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Programs are the core building block of your Campground organization. Every member belongs to at least one program, and programs determine what your members can see and access. Within each program, you define seasons — named time periods like “Spring 2025” or “Cohort 3” — to track membership across different cycles. Members join programs by submitting an application; once accepted, they gain access to that program’s content and tasks.

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What is a program?

A program is a container for your community’s members, content, and tasks. Think of it as a membership tier or cohort category. For example, you might have programs named “Fellows”, “Alumni”, or “2025 Bootcamp”. Each program has:
  • Seasons — time-bound periods within the program (e.g., “2024”, “Spring 2025”)
  • Members — profiles who have been accepted via an application
  • Task lists — assigned automatically when a member joins
  • Visibility settings — controls who can see the program’s content
  • Email templates — customized notifications for application events
When you create a new program, Campground automatically creates a default season using the current year.

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What is a season?

A season is a named time period within a program, with an optional start and end date. Seasons let you run the same program across multiple cycles without losing historical membership data. For example, a “Fellows” program might have seasons “2024” and “2025”, each with its own set of accepted members.
A season cannot be deleted if it is the only destination for an active application form. Create a new season first, then reassign the form before removing the old one.

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How members join programs

Members join programs by submitting an application through a form. When you accept an application, the profile is added as a member of that program’s season. Any task lists linked to the program are automatically assigned to the new member at that point. If a member leaves a program, only task lists that were assigned through the program are removed — tasks assigned manually stay in place.
See Forms and applications for details on building intake forms and managing the acceptance workflow.

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Program access levels

Each program has a visibility level that controls who can see it and how members gain access.

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Platform access control

Programs are the gatekeeper for your entire platform. A profile cannot log in and use Campground unless they meet at least one of the following conditions.
Campground determines platform access using this rule:
  1. Your organization has at least one all_access program → Any profile can sign in and access the platform
  2. No all_access program exists → A profile must have an accepted application to at least one program to sign in
This means that if you remove all all_access programs and a new user signs up without an accepted application, they will not be able to access your organization.

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Common setup patterns

Choose the pattern that fits your community model:
Create a program named something like “Community” or “Members” and enable the all access setting. Every profile that signs up to your organization will automatically be able to log in and view content visible to that program — no application required.This is the best choice if you want a low-friction onboarding experience or run an open membership network.
Leave all programs set to private (do not enable all access on any program). New users who sign up will not be able to access the platform until an admin accepts their application.This is the best choice for selective programs like accelerators, fellowships, or cohort-based communities where you want full control over membership.
Create one all_access program (e.g., “Community”) alongside one or more private programs (e.g., “2025 Fellows”). All signed-up members can access the platform through the community program, while exclusive content and tasks are restricted to accepted fellows.This is the best choice for organizations that want both an open community for all signed-up members and a selective inner program.

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Program task lists

You can link task lists to a program so that every new member automatically receives those tasks when their application is accepted. This removes the need to assign tasks manually for each cohort. When a member leaves a program, only the tasks that were originally assigned through that program are removed. Manually assigned tasks are not affected.