Back 7 Cups: Part I of Making 7 Cups Sustainable
Weve been talking about different ways we can help make 7 cups sustainable. If you havent yet, please read this thread (please also read this thread if you have questions as they have likely been answered in that thread). The first step we want to take in this process is the Back 7 Cups initiative.
Anyone who wants to support our mission will be able to ‘back 7 cups with a monthly contribution. Well have system messages, a dedicated landing page, and emails that provide people with the opportunity to support 7 cups in this manner. People will still receive perks (see below) for backing 7 Cups, but the emphasis is on backing 7 cups and only secondarily on the perks.
At the same time, well be testing another option that can best be understood as 7 Cups Premium. This option emphasizes the perks primarily and backing 7 cups/supporting our mission as secondary.
We are testing out both options because we are not sure which one will work best. It might be that one option works best in some situations and the other works best in others.
The perks will be spelled out in more detail in the coming days. What follows is a high-level overview. When you back 7 cups, or upgrade to a premium account, youll unlock personalized paths to help you grow stronger, increase confidence, and develop stronger relationships. These paths are comprised of series, or packs, that focus on topics like: relationships, calm and strong, mind over mood, physical health, and life skills. It also unlocks a number of singles or discrete paths that are designed to help you overcome specific issues. Moreover, people that back or upgrade will also access to bi-weekly group conference calls with licensed psychologists on topics like depression, anxiety, mindfulness, stress, and relationships. Additionally, they will receive a monthly email from me and the ability to participate in a conference call with me every month. Ill share what Ive been thinking about in life, Ill discuss ways to overcome challenges, and Ill also provide a sneak peak into future developments here at 7 Cups. Finally, the person will also receive 2 sustainability icons for their profile and the profile of one other person they select. This indicates that it is a shared gift given to ensure that 7 Cups thrives for years and decades to come.
To clarify, listeners would also be very welcome to contribute. If they do not have a member account, then they would just receive the above perks, but they would not unlock the personalize paths. Thanks @RocketsMom for asking.
Our goal is that these options will help get us a clear trajectory of sustainability. If these do not work as well as we hope, then well need to further tweak them and potentially add additional perks or options. Well also soon be rolling out the 7 cups for organizations initiatives shortly as well. We already have a major university on board and we are working with several other non-profits.
Again, please read the other thread if you have questions. If you have questions that have not yet been answered yet, then please ask them here and Ill be happy to provide more details. We are planning on releasing this new update later this early next week. Ill keep you updated!
Thank you!
Another sellout, i thought this site was supposed to be a free and safe heaven.I dont want people to have to pay to get more attention and help.I know my voice wont be heard and nobody would care.It all comes down to money, and i think its sick putting money for backing up this site and keep it runing.I offer my free time to help people here i dont get anything in return and i am happy because i know i helped someone here.If people want to pay for this stuff they can get it from a real person then and not a site.We all backup this site by contributing our free time to help people who seek it.I strongly disagree with putting anything that involves payment on this site.A lot of people are desperate and i think you people just want to use that to your own advantage. Again this is my thought about this i could be wrong and i could be right, im not trying to point fingers at anybody but i think that adding any microtransactions on this site is wrong
@FalseKing97
i understand your frustration. And it's amazing that you devote time and energy as a listener. However, it costs money to run a site like this. The admin team (community managers and IT etc.) put in 40+ hours each week. This is their job. And they have to be able to to pay their bills. Also, the site itself (space, bandwidth, other tech things like that) cost money as well. It would be nice if it were free but the fact is, it's not. Admin are working hard to make sure that 7 Cups stays around and is free for everyone. No one will lose out on current services with this change. People who donate will not get better services, just a few perks. I'm sorry this upsets you but if you have other suggestions for keeping the site open, I'm sure they'd be open to hearing them.
@RocketsMom
I would love to get it down to 40 hrs / week :D
(I also do some listening on top of that...)
@GlenM @RocketsMom im so sorry but im now really really confused. I have looked at both threads. Would you have to pay to have the following
a. A listeners account
b. A members account
Just if thats the case then its going to put people off is it not going to us and coming here for support? Myself and others thought this was free. We came here because we wanted to volunteer our help to people.
Sorry if i have completely miss-understood i just process and seeing things very differently to a lot of people because of my autism. (Im not the normal autistic person either)
Casscass
@Casscass the site is still free and listener and member accounts are free too. You will have access to general requests, personal requests, growth path, forums, and feed as usual. The customized paths for specific issues will be in the paid package. These will be new (they don't exist right now).
