-hoc payments, and download invoices and receipts. For more on the admin side of billing, see Family billing.
Family account management
Parents can invite another parent or guardian to join their family account, giving them shared access to all enrolled campers. They can also update their own profile, change their password, and manage notification preferences.
Media
If you've enabled the media library and shared photos, parents can browse photos tagged with their child, search by keyword, and download high-resolution copies. Photos their camper is tagged in download at full quality; untagged photos download at a lower resolution.
Notifications parents receive
Campfront automatically sends parents several types of email:
Enrollment confirmation after completing registration
Outstanding action reminders when forms, medical info, or other items still need attention
Upcoming payment alerts sent one week before a scheduled payment
Invoices sent automatically before payment due dates (if you've enabled auto-invoicing)
Payment reminders before and after due dates for overdue balances
Payment confirmations when payments are processed, fail, or are refunded
Parents can manage their notification preferences from their account settings.