Part III: Transparency
One thing we learned through 7 Cups is that being vulnerable is powerful.
When we pretend like things are fine or that we have everything under control, we inadvertently isolate ourselves from others. We wall ourselves off, protect ourselves, and, in the end, this ends up hurting us as individuals and the people we love.
Im going to be vulnerable with you all today and ask for your help. Ive invited you to help with 7 Cups in every conceivable way, except when it comes to sustainability. Ive tried to carry that burden on my own shoulders. For better or worse, after many sleepless nights and struggles, Ive realized that it isnt good for me and it isnt good for our community.
Founders of startups normally dont talk about financial components of the company publicly. There is supposed to be an unspoken line that is not crossed. Certain things are not supposed to be shared. 7 Cups is its own unique enterprise. Many of the rules that apply to ‘business as usual do not apply to 7 Cups. We set it up that way on purpose. We wanted it to be different. We designed it to be different from the very beginning. This post is the logical extension of the way that we have already been operating.
I love what we have built here at 7 Cups and want this to continue to be a free emotional support site available to all as long as possible.
In order to do that, 7 Cups has to find a way to earn enough income to pay for its operating expenses. For the past two and a half years, 7 Cups has relied on startup investors to build the infrastructure into what it is today. At the current rate of expenses with no additional income, that investor funding will last through April 2017. If the income cant be increased beyond what it is now, then operating costs will need to be reduced accordingly. Currently, the operating costs pay for servers to host the site and below-market salaries for the the community managers and our product team (7 Cups has a staff of just 9 people) .Thats it. I dont pay myself from 7 Cups. All of the other roles on the site are filled by unpaid volunteers, including Listeners, Mentors, and Ambassadors.
We started sustainability efforts three months ago. As we stated then, we need $65,000 / month to cover expenses with the size of the team we currently have. In February, we had $5,500 in revenue. Thats barely enough to cover the server expenses for the site for a month, let alone the staff. Were not in panic mode, because we still have the investor funding in the short-term, but we need to be responsible as an organization and work very hard to address this in the coming months.
Ultimately, our community is the thing I care most about on 7 Cups. It is remarkable, therapeutic, and powerful. Ive said before that it is magical. It is something different from anything else that Ive ever encountered.
At our current rate of progress towards sustainability, we will be able to keep a small team on that would enable 7 Cups to continue to make progress towards reaching our mission. However, we would not be able to continue with all of the staff that we have now. We would have to lay people off. This is painful and sad to consider, but it is also a potential reality. We will work very hard to overcome this challenge in the next couple of months. If we can, then that will be wonderful. If we cannot, then it is a problem that we will have to face and solve directly. Here are the potential ways that our sustainability could unfold:
1. Ideal Scenario - we make more progress on revenue, keep the team intact, add more people to help, and make faster progress towards our goals.
--If we earn more than $65K+ / month in income, or more than $780K+ / year
2. Positive Scenario - we make more progress on revenue, keep the team intact, and continue mostly how things are now with a prioritized list of site and service improvements.
--This would require a revenue of $65K / month, or $780K / year
3. Reduced Team Scenario - we continue with similar revenue levels and have to lay off people from our team. We are less effective, but 7 Cups continues on without making major improvements to the site or its services going forward.
--This would require a revenue of at least $20K / month, or $240K / year
As you all can see, we have a ways to go and I do have a plan to get us there! Ive done this before and I know how to do it again.
Ive been working pretty hard to get to the positive scenario. There are several ways that we can increase our revenue to the site to meet the positive scenario that I have outlined above. The product team is working on the therapist directory and the school, business, non-profit support systems. We have made some significant progress there and we have evidence that this could be a large contributor toward getting us to our sustainability goals. There is still a lot that needs to come together, but I have been working really hard to get us there.
Between the upgrades/backing, therapists directory, and the school, business, non-profit support systems, I believe that we can bring in enough additional revenue to sustain and continue to improve the free support system that we have built here at 7 Cups.
In order to sustain the 7 Cups community, I need your help!
Unfortunately, for a certain amount of time, this is going to take a lot of hard work from me and the Product Team. It has already meant a lot of long hours and sleepless nights. Im going to need some time and space and some extra understanding and compassion to work toward the goal of becoming sustainable in the ways that I have outlined above.