@Twish Oh! Okay thank you Twish! That made so much more sense :)
Personally I am one who rather see the site backed by advertising. Banners, that sort of thing. I KNOW you have to have money. You can't run anything for free. I get it. I am NOT saying the sky is falling and this is a horrid idea and I am going to take my ball and go home. All I know is I hear from MANY MANY of my members that the BIGGEST road black to them getting professional help is money. I myself am on disability. I get a small check once a month. I won't be paying for "upgraded services" Heck I canceled cable because I can't afford it. I do worry a bit about the message it may send. You have to admit, many of our members have big life issues. I often see a theme of "no one cares for me" or "life is cruel and unfair". I am not sure how offering special features to some who can afford it will go over. But I get it. This is not my site to run. I am just one person. I am not running for the hills and I am not poo-pooing the idea. I just am expressing a little reservation. If I am proven wrong and it goes over great, well then I WILL BE HAPPY TO BE PROVEN WRONG AND BE THE FIRST TO ADMIT IT! So I guess all I suggest is paying VERY VERY special attention to how this is advertised. A culture of "have and have-nots" would be a bad development in my opinion. I almost rather see certain paid "events" than a monthly fee. Like say you got some top world known doctor to do a video chat. Selling "tickets" to that event alone would be my vote. So someone who is on a fixed budget can decide, "hey this one is worth my money." but no pressure to pay monthly. Also is it possible to just flat out ask for donations? I mean maybe you get a badge that says you donated. I got my PBS mug at home too! I guess I just am nervous of perks being tied to money. I mean lets admit, in this world good looks and money can buy you many many special treatments. What I love about this place is a schmuck like me is treated the same as everyone else...................... ok I am done. GOOD LUCK!!!
@AndyDufresne1994 not a schmuck my man : ). Rather, a caring and passionate member of our community and I'm glad to have you here!
I also hear the tension and concern. I've been thinking about this for months and months and months. We are going to be paying very close attention to this, just like we did the feed, group support etc. It'll take us some time to get it right, but we'll figure it out. Thanks for understanding and being flexible, even though you have concerns.
Just wanted to share a little bit of my thoughts on this, sorry if I offense anyone:
I think it would be more well-received if it wouldn't be focused on getting "perks" but more on donating to the "cause", currently it sounds like we are going to have to pay to have more, to have access to more, etc.
From a listener community point of view, I hope this won't worsen the current feeling of unfairness (whether it's true or not) that has plagued us for a while now.
In the end, for me donating time worths infinitely more than donating money, because we can never get back the time we give to others.
I hope you'll have success funding the site ❤️
@Ace13 Definitely agree with you and I think you put it together nicely, I don't have a good feeling about adding a premium thing to this site it kinda takes away the uniqueness of it. Totally understand the site needs money to be run, but they should see which method is the least instrusive so it doesn't hurt the base of the community.
@Soorena6--they've been researching all aspects of it (including intrusiveness) for some time now so I know it's been considered. No worries there :)
@Ace13 I agree that donating time is incredibly important. We are testing out two different pathways - the first emphasizes the donation piece. The second emphasizes the perks piece. We are testing both, because we need to get the site sustainable and we are not sure which pathway will work best. That said, just like everything we do, it'll take a lot of iterating to get it right. It is impossible to know how things will work at the beginning, so you just have to keep at it, keep learning, until you get it right.
I actually agree with your post Glen and support it 100%. I have read everyone's concerns and reservations. I believe the pros outweigh the cons though in this case. Sounds like a great idea:)!
@peacefulSoul8
I agree--the pros outweigh the cons. We just need to stay strong (and flexible as a community). Also, staying calm will help because, at the end of the day, it'll work out.
I'm relatively new to 7Cups but delighted to be here and to benefit from its concept and creators.
I have never been a fan of subscription services co-existing in the same environment because they literally create a two-tier system based on money, and the 'free' model always suffers, if only from a brain drain. I do think that subscriptions for new environments can work, however, as their bailiwick is separate.
What about a crowdsourcing model for fund-raising? Lump sums tend to be manageable for individuals, and unique phases and projects would increase 7Cups' accountability to backers, so that's a model in which I see merit.
Thank you so very much for all that you and your colleagues have done and are doing to seek sustainability; this is a much-needed and important service. I am sure you save lives.
