Crisis Text Line is a non-profit organization that provides text messaging-based support for people with crisis issues such as anxiety, self-harm, depression, sexual abuse and suicidal ideation. It is based in the United States, so anyone in the country can text 741741 to chat with a crisis counselor. ¹

Overview

Crisis Text Line was founded by Nancy Lublin and Bob Filbin² in 2013. From 2013 to early 2016 the service exchanged greater than 17.5 million texts with various people in need. ³ After its founding in 2013, Crisis Text Line processed one million text messages in the first six months.  Currently the service has exchanged more than 100 million text messages to date in the United States. After a conversation, 68% percent of texters agree on a safety and health plan. The service also conducts more than 4,000 conversations every single day. Crisis Text Line partners with a multitude of organizations such as police departments, state departments of health, the Boys and Girls Club of America, and community colleges. ⁴

Crisis Text Line runs a public website called CrisisTrends.org that makes specific portions of the organization’s data available to be accessed by the public but also anonymizes said data to protect the privacy of the individuals involved. ⁵

In 2016, Crisis Text Line received about $23.8 million through a large round of grants. The donation was led by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, who had backed the non-profit organization previously. Then Melinda Gates, the Omidyar Network, Craig Newmark, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Mark Pincus, Ali Pincus, and Steve Ballmer’s foundation, The Ballmer Group, all followed soon after as the other backers. Crisis Text Line had raised a substantial sum of $35 million in grant money after this round of donations. ⁶

Partnerships

The California commuter rail line Caltrain and Crisis Text Line announced a partnership in 2016. All Caltrain stations would host flyers and posters advertising the text line. Crisis Text Line also had partnerships with other Palo Alto-area organizations such as Children’s Health Council in Palo Alto, a youth mental health clinic called SafeSpace, Project Safety Net, and Adolescent Counseling Services. ⁷

In May 2016, Crisis Text Line established a partnership with The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS). ⁸ The Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities (OACBHA) worked with OhioMHAS to create statewide promotional content for Ohio’s state-specific keyword “4HOPE.” ⁹

Crisis Text Line also established a partnership with the Wisconsin Center for Suicide Awareness in May of 2015. Under the keyword “HOPELINE” the partnership between the two organizations has led to over 6,200 citizens of Wisconsin being assisted through mental health crises. ¹⁰

In 2016, Crisis Text Line partnered with Twilio to get assistance in running its 24/7 messaging service. The nonprofit uses Twilio Programmable SMS as its platform for sending and receiving messages. ¹¹  Crisis Text Line partnered with Sisense for Cloud Data Teams in order to get assistance in managing, organizing, updating and streamlining access to its large quantities of data for CrisisTrends.org back in 2017. ¹²

People

Nancy Lublin is the former co-founder and CEO of Crisis Text Line. She helped launch Crisis Text Line in 2013 while still the CEO of DoSomething. She was the CEO of Crisis Text Line until June 2020. ¹³

1. “Tiltify.” Tiltify – Made for Fundraisers. Accessed November 26, 2020. https://tiltify.com/crisis-text-line.
2. “Notes from Nancy: On Our Founders.” Crisis Text Line. Last modified March 26, 2020. https://www.crisistextline.org/community/notes-from-nancy-on-our-founders/.
3. “Crisis Text Line.” Twilio.org. Accessed November 26, 2020. https://www.twilio.org/customer/crisis-text-line/.
4. “Crisis Text Line.” Skoll | Social Entrepreneurs Driving Large Scale Change. Last modified April 1, 2019. https://skoll.org/organization/crisis-text-line-2/.
5. “Crisis Text Line Uses Data to Help Texters in Crisis.” Sisense. Last modified September 14, 2020. https://www.sisense.com/case-studies/crisis-text-line/.
6. Nao, Leena. “Melinda Gates, Steve Ballmer, Reid Hoffman Back Text-Based Counseling Service.” Fortune. Last modified June 15, 2016. https://fortune.com/2016/06/15/melinda-gates-steve-ballmer-reid-hoffman-counseling-service/.
7. Kadvany, Elena. “Caltrain, Crisis Text Line Announce Partnership.” | Palo Alto Online |. Last modified November 30, 2016. https://paloaltoonline.com/news/2016/11/30/caltrain-crisis-text-line-announce-partnership.
8. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e332cca19acf37759297614/t/5e404e9a4b6b8940eead303d/1581272741162/Everybody+Hurts+2020.pdf
9. “Crisis Text Line.” The University of Akron : : The University of Akron. Accessed November 26, 2020. https://www.uakron.edu/suicide-prevention/docs/CrisisTextLine-factsheet.pdf.
10. “Everybody Hurts: The State of Mental Health in America.” Crisis Text Line. Accessed November 26, 2020. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e332cca19acf37759297614/t/5e404e9a4b6b8940eead303d/1581272741162/Everybody+Hurts+2020.pdf.
11. “Crisis Text Line.” Twilio.org. Accessed November 26, 2020. https://www.twilio.org/customer/crisis-text-line/.
12. “Crisis Text Line Uses Data to Help Texters in Crisis.” Sisense. Last modified September 14, 2020. https://www.sisense.com/case-studies/crisis-text-line/.
13. “Crisis Text Line.” Skoll | Social Entrepreneurs Driving Large Scale Change. Last modified April 1, 2019. https://skoll.org/organization/crisis-text-line-2/.