As much as you can, please spread the word and talk to your school or workplace and tell them the ways in which 7 Cups has helped you and how you believe it could help others around you to find the emotional support that they need.
I need you to continue to believe that we as a community can do this. We have overcome many challenges together in the past and I believe that we can overcome this challenge to become sustainable, too. This is a time, though, where we need to stand together in order for our community to continue to thrive. Im still willing to hear concerns and feedback, but I need your support in bringing these things to light in a constructive way so we can address the concerns and move forward. While you certainly don't have to do this, I would encourage you to check with a mentor or ambassador prior to bringing concerns to admin to see if we are already aware of the concerns and working on a solution (even if the solution is slow). I will still hear you either way, but this would help.
I promise that I hear all that you have been saying and I respect the courage that it takes to bring up these issues. I have a lot of respect for the level of trust that we have built in the community for people to feel that they can be open and express their concerns. One of the impacts of focusing on sustainability is that the Product team and I have been hard at work on that and less available for the community as a whole right now. Im doing that for the continued success and longevity of our community. I hope that you can understand why that is so important to me and I hope that it is also important to all of you.
In order to move forward with sustainability, I need your support and compassion. I think we need to be aligned - all rowing together - to meet or exceed the positive sustainability scenario so that we can continue to do great things in this community going forward. I have shared the things that keep me up at night with you in this post in an effort to be honest and transparent. I need your support in continuing to grow and improve the mission of 7 Cups: to be the largest free emotional support system in the world. Are you with me?
For further reading:
Making 7 Cups Sustainable - https://www.7cups.com/forum/GlensNook_84/Community_547/Making7CupsSustainable_29951/1/
Back 7 Cups: Part I of Making 7 Cups Sustainable - https://www.7cups.com/forum/GlensNook_84/Community_547/Back7CupsPartIofMaking7CupsSustainable_31025/1/
Sustainability Update - https://www.7cups.com/forum/ListenersOnlyForums_38/GlensThoughts_143/SustainabilityUpdate_32682/
Thank you Glen! I appreciate very much your honesty. I've read all the comments and everyone has posted interesting points of views. In my own small way I can cite Norman Vincent Peale: "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."
Our community is facing a great difficulty but it will become stronger, whatever will be the scenario 
@Toffee Love that quote!! 💛
@SunshineCat Me too :)
@Toffee Thanks for the support! Yes we are shooting for the moon here and I'll be quite happy if we land on the stars :). Thanks for sharing!
@GlenM Thank you Glen, It's been hard not to notice the tension since I've been back; the changes, some people are gone, upset or potentially leaving. It's definitely a different place since 2014 when I joined, for better and maybe in some cases worse, we've made great strides and had great successes,we've seen the site transform with wonder and we've stumbled, lost friends, lost members, had personal crises "why am I here?", "am I really making a difference?" Well I always believed that if you save one you save the world. Yeah I know, that sounds pretty silly and maybe even narcissistic. But when you think about it every person we help-is an entire world were saving- its their world. That's huge. And that matters. That's why were here. And ultimately I believe this love and compassion and this empathy these qualities that every listener here shares, these things that brought us here, will be our answer. I'm glad I came back when I did, if only to watch the site, and its listeners and members, as well as our whole admin team grow, learn and become better, closer and more united from these changes and struggles.
@Jaelin I remember when you joined! I remember it very well. Yes you are right, things really did feel differently back then. We've talked a lot about that on our team because it keeps happening bc we keep growing. So what feels nostalgic to one person feels new to another. And you are right that the culture/community changes too.
I'm also very glad that you came back to help see us through this next phase. :)
Hi Glen,
I can imagine this post took you quite some time to write. Reading this, makes me realise how transparent you are with us, and for this, trust is needed. I'd therefore like to thank you sincerely for your faith in us!
Regarding the goals, I have no clue how difficult it is to achieve this. However, I would like to stretch that 7 Cups of Tea consists of a very large community of absolutely amazing people - both Members and Listeners! I'm sure we'll all our best to contribute and to improve the growth of 7 Cups and the community: you're not facing this alone, we've got your back!
@Emanuel Great support!
