A connected future for the impact ecosystem.
Cohort Model
UpMetrics Academy
Find out more about our cohort model:
Nonprofit (Cohorts) Solutions
- Organization Impact - Collect, manage, and visualize your organization’s data across teams and programs to drive learning, impact, and action
- Community Indexing - Leverage community-level education, economic, health, and demographic data for deeper insights into community assets and needs
UpMetrics Academy delivery model
Grantee Resources
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Class Topics
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What makes a great grantee partner?
Estimated time commitment of 6 hours per month in Year 1 and 2 hours per month in Year 2
- At least two dedicated point people
- A clear starting point with your data
- Committed to consistently updating and reviewing your data
Janell Elizabeth Ray
Chief Executive Officer, Pallottine Foundation of Huntington |
"We chose to partner with UpMetrics to take a data-driven approach to understand the collective community impact that is being accomplished by our grantees. When we described the approach, emphasizing that they would be part of the design of their own dashboards to tell stories, track progress towards goals, and design programs, our grantees were excited about the opportunity. We are glad to be collaborating with UpMetrics on this innovative approach towards capacity building and impact measurement. " |
What is Impact Measurement for Foundations?
Understanding organizational impact drives future projects. Which projects should be continued? Which projects are failing to meet their measurable outcomes?
Evaluating the results of your hard work ensures you can extract the maximum amount of value out of every dollar spent.
When determining grant outcomes, this process is critical for acquiring accurate, real-time information.
UpMetrics’ outcome software helps foundations analyze their outcomes and measure their overall impact on the communities and causes they champion.
What is an Outcome?
Outcomes are specific, measurable statements that enable stakeholders to know when they have achieved a specific goal.
Measuring outcomes and impact starts from the beginning before spending a single dollar.
Defined outcomes provide a clear red line between success and failure.
Outcomes differ depending on the organization and its mission statement. In all cases, though, outcomes are based entirely on measurable data, whether tangible or intangible.
Without defined outcomes, stakeholders have no way of understanding what constitutes a successful project.
Organizations that define their expected outcomes from the beginning enable stakeholders to answer critical questions, including:
Why Should I Measure Outcomes?
With an array of foundation management software, ETO software, and outcome software, it is easy for organizations to become overwhelmed with data from numerous, often times disparate sources.
The heart of any outcome measurement framework is outcomes. But why is measuring efforts to outcomes so important? By measuring outcomes, you can:
The challenge for foundations has always been measuring the intangible. Defined outcomes enable organizations to measure success and plan future projects based on the outcomes of previous campaigns.
Evaluating the results of your hard work ensures you can extract the maximum amount of value out of every dollar spent.
When determining grant outcomes, this process is critical for acquiring accurate, real-time information.
UpMetrics’ outcome software helps foundations analyze their outcomes and measure their overall impact on the communities and causes they champion.
What is an Outcome?
Outcomes are specific, measurable statements that enable stakeholders to know when they have achieved a specific goal.
Measuring outcomes and impact starts from the beginning before spending a single dollar.
Defined outcomes provide a clear red line between success and failure.
Outcomes differ depending on the organization and its mission statement. In all cases, though, outcomes are based entirely on measurable data, whether tangible or intangible.
Without defined outcomes, stakeholders have no way of understanding what constitutes a successful project.
Organizations that define their expected outcomes from the beginning enable stakeholders to answer critical questions, including:
- Has my investment made a significant impact?
- Was the project managed effectively?
- Were budgets allocated in an impactful yet cost-effective manner?
- Do we have sufficient scope to multiply our impact with future projects?
- Are our outcomes sufficiently aligned with our mission statement?
Why Should I Measure Outcomes?
With an array of foundation management software, ETO software, and outcome software, it is easy for organizations to become overwhelmed with data from numerous, often times disparate sources.
The heart of any outcome measurement framework is outcomes. But why is measuring efforts to outcomes so important? By measuring outcomes, you can:
- Improve project management.
- Enhance project effectiveness.
- Accurately define success.
- Execute projects with a greater likelihood of making a significant impact.
- Compare your success to that of your competitors.
