7 Cups for Organizations
7 Cups has grown tremendously over the last two years. We have figured out a number of things that are very helpful in creating a community where people can support one another. It is now time for us to share what weve learned with other organizations.
It is also time for 7 Cups to begin to generate income so that we can survive and thrive for years and years to come. Check out this post on Making 7 Cups Sustainable for more details. Part of making 7 Cups sustainable includes donations. Another part includes 7 Cups for Organizations.
You can think of our main community here as the mainland. An organizations version of 7 Cups is an island. Some organizations want multiple bridges from their island to the mainland and some do not. In this metaphor, one bridge might include having their listeners listen both in their organization and on 7 cups proper; it also might include having 7 cups listeners listen on their island. Another bridge might be shared group support rooms - where people on their island can interact with other 7 cups listeners and members in our group support rooms. A third bridge might be the forums. Some organizations will want their island to have lots of bridges to the mainland, whereas others will not want any bridges.
We are in talks with universities, nonprofits, and health systems right now. We anticipate that we will also be able to provide systems to corporations and governments. In terms of universities, I am very proud to announce that we have just implemented a student support system with a very well known university in the northeast ; ). I cant share details yet, but will soon. We may see some of their listeners and members in our community if they venture our way. I am also very excited about our work with a non-profit called the Steven Rose Foundation (or Steve Fund). Their island has many bridges to the mainland. You can visit there island here: www.7cups.com/ypoc. Corporations contract with groups that provide employee assistance programs (EAPs) - or access to mental health professionals for their employees. Well provide a similar sort of EAP service. Governments also use EAPs, and we can provide EAPs to governments, but Im also thinking more broadly of a sort of citizen support system, especially for countries that have not yet established a mental health infrastructure.
7 Cups for Organizations will have a free version and the opportunity to upgrade to a premium version. The free version will allow any person to launch a support system (or island) for their organization in under 5 minutes. To me, this is pretty mindblowing. If they want custom branding, single sign-on, access to data/reports, and better ways to support their members, then they can upgrade to the premium version.
We still have quite a bit to figure out, but we are off to a strong start. If you are interested in 7 Cups for your school, university, company, health system, nonprofit, or government, then please post below and Ill update you when the systems are ready. Similarly, if you have contacts at organizations that you think could benefit from our work, then please help spread the word.
Please ask any questions and share thoughts and feedback below. Thank you!
I feel this could certainly be very useful for University courses which center around mental health or therapy. It certainly is useful experience, as a student studying a therapy related course this is much better than any work experience I have encountered by which means you're only allowed to observe.
One difficulty I find, is simply explaining to people what 7 Cups is. Is there a document of some sort which gives an introduction of what 7 Cups is? I know Lyra has created the Primer, but I feel that's more for people to navigate around the site who have just joined, as opposed to an illustrative explanation?
If not, I'm happy to write one myself :)
@zedda, we'll make it so that you can share these organizational pages directly with others. They should be pretty self-explanatory. We also have flyers in the footer that you can share with others. Thanks!
Mind blown!!! you guys never cease to amaze me!! I love all the good 7cups does, helping as many as we can, everywhere that we can....I will get in touch with some organizations in my area and see if they want to get involved as well! I would like to be kept in the loop on this as well! Kepp up the amazing work you do!!! :)
Thanks @mscoxie :). I'll keep you posted.
I just want to make sure that I understand correctly. There are are those of us who cannot payout any more for mental health services. All of this sounds great but if the quality of the service diminishes I won't be able to recommend the service. I recommend 7Cups OFTEN to people who I know can't afford a trained counselor or cannot get out to a support group. I'm nearly 50, and this service as it is, free, no ads, has been a lifeline. I hope you understand, I'm not denigrating the idea of moving into other avenues. Its just so URGENT that people are able to access 7Cups in a moment of weakness.
I think he meant for organizations....like companies whod like our services for their employees...it wouldnt affect your ability to seek help, nor your friends :) continue the referring :)
@knitter65, please don't worry. 7 Cups will always be accessible and free. We are figuring out ways to make it sustainable to ensure that it thrives and can always remain that way for others.
@GlenM I have recommended this site to so many people including my own daughter. We love that you are going to keep it free. I live in a very rural area. Support groups are like hen's teeth here... like impossible to find. Thank you for making all the efforts. And I do think I have a few good ideas on a few rural organizations who might be able use 7Cups!
I think this would be something wonderful for my school!
I agree!! schools all over should get involved!!! I know if I had this site when i was younger...I definitely would have taken advantage of it!! :)
I am the Campus Leader for UW-Whitewater, so I would be super excited to have dedicated 7COT on campus :) However, I am also in talks with the board members of an anti-bullying organization regarding a partnership between 7COT and them, and I believe this is where the focus should be for a private 7COT like you were talking about. Sure it would function on the university level, but with the mission of this anti-bullying organization in mind, I believe it would be more applicable and usable in the organization setting, instead of the school setting. But perhaps, it could be a great tool for the counseling center on campus for students and faculty alike :)
@HelpfulNick95, great! We'll be opening this up a handful of schools in the near future. Please reach out to me when you see more details. Thanks!
Some groups of people in my school is very accepting to 7 Cups and some of them are using this app/site. I'm also a youth committee for a movement called Special Olympics here in my country, and some of the family members and other committee members are interested/already using this app. I think I can open one of those bridges to my school and Special Olympics
@UniqueLife, it'd be great to connect with you to talk more about the Special Olympics.
I'll be happy to talk about SO with you :)
hey @GlenM just the other day i got a partner to sign up and submit their application not sure if they need to do this or what but they did say that they would be more then happy to dontate some funds to the site cause they thinks its a great idea. :)
Awesome @BLTmaster! What was their name? We are going to be transitioning partners to this new model. Thanks ;)
@GlenM its the Magic City Acceptance Center :)
Cool, I love it :)
There's a chance my company would be interested in this...would love to pitch it to them once there are a few more details on how to get started!
@Anomalia, awesome! Will update you :)
