Hi JSMF Grantees!

UpMetrics’ Collaborative Cohort Program is a fully sponsored, year-long opportunity designed to help nonprofits like yours harness the power of data, craft compelling impact stories, connect with aligned funders, and grow alongside a community of purpose-driven peers.

This page will give you a quick overview of the program—and a chance to raise your hand if it sounds like something your organization could benefit from.

👉 There’s no cost to participate, and filling out the form below is not a commitment. It’s just a way to say: "This sounds exciting—keep me in the loop!"

What You'll Gain as a Cohort Participant

Impact Storytelling

Receive tools, guidance, and support to define your impact, collect meaningful data, and tell compelling stories that resonate with funders, stakeholders, and your community.

Community Connection

Engage in peer learning, shared insight exchanges, and relationship-building that expands your network - connecting with peers and grantmakers aligned in purpose.

Capacity Building

Learn data-backed practices for effective philanthropy and hone skills tailored to your organizational context to build resilience and anti-fragility into your operating model.

Cohorts in Action

Our Collaborative Cohort model helps grantmakers and grantees build stronger relationships and drive effective systems-level change.

But what does that really mean in practice? Check out the resources below to learn more.

Southeast Michigan Cohort Learning Session - April 2025

America SCORES Chicago - Past Cohort Grantee

What's Included

Peer-to-Peer Learning Sessions

Learn and grow alongside nonprofit leaders navigating similar challenges. These facilitated sessions focus on real-time problem solving, practical skill-building, and fostering collaboration and connection among peers.

Access to UpMetrics Technology

Learn to use an industry-leading tool to collect, analyze, and communicate your impact data with ease. No more scrambling for reports or struggling to translate outcomes into stories.

Curated Funder Introductions

Gain visibility and connections through the UpMetrics Funder Network, which helps open doors to aligned grantmakers looking to support organizations like yours.

Capacity-Building & Support

We’ll be with you every step of the way, from onboarding to implementation, ensuring you’re set up for success and equipped to sustain the work long-term.

Active Cohorts

Since inception, we've activated cohorts in more than 10 communities across the United States, servicing over 500,000 community members and covering all major thematic areas.

Take a look at our active cohorts for 2025 👉

US Cohorts Map revised (1)

Chicago

The Chicago Cohort was spearheaded by the Foglia Family Foundation in 2018, and has supported more than 75 grantees since that time.

Active Funders: The Cohort is currently celebrating its 5th year of being funded by three foundations: Foglia Family Foundation, IMC Chicago Charitable Foundation, and Christopher Family Foundation.

Current Grantees: 16

Learn More

Southeast Michigan

The Southeast Michigan Community Impact Cohort is designed to strengthen nonprofit capacity, drive data-informed decision-making, and deepen social impact across Michigan’s Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties.

Active Funders: Ballmer Group

Current Grantees: 30

Bay Area

The Bay Area Cohort was created in UpMetrics' home base to support nonprofit organizations with programs primarily serving Bay Area community residents.

Active Funders: The Cohort is currently funded by five foundations: Quest Foundation, Walther Family Foundation, O'Brien Family Foundation, Morgan Family Charitable, and the Payne Family Foundation.

Current Grantees: 5

Why do nonprofits love our Cohorts?

The best part about the Cohort is hearing about challenges other organizations are facing and what solutions they've found for themselves.

I feel like I'm learning something new to bring back to R.O.C.K. after each session, and I really hope I'm leading others with some of our lessons learned as well.

Curt Yagi

Real Options for City Kids (R.O.C.K)

Working with UpMetrics has helped our organization level-up data management and reporting. They provide step-by-step instructions and great ideas for structuring our data sets.

We are thankful to have been a part of this Cohort and are excited about the future of data reporting for our key stakeholders.

Brittney Robbins

The Grey Matter Experience

Participating in a Cohort has given us the space to evaluate how we think about our data. It will certainly mature us as an organization.

Rebecca Monro

The GenderCool Project

The UpMetrics platform is very user friendly.

We now feel comfortable using our data to share powerful stories about how C.H.A.M.P.S. is making a difference in our young men.

Vondale Singleton

C.H.A.M.P.S. Male Mentoring

I absolutely LOVE working with UpMetrics! I am definitely not an Excel wizard or Data Scientist, so being able to measure and analyze our outcomes with such sophistication and ease is game changing.

Jessica Mater

America SCORES Chicago

Without UpMetrics, it would be harder for us to consolidate data. We would likely not have the capacity to organize and generate the data we need to promote and fund our programs.

Matthew Kearny

Chicago Chess Foundation

Every month I send the dashboard link to our Board of Directors. They are always impressed with the data we collect, but even more impressed with the lovely, presentable, easy-to-read package it comes in. It’s been great to help us tell the narrative of our work.

Reggie Jones

Recovery Point West Virginia

Using our dashboards, I can quickly access the data I need for each grant application, allowing me to maximize my time.

Because I was able to spend more time sending out proposals and less time in spreadsheets, we've increased our funding.

Nelly Sapinski

Jamestown Community Center

UpMetrics is easy to use, and makes data accessible to those who may not be as data-minded.

It is an invaluable tool for Mikva Challenge to communicate our program impacts to external stakeholders, as well as explore program improvement internally.

Barbara Rykaczewski

Mikva Challenge

Raise your Hand

Think your organization would benefit from being part of a Collaborative Cohort? Let us know you’re interested!

Fill out the form to get on our radar—we’ll be in touch when new cohort opportunities become available.

✨ Please note: This isn’t a commitment—just a signal that you’re curious and open to learning more about participating as a sponsored grantee.

Other Resources

SEMI Recap Blog - vertical

Learning Session Insights:
SE Michigan Cohort

ICU Baby Spotlight

Case Study:
ICU baby

Newbo city market case study title page

Case Study:
NewBo City Market

Social Impact showcase page

Client Videos:
Social Impact Showcase

FAQs

Below you'll find answers to common questions about our Collaborative Cohort program.

Still have questions? Feel free to reach out - we'd love to discuss how we can work together to drive collective impact!

How long is a cohort?

Each Collaborative Cohort operates for 1 year, but can be extended past year one if desired by the funder.

What is the cost to participate?

There is no direct cost for nonprofits to participate in a cohort, but participants will be expected to dedicate staff time during the year towards the onboarding and learning sessions.

What is the expected time committment?

Participants will be expected to dedicate 30-50 hours of staff time during the year to the following:

At least one staff member to participate in the Kickoff meeting (1 hour)
At least one staff member to participate in platform onboarding sessions and prework/homework (est. 20-25 hours total)
At least one executive to participate in two Showcase events (two half-day sessions)
At least one staff member to participate in two Peer-To-Peer Learning Sessions (est. 4 hours total)

What tools or resources will be available to me throughout the cohort?

The program provides participating nonprofits:

Access to the UpMetrics IMM Suite Platform for one year
Onboarding Sessions
Two (2) virtual Grantee Peer-to-Peer Learning Sessions, each focused on a topic selected by the grantees from a menu of options
One (1) in-person Impact Framework Showcase event that brings together grantees, local funders, and the community to highlight and discuss effective approaches to impact
One (1) virtual Stories of Impact Showcase event to publicly celebrate the collaboration, learnings, and impact created by the grantees over the year
Access to UpMetrics' Help Center content and Support team

What makes a great grantee participant?

The