How a referral actually works.
No jargon and no fine print. This is the whole process, what we are responsible for, what you are responsible for, and the line we do not cross.
Rally is not a crisis line and not a clinical provider. We do not diagnose, treat, or counsel. We reach students, we talk with them honestly, and we connect them to licensed care and to a local church.
If a student is in danger, that goes to 988 or 911 — immediately, every time, before anything else on this page happens.
The five steps
Most of this happens before your church hears a name. By the time we introduce a student to you, the hard early work is done.
A student reaches out
They tap the widget — from a targeted ad in their feed, a creator's page, a partner church site, or a link a friend sent them. No account, no intake form, no waiting room. Most reach-outs happen late at night, which is why the widget is staffed around the clock rather than during office hours.
We check for danger before anything else
The first thing we establish is whether this student is safe. If there is any risk of harm to themselves or someone else, the conversation goes straight to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or to emergency services. We do not attempt to manage a crisis ourselves, and we never route a student in danger to a church instead of to professional help.
A real conversation
A trained Rally responder — a person, not a bot — talks with the student about what is actually going on. The goal of this conversation is not treatment. It is to be the first adult who listened, and to find out what kind of help would genuinely fit: licensed counseling, a caring community, or both.
We ask permission, then introduce them to you
Nothing is shared with your church without the student's consent. When they say yes, we make a warm introduction — we tell them who to look for and what to expect, whether that is a Wednesday night, a Sunday morning, or simply coffee with a pastor. You get a heads-up with what the student agreed to share, and nothing more.
We stay in it until they have walked in
This is the step almost everyone skips. Getting a teenager from "I said yes" to actually walking through a door takes weeks of follow-up, reminders and small logistics. We keep checking in until they arrive, and we ask you to confirm when they do — so we know whether this worked, not just whether we referred.
Who is responsible for what
The most common reason a partnership like this fails is an unspoken assumption about who handles the hard part. So here it is in writing.
What Rally will never do, no matter who asks.
Diagnose or treat
We are not therapists and we do not pretend to be. Clinical care comes from licensed providers, referred out.
Replace 988
We are not a crisis line. When someone is in danger, they go to people trained and staffed for exactly that.
Share without consent
A student decides what their church learns about them. We do not hand over a conversation they did not agree to share.
Being clear about our limits is not a disclaimer — it is the reason a church can trust us with its students, and the reason a student can trust us at all.
Questions pastors ask us
What does partnering cost?
Nothing. There is no fee, no licence and no minimum, and there never will be. That said — we genuinely cannot do this without monthly supporters, and churches are our steadiest ones. If your church can give monthly, even a small amount, it is what keeps the widget staffed and the follow-up going for students in your city. Ask because you believe in it, never because you owe us.
How much of my staff's time does this take?
Very little. One conversation to walk through the escalation protocol, then answering introductions as they come. We are not adding a programme to your calendar.
What if a student we are introduced to is in crisis?
It can happen, and you should expect it to eventually — a student who was steady on Tuesday can be in crisis by Friday. Anyone already in danger is routed to 988 or emergency services long before an introduction reaches you. But things change fast with teenagers, so the escalation protocol tells you exactly who to call the moment it does, and it is never us first.
Do we have to use the widget on our own site?
No. Partner churches can host it for their own students, and most do, but the referral relationship works either way.
What if we are a multisite church?
Tell us how many campuses on the signup form and we will work out locations together. Introductions are made to the campus nearest the student.
Can we stop?
Any time, no conversation required. A church that stays in reluctantly is worse for students than one that steps out honestly.
Would a student in your city have somewhere to go tonight?
Two minutes to tell us who you are. We follow up within two business days.
Restoring hope for the next generation through connection, care and community.
EIN 41-4205899
640 Taylor St Suite 1200 PMB 1035
Fort Worth, TX 76102
One honest update a month. What we built, what we learned.