I read through this update on back-up and upgrade. First of all the fact that 7 Cups of Tea isn't a non profit as some think or thought might make some hesitant of backing up anything, for various reasons. There are some though, that simply love the site and would try to support as much as they can. Next it raises a question....why should I pay X amount just to have a badge as a perk, some special paths of which I could possibly find similar info of its topics online and a conference call with a psychologist of which I could have in person at my hometown. That only benefits if the person is in a 1-1 talk, the person is traveling so they'd like remote assistance, and if the price is way cheaper than what they could have paid for such assistance outside of 7 Cups of Tea. There is an issue here as well, there are some people who might not click with that psychologist or set of psychologists and would prefer their listener, so then again under that case there might be a lost of interest there.
Secondly it should be clear that this doesn't ensure any special privileges concerning the way they are treated by the person who listens to them or listeners in general. Meaning...someone on premium can't demand I listen to them when I have mentioned I am busy with 3 other chats or other activities because they are on "premium" or "back up plan". The premium has to do with X perks in particular, as a listener doing this voluntarily I am not obligated as that therapist who does the conference calls to offer them any special treatment. It should be clear that this doesn't affect the way they are treated within the community and when it comes to their interaction with a listener. So that also means if someone is a member on premium causing havoc in a chatroom, the fact that they are paying something doesn't mean I will give them a special treatment if I am moderating. Things like this should be crystal clear.
I think the plan could be better i.e more attractive but I won't really share anything about that. I don't like sharing ideas if they are not likely to be used because good ideas take time to come up with.
I feel the functionality of the site needs to be worked on. Yes I understand there are so many suggestions but the point is some of the current updates don't help the site improve that much. I do not believe all suggestions should be followed because some won't really help or won't help much but when I see one of such suggestion being shipped first while there are things that could improve the site in double measure, it makes me wonder what are the priorities. Yes the user interface has changed, the user experience has changed (not necessarily for the good - it is a mixed situation), but there are some other very important elements that do not function well and if there is anything premium happening I believe the site should at least function to a better capacity since it is possible.
I am glad this is not a mandatory thing, which means it still allows people who do not have enough earnings for this or do not feel they need this to still get to talk to someone.
@Flourish you have my email and I always welcome your thoughts and feedback, so please send them my way. A few quick reactions - a licensed psychologist's time whether it be through therapy, an in-service/training, or group therapy runs from $50-$300/hour. I don't actually think you could find a psychologist to provide personal training help in group format for anywhere near what we are providing. Two, we've been at this for over two years and we focused on getting many, many things before picking up sustainability. I'm sure there will always be items that some in the community think we should address before others. There is a real tension here and it is challenging to manage. @krinkthemellowunicorn has been keeping an updated list of the top 10 issues and we've been knocking them out. We are actually getting much better at this than we have in the past. Finally, in terms of the design and UX update, I respect your opinion, but I personally believe this work is a significant upgrade over where we were in the last design. Again, it might not seem like a lot of work from the outside, but i can tell you we put over 4 months into it and thousands of hours of work across our team.
@Flourish Non-profit organisations still need money to function, even if salaries/personal income aren't involved (on a side note, I see no reason why the staff members here shouldn't receive one, and a jolly decent one too). The service 7 Cups provides is a privilege, not a right. Without some way of making it financially sustainable, it will cease to exist.
I personally don't see it unfair to pay for some extra perks. I don't know, for example, would you say that it's immoral or unfair to purchase a 'pro' version of an app after trying out the free version and wanting to unlock the extra features?
@GlenM
I just wanted to add my little worry about these " perks " :) .
I am a teen member and it would be absolutely impossible for me to pay a regular amount of money to 7cups , although if I had the money I would be more than willing . I don't get any regular income or pocket money and the little I do get is usually for my birthday or Christmas . Many teens probably have a similar problem . That is why we teens may find it unfair that we are unable to access these " perks " mentioned as our problems are still real and we still need help but we can't afford it . If it were instead a donation system , I would be more than willing to donate a little money to this AMAZING site when I have any . Thanks for reading this ♥ - hope -
@2015ihope
This is an interesting point....@GlenM, thoughts?
i understand this to some extent and i totally agree but i guarantee that as further updates are posted i will get the full understanding of it all. :)
@gabriella21
Absolutely!! It will make more sense once it is launched--I agree, it is a bit confusing still :). Thanks for your flexibility and willingness to keep a positive attitude!
