The following material is liberally quoted from Past President of the Electoral College, Paul Hume:

"So you want to apply for a Charter as Master of a new Camp of the Ordo Templi Orientis?

Well, the answer is NO.

Unless, that is, you can convince the Electoral College that the Camp will benefit the Order and the initiates in your area, and that you are the right person to lead it. You will need to understand the effort that is needed to let a Camp grow and mature, to gain the members and the skills that will be needed to become a functioning, initiatory Body, and you will need to demonstrate that you and the other members are committed to making that effort.

WHO CAN START A CAMP?

Under present policy, and this is a change from the years before 2001 ev, it takes THREE (3) initiates, minimum, to start a new Camp. The proposed Master of the Camp must be at least a Third Degree. At least two of the other founding members must be at least First Degree.

HOW DO I GET THREE INITIATES TOGETHER WHEN THERE IS NO LOCAL BODY?

It is perfectly legitimate to seek out other Thelemites who may be drawn to the Order in your area, perhaps with a query on a local elist, perhaps putting up a notice in the local occult bookstores or similar venues, asking interested Thelemites to contact you. You cannot describe yourself as a Camp, or Body, or other official OTO contact. Rather, the gist has to be that those who might be interested in forming such a Body can reach you at such and such an address, or email, or meeting place.

If you turn up a potential cadre of initiates, it is the group's responsibility to get in touch with the nearest initiating Body, to meet people who might be willing to sponsor candidates, and get paperwork filed, and to arrange to travel to that Body for the initiations. If people aren't willing to put out that much effort, they aren't likely to stick to the work through the slings and arrows that are likely to assail any new Camp.

WHAT ELSE DO WE DO WHILE SITTING AROUND WAITING FOR INITIATIONS?

If we really have to answer that, you aren't likely to get much of a Camp going! Does one person have skill in an area of magick that he or she can teach to others? Yes? Then hold classes. Are all of you completely familiar with the Holy Books? No? Then get together to read them and pestilentially discuss what they mean to you. Is there some field of magical or mystical effort some of you want to learn? Yes? Then get together to share that process, or perhaps find someone knowledgeable who is willing to come demonstrate what they know to the group."

Application for a Camp, once the body is ready, is a simple process. There are several guidelines that must be followed:

Camps are the most basic level of local body. A camp (or "Encampment")  may be started by three initiate members of the OTO. The prospective master must be at least a III*, and two of the others must be at least I*. A completed application for a camp charter (downloadable here) must be submitted to the Electoral College, along with an Annual Report Form (downloadable here). A check or money order payable to "Ordo Templi Orientis USA"  in the amount of $30.00 must be submitted with the application, to cover processing costs.

In addition, local bodies whose masters are of the degree of KEW or lower must have a mentor. Mentors are also available for camps-in-development and bodies whose masters request them, regardless of degree. The Mentor functions as a consultant to the Master, making him- or herself available to answer questions and facilitate communication between the local body and the electoral college. To learn more about this service, please read about The Mentorship Program.

The name you use for your prospective local body cannot have been used for another local body in recent history.

The Kaaba Colloquium is a series of workshops offered for local body masters and officers as a service of the OTO. It happens semiannually. For information, please view the Kaaba website, located here.

The Electoral College offers a Camp In Formation program, which enables the organizer of a Camp to network with interested parties and generally make their intentions known to the rest of the OTO. This program has proven to be very popular. It is not a 'fourth status' of body below Camp, or a mandatory process. Information about the program may be found here, and it is recommended that potential future bodymasters view it.

Oases and Lodges grow out of Camps, and are applied for via a "Change of Status" form which is available to Local Body Masters.