Making 7 Cups Sustainable
7 Cups is a very unique organization. We dont necessarily do things in what might be considered normal or typical ways. Instead, we tend to stay close to our community, keep our options open, learn, and evolve as we grow. We believe that this model allows us to discover the path that will most directly lead to us fulfilling our mission.
Some companies would have started with revenue right at the beginning. We didnt because we thought that focusing on income at the start would force us down the wrong path. Our vision is to be the emotional support system for the Internet. This is a hard goal. Focusing on money right out of the gates would have made it an impossible goal. We knew that and instead poured our energy into figuring out more important things.
Well, now that weve been on this journey for 2 years, it is now time to address the revenue issue. We have to take steps to make sure that 7 Cups cups exists and, indeed, thrives for years and years to come. This is not something novel to 7 Cups. Every organization has to address the income issue. It doesnt matter if you are a for-profit or a non-profit. Regardless, you have to generate income one way or another if you want to continue to survive and grow.
Fortunately, we are not recreating the wheel here. I wrote in another post that the organizations I feel that we have the most in common with are the Samaritans and Alcoholics Anonymous. We share many similarities, including: we are volunteer organizations, we help millions of people, and people get help and then give back as listeners/counselors/sponsors. These organizations have had unparalleled success in reaching people and accomplishing a tremendous amount of good with very little resources. Theyve also been around for decades. In the future, Id love for someone to be able to say the same thing about 7 Cups. However, in order to be counted in their company, we have to make sure that 7 Cups is sustainable.
We can look further to these organizational models for guidance. The Samaritans are sustainable because they raise $11,000,000 in donations each and every year. That sounds like a lot, but I actually believe it is pretty minimal considering all the good that they accomplish. We can learn from them here and create our own ways for people to donate to 7 Cups. We are still fleshing out the details. Itll be 100% optional. If people believe in our mission/vision and want to support what we are doing, then well give them the option of making a recurring monthly donation.
We can also look to for for-profit models for guidance. Software companies generate income by selling products to consumers or selling products to organizations. At this point in time it makes more sense for us to sell products to non-profits, companies, universities, and health systems. One product weve been working on is the student support system. In this model, we create a little 7 Cups island that a university can use to scale support for their students. They brand it and recruit listeners from their school to listen to other students at their school that are going through a hard time. The plan is to have a free version and a premium version. The premium version would include things like access to data/reporting, single sign-on, paths for specific issues, and custom branding. This same model works for health systems and nonprofits. We havent walked too far down this path, but there are some positive signs and some indication that we can use this as one stream of revenue to keep 7 Cups sustainable. Ill write more on this in a separate post this week.
Im not at all interested in advertising or any other options that would tax the system or make it harder for people to seek help. Streams of revenue will always be evaluated in the context of our mission. If it inhibits us or makes it harder to reach our mission, then we will not consider it as a viable option. If it helps make us sustainable and helps us reach our mission, then well consider it a viable option. To be clear, 7 Cups will always be free and accessible to all.
In reviewing the above, we see that we can learn from and incorporate elements from both the non-profit and for-profit worlds. 7 Cups as a social enterprise for-profit straddles both worlds. I set 7 Cups up this way intentionally, because I want us to be robust and antifragile. If your organization only accepts donations, then you can be significantly impacted when there is an economic downturn like a recession or depression. People simply give less during these times. If we were 100% dependent on donations, then that would threaten our organization if we were unable to keep donations coming in at a reliable rate. On the other hand, if your organization only sells products, then you can only survive as long as people continue to buy your products. If 7 Cups were 100% dependent on selling products, then our organization would come under threat if we were unable to sell enough products. The model I have outlined here incorporates both elements to increase the chances of 7 Cups surviving and thriving in both good and bad times.
We will be releasing the new design very soon. Once that is live and working well, well roll out some of the above options that Ive discussed. Look for another post soon on the white label version I discussed where any organization can launch their own support system. Thanks!
