About

Case Number: OB92
Case Title: Crisis Text Line
Authors: Professor Huggy Rao,  Rebecca Ackerman , Madeline Dangerfield-Cha and Meg Raymond
Digital Media:Shawn Michael Dunbar, Jon Alan Jamieson and Justin Willow 
Publisher: Stanford Graduate School of Business
Publication Date: 12 January 2018
Revision Date: N/A 

Summary Information:  This case tells the story of Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit organization providing crisis counseling services over text message.  Led by founder and CEO Nancy Lublin, Crisis Text Line used technology and data-driven insights to enable a nationwide network of volunteer Crisis Counselors to best serve texters in need.  The case explores how the organization scaled the service by attracting and retaining Crisis Counselors and also raises questions about how Crisis Text Line should approach its next phase of growth.    

Learning Objectives: Crisis Text Line used technology to drive a fundamental change in the mental health space. This case challenges students to explore two primary concepts:  
- How to drive large-scale impact by pooling resources and ideas from multiple industries 
- How to manage a growing community of users and service providers without using monetary incentives

Pre-class preparation materials include:
Text: 3546 words    
Video: 13 clips, 16:17 minutes total run time    
Exhibits:    
- Suicides by Group 1999 - 2014              
- Look at the Platform interface from the viewpoint of a counselor
- Volume of texts Crisis Text Line received over time  
- Excerpts from the Crisis Text Line Training Manual  
- Crisis Text Line's NYC office interactive issue map 
- Sample of texts Crisis Text Line received by time of day and category

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