@Emanuel Thank you for having my back! I feel that now And it makes a real difference. Hard to capture in words but it is a tangible difference - so thank you again!!
re the post, I had some help from very smart and kind folks that care for me and this site :)
@GlenM Please contact me. I think 7cups is a good investment and would like to hear more about investment opportunities. Thanks!
@kitsunesakura It might be easier to send him a PM :)
@kitsunesakura PM'd you! Thanks :)
@GlenM I would really love to help, but I'm not at a very stable income right now, so I can't really help. I really hope that 7 cups makes all the money & I will continue my role as a listener no matter what!
@calmRoze34 We're happy to have you as part of the community and appreciate the time that you spend here to listen to people!
@calmRoze34, @sunshinecat said it great below - there are many ways to be a part of what we do and very happy you are here :)
@GlenM
I just wanted to say thank you for your honesty and transparency with us as a community. I absolutely adore 7 Cups and have supported it from the beginning about two years ago when I initially joined as a listener here. I'm unfortunately not as active as I'd like to be, but have been looking into some ways to get more involved in the near future. Right now I can't commit to financial support due to rocky job issues, but I just wanted to say that we have your back.
Thank you for your honesty with us. I know for me personally, as a listener here, I am supporting the team as they make decisions and as we all work together to bring about the positive or ideal solution for the site.
~Jelli
@Jelli Awesome!!
@Jelli Thank you!!! No worries at all on financial piece. I'm thankful you are here and hope job situation looks up soon! And thanks for having my back!
I believe that one day, 7 cups is going to be the largest free emotional support site in the world. And yes, we are always with you, Glen.
Thank you for sharing your transperancy with us and I can see how hard you try to build this and how honestly you trust us. I shall try my best to help build this community when I get my card of freedom. You can do this and we believe in you!
@TheSciKid Thanks for the support!! :)
@GlenM , If I have a million dollars, I will gladly share some with you. Unfortunately ,I do not have that amount and I am supporting a number of people with the limited amount I have. It must be pretty stressful for you and your team to constantly worry and trying to look for sponsors and ways to keep 7 cups going. Blessings to all of you. I have helped out with NGOs before and I know the amount paid to the helpers is minimun and barely enough for one's expanses.On top of that , lots of helpers end up spending the small amount they receive, to help run /fund activities. Someone once told me this: Only the person who has awareness and a deep understanding ,will feel the pain and willingly help others to overcome it. That is not an easy task.
You guys at 7 cup are uniting people all around the world, educating them and helping them to accept and live in a healthy way. You are doing what leaders of countries/goverments or even The United Nations are struggling to do. I wonder why you are not getting any help from WHO / UNICEF or The United Nations. They could al least give us a grant. Nowadays, all Corporations have CSR programmes in their yearly agenda. Thousands of dollars are channeled to run social programs . Can't we qualify for this ? Aren't we doing a great job helping our society? We are doing/providing a service to create a better society and workforce which will contribute to this corporations . Can't multi national corporations contribute an amount each , to us , every year ? Our listeners and members are from all over the world. You have proof of our existance so can we qualify for financial help from these corporations? Maybe you could collect emails from all of us pledging our support for the cause of 7 cups and send in that to these corporations. I will be proud to do that for 7 cups
@GlenM and The 7 cup team , you all have a strong will and there will surely be a way.
@faithlove1111
These are some interesting ideas!! @GlenM
@faithlove1111, I agree with your assessment! : ) The scale of good work we are doing in the mental health space is unparalleled. We even have third party research to support our efforts. To be honest I'm always a little bit leery of grant processes. It can take a lot of time - like a ridiculous amount of time - and then there is no real certainty that you'll end up with the grant. I'm by no means an expert in this, but the few times I've tried it has been pretty challenging to win funding in this way. My sense is that we'd have to parter with people that already have a research record/credibility. The people making the grants are more likely to award someone who is a known commodity. I've just now started to look to partner with these folks.
You are now the second person who has brought up CSR programs. I think this makes a ton of sense. I need to do more research here. @poeticguy was doing some research on this as well. Is anyone an expert or know any experts on CSR? Thank you!
@GlenM @Laura
I was just in the +60 forum and someone said thay want their mom to join,
I got to thinking there are a lot of elderly people i senior centers and nursing home that are lonely and have a lot of life experience and wisdom.