The challenge for foundations has always been measuring the intangible. Defined outcomes enable organizations to measure success and plan future projects based on the outcomes of previous campaigns.
What Type of Data Should You Track?
Outcome software typically aggregates a vast range of data. The types of data an organization tracks depend on its industry, projects, and broader goals.
So, what type of data could an organization conceivably track?
Activities – Tracking the number of classes, the number of different programs available, and the number of marketing emails sent.
Participation – How many volunteers attend events? How many people sign up and attend scheduled programs? How many people interact with your marketing publications?
Satisfaction – How many responses are received from participants? How many individuals consistently interact and engage with available programs?
Impact – What are the visible, lasting benefits on the community served?
Certain types of data are easier to track than others. Impact, for example, is an intangible metric. Tracking impact requires more than mere numbers.
UpMetrics helps impact organizations to monitor and record the stories behind the numbers to measure overall impact accurately.
For organizations measuring outcomes for the first time, it’s best to start with easier measurable outcomes, such as numbers of participants, newsletter open rates, and publications bought.
Measuring high-level outcomes requires specialist software, such as a deep capacity grants management system.
So, what type of data could an organization conceivably track?
Activities – Tracking the number of classes, the number of different programs available, and the number of marketing emails sent.
Participation – How many volunteers attend events? How many people sign up and attend scheduled programs? How many people interact with your marketing publications?
Satisfaction – How many responses are received from participants? How many individuals consistently interact and engage with available programs?
Impact – What are the visible, lasting benefits on the community served?
Certain types of data are easier to track than others. Impact, for example, is an intangible metric. Tracking impact requires more than mere numbers.
UpMetrics helps impact organizations to monitor and record the stories behind the numbers to measure overall impact accurately.
For organizations measuring outcomes for the first time, it’s best to start with easier measurable outcomes, such as numbers of participants, newsletter open rates, and publications bought.
Measuring high-level outcomes requires specialist software, such as a deep capacity grants management system.
How Can Outcome and Impact Measurement Software Help Your Foundation and Grantees?
Investing in the UpMetrics impact analytics platform enhances your ability to use data from outcome and grant software. You can:
The key to the success of any impact organization is backing up words with actions.
Foundations can develop specific, defined outcomes to provide a launching point for stakeholders to understand whether the goals of the project were sufficiently met. They can go further by providing opportunity for their nonprofit partners to also enhance their data capacity and ability to develop impact frameworks.
UpMetrics’ impact analytics platform connects foundations to meaningful and measurable data that provides the clarity needed to understand progress toward desired outcomes.
- Collect essential data in real-time.
- Easily store core outcomes data.
- Identify critical trends.
- Analyze different data sets in seconds.
- Visually display important data for reporting back to stakeholders.
The key to the success of any impact organization is backing up words with actions.
Foundations can develop specific, defined outcomes to provide a launching point for stakeholders to understand whether the goals of the project were sufficiently met. They can go further by providing opportunity for their nonprofit partners to also enhance their data capacity and ability to develop impact frameworks.
UpMetrics’ impact analytics platform connects foundations to meaningful and measurable data that provides the clarity needed to understand progress toward desired outcomes.
Additional Resources
Learn more about how UpMetrics can help your foundation use data to drive impact.
7 Steps to Measure Collective Impact
Download our free guide, featuring a 7-step approach to create a data-driven cohort of grantees, with examples from Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, USA, Foglia Family Foundation, and Save The Music Foundation. |
4 Key Steps to Start Analyzing Your Foundation's Impact
What kinds of metrics can you track to ensure that you are helping foster the change you hope to see in the world? |
3 Steps Foundations Can Take to Build Capacity for Grantees
The key is to empower nonprofit leadership with tools that not only streamline data collection and analysis, but also build capacity in the long run by helping them to accomplish their own goals. |
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UpMetrics Rating
Ease of Use
Customer Service
4.8 average based on 31 reviews. "Working with UpMetrics has been wonderful! Their team is hands on and supportive while also adept at listening to and responding to clients' tailored needs and priorities. That collaborative and flexible approach has been essential to my organization's ability to not only create impactful dashboards, but to ensuring an effective and clear rollout and training across all our teams." - Liz J. |
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