Happy Property Owner Neil says…

Crystal Conference Center in Northern Michigan has worked with UCCR's facility management services for three+ years, beginning the first year with marketing only. We have operated for more than 100 years as a denominational church camp, marketing only to our own churches.

It was clear that we had a Conference Center that was being under utilized and unknown to those outside our religious community.

Additionally the cost of operation of our Center continued to escalate beyond possible revenue that could be generated within out religious community.

We needed to broaden our audience, given the facilities we had in an ideal summer vacation area with available facilities very conducive to overnight groups up to 100, several small groups at a time, families - not for profit organizations from a few to many.

All these reasons ultimately linked us with UCCR. Their values and commitment to outdoor environments we found to be a perfect match.

Their network across the country with other not-for-profit organizations was noteworthy, and their history of managing similar facilities across the country minimized the need to get to know our needs and the potential marketing to other organizations that would find our Conference Center conducive to their needs.

Soon two new larger groups were booked to use our Center, increasing our booking days by 35%, when Covid hit. However, the UCCR contacts with new markets and the efficiency of their booking services in 2020 was such that we succeeded in having rentals every week we were open, serving small groups and families from July 1 through October 15.

UCCR marketing and management of our facility in 2020 saved us from facing a significant year end deficit.

2021 brought us to within a breaking point financially, something we have not seen in several years. One of the successes was with UCCR marketing one of our small self-contained group cabins through AirBnB for a Ironman event, generating an even higher income than our normal rates. The exciting news is that UCCR marketing for 2022 already has lined up a new group booking our facility to capacity for two weeks, several family groups, a Yoga group and a few other retreat group prospects.

Of course we still promote our Conference Center with our church network but what UCCR has brought us, successfully, is a wider pool of prospective users than we are equipped pursue ourselves.

–Neil Topliffe, Crystal Conference Center, UCCR Owners Council Representative

Grateful Property Owner Bill says…

When our Craigville Retreat Center needed new management in 2015 a high priority was communication with our existing customer base and effective marketing to reach new constituencies. UCCR has more than met our expectations. We now have in place efficient systems for communications and marketing that take full advantage of social media. Despite the pandemic, we look forward to a nearly-full site in 2022.

— Bill McKinney, President Christian Camp Meeting Association, Craigville, Massachusetts

Frank Thanks UCCR…

We have been watching news of the Mosquito Fire in Placer County daily and hourly to see if we still have a camp (The Community of the Great Commission). 

We learned yesterday from UCCR camp manager Bobby Thonnes that the Placer County Sheriff's Office has reported that though the fire came within a few hundred feet of the camp all along its Southeast side, the camp is intact. There will be a lot of cleanup of ash and borite, and without power to the freezers and refrigerators and all the food spoiled.

UCCR's work both on and off site has made a great difference to us  in this tumultuous week when at first we thought we had lost the camp because the intense fire forced both camp staff and fire strike teams to leave the area. And then, when the firefighters were able, a few days later, to get back into the area, to find the camp intact and continued to defend it from the fire.

UCCR administrative and camp staff and have stayed in close communication with us providing the best local information resources as well as pictures sent by local individual and news organizations to keep us as current as humanly possible during this fearful event.

Our partnership with UCCR has been invaluable over many years and especially the last few years as we worked our way through all the difficulties posed by Covid19 and now this catastrophic fire. 

We would not have made it through the pandemic years without the assistance of UCCR. In addition, their staff and management helped prepare for the current fire season over the course of the entire last year arranging for clearance of acres of brush and removal of trees. And finally, onsite UCCR camp staff coordination with fire and sheriff personnel during the early hours of this fire event directly contributed to the effort of first responders in saving our camp, The Community of the Great Commission.

Many thanks, and blessings to all at UCCR.

–Frank Scudero, Regional Steward Christian Church of Northern California-Nevada

Everyone took good care of us before we arrived. The meals were delicious and perfect for our group of mostly teens. The staff was welcoming and accommodating.

–Saugus Catholics Youth, Craigville Retreat Center