Perhaps that is a direction for growth, the opportunity to give a senior citizen a place to feel less lonely, to be listened to and to be appreciated is beneficial to both the member and the listener.\it is a possibility to fill a true need. i love the image in my mind of teen listeners connecting with an lonely elderly person who feels their life has lost meaning and helping them feel a bit younger and more alive.
any thoughts
@2genpoet
This is a neat idea. Can you submit it to the Listener Suggestion Box?
@2genpoet I agree this is a neat idea.
Personally, I love the image of a wise senior citizen listening to lonely teenagers who feel their lives lack meaning.
Thanks for the update Glen. From the conversation we had a few months ago I know that you've been very busy working on the sustainability of the website. However I still have serious ethical reservations with a for-profit model which have prevented me from getting into the general request queue or promoting the website. It simply does not support the mission and will remain a barrier to growth in a compassionate care niche. While you claim that you developed the website in order to help people I will never be able to believe you as long as your a buisness owner or have investors who are expecting a return.
You're of course completely correct that grant writing, and gaining non-profit status will take a long time and specialized knowledge, but the for-profit model is not, nor will ever be sustaintable. It's deeply disappointing to watch a website with so much potential flounder this way. I like to think you can turn it around.
Good luck Glen, this website had meant so much to me over the years, and has helped me through some of the darkest times in my life. As a member I'm not entirely sure how I'd replace 7 cups to help me cope. I guess I have a year to prepare just in case.
Dear @AbeTheOpenhearted, I have a different opinion.
When I choose to work with a professional therapist, it is likely to be someone who works as a therapist to make a living, someone who makes money by providing a service to me.
Of course, there are ethical issues, and my state has a professional licensing board that licenses therapists, makes the ethical requirements clear, and works to enforce the ethical rules.
I think that a paid counselor (or psychiatrist or other caregiver) can provide excellent care even if they are making money from me, although I understand that not all caregivers do provide good care and some are excessively mercenary.
However, I don't assume that a paid therapist, who is in that career/business partly due to dedication and partly to make a living, is unethical or unreliable solely because that person is making money by providing the service to me.
@Annie Thank you for this. It's a nice description.
Hi, @Annie
Thank you for sharing your opinon here, as well, with the community. I respect both your and Abe's opinons on this, even though they differ.
I could be wrong, but it seemed that @AbeTheOpenhearted was directing their concerns to @GlenM himself, that is why I went ahead and tagged Glen in.
@Lilylistens, I understand. Abe addressed Glen directly but didn't put a tag in his post, so you provided a tag. Makes sense to me.
@Annie To clarify I had written GlenM directly about my ethical concerns paticularly around the exploitation of the mentally ill for personal gain since many of the core members of the listener community have mental illness and as a demographic they are paticularly vulnerable to exploitation and have no representation in a for-profit model. Some of these people work far more than a traditional full-time job would require and while perhaps you feel comfortable profiting off the free labor of some of the poorest people in society I have reservations. GlenM has been talking about sustainability a lot, but at the same time a non-profit model has significant tax advantages, allow the site to provide tax deductions to donors, and avoids many ethical concerns however this doesn't seem to be a direction we're heading. Last time I asked GlenM about why he prefered the for-profit model he claimed it was more flexible, but I don't really understand why he feels that way if our primary goal is to support the site's mission.
Also, no matter what you personally believe it IS an image problem. It makes the mission seem disingenuous, and I recall fallout from the community when people started to realize it was for-profit. Word is getting around, and if nothing else that will significantlly stall growth. I firmly believe that with a for-profit model this site will fail.
@Annie Thank you for sharing this Annie and for your clarifications below as well!
@AbeTheOpenhearted
Agree!
Hi, @AbeTheOpenhearted
Thank you for sharing your thougths and concerns here with the community.
I am going to tag in @GlenM , as the concerns you shared in your post seem to be ones you might appreciate having Glen himself respond to here.
Take care
@Lucy2 @Annie @musicalMagic @Roadie @OrunLeon @Cadence @SmokeyStar @MichaelMichael @Pam @Anomalia @Simie @bookworm4 @Fear333
@GlenM best wishes in this call for help. the work of 7 cups is so beneficial and needed in this world today. i wish i could do more.
@gracefulSoul10 Thank you! Just being here and helping out as a support for others is more than enough!