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!
@GlenM
I would love to get more information to share to a few of my Local organizations and have a out-of-Office help line for fellow peers.
@Reececup1986 appreciate it!
How will you handle liability issues? You are essentially providing counseling by unlicensed people. One malpractice suit and 7 cups is done. The chat rooms are basically the day room of the psych ward meets the internet. Not trying to be negative but you need to consider this. From what I have read I am very concerned. Things on the surface sound good but have you really thought about some of the underlying issues??
@mutter3, yes, of course. Do you think we'd do all of this without heavy consultation with lawyers specializing in mental health and technology? Just because something hasn't been done before doesn't mean it can't be done or that there are unresolved liability issues. We've thought through this and consulted with leading experts on this before we even launched 7 cups. Rest assured we've crossed our t's and dotted our i's. If you have any other concerns, please pm me.
Glen, with all due respect. And I DO RESPECT YOU. Some of your answers sound hostile. WHY? you tell us to ask questions, and then get snarky when we do? Now since I probably will get kicked off the site for this, good luck to ya'll!
@AndyDufresne1994, questions and thoughts are great and never grounds for getting removed from 7 cups. What you feel/see me reacting to is the suggestion that we have done this blindly or without really thinking through things.
Did I say you had done this blindly or without thinking? No!! I only asked a question. I sent you multiple emails and never got a response. Why so defensive???
Andy,Thank You!!!
I always wondered how this site survived, I mean all sites need money to run, even non-profit. I just figured Glen's piggie bank was bigger than mine. So I see this as a natural progression. My biggest question would be this.... Say a visitor from CLOWN COLLEGE AND CIRCUS UNIVERSITY are on our island. Now maybe they get a little wild and goofy (as clowns do) and break some rules. Who had the right/duty to set them right? Do they get kicked off our Island? Their Island? I guess all I worry about is how you "keep the law" when you are dealing with visitors from other lands without there being any friction. But that being said.... MAKE THIS CLEAR TO EVERYONE WHO ACCUSES ME OF BEING CLOSE MINDED AND AFRAID OF CHANGE.... I think this is both good and natural and I look forward to seeing it happen.
@AndyDufresne1994, this is a good and open question. I don't hear a suggestion here that we didn't think about how to resolve this or that we are somehow just running ahead without critical reflection. Instead, I hear a real question. Thank you.
The rules and the processes are the same across all islands. You can't harass people on the mainland and you also can't harass people on an island. We remove people in the exact same ways. Does that make sense?
Definantley I am a part of this, let's make 7 cups wider spread to help out our community and sign it up with wider agencies to help others to better help themselves. 
All - thanks for help and feedback on this - we are working on getting new design live, then have a bunch of smaller items to fix, and then, finally, we'll be releasing this new 7 Cups for Organizations feature. @Iara is also working on slides that will help provide more info. I'll keep you updated. Thanks!
Out of curiosity, could you please explain to me the benefit of a university or organisation having their own paid for version of this, when anyone needing some support could just visit the free version as an individual? I'm just a bit confused as to what the paid for service is offering. I like the metaphors, but I'm not sure what would be going on on the islands that's any different? I just don't really understand the product. :)
@missg, good question! For students in particular they often want community within their own school. Similarly, administrators at schools also want community within the school. Many students drop out of schools b/c of lack of emotional support or other challenges. If they have a way of supporting students, then they keep students on track to meet their goals and graduate (a win for students) and they keep their drop out or attrition rate down (win for schools). Any other questions?
@GlenM Thank you for explaining it to me in a bit more detail, makes a lot more sense now!
I would love to help out in any way needed, as I love being a part of this community, both as a member and a listener, so please let me know if I can put any of my own skills to use with the growth of this amazing place.
Greta :)
You can also imagine a model in which any university or org can set up a basic free version or satellite or subarea of 7 Cups, but if there were custom features that added value for their specfic circumstances there could potentially be a paid tier of service to add that.
Glen,
Are you familiar with healthyroads.com? Seems to me there might be too much overlap there, but perhaps there could also be some synergies that could be leveraged. Basically what they do there is provide employers with programs for employees, generally aimed at health and well-being. Just thought I'd mention it.
Best of Luck
How do you become a listener for the steve fund? i cant figure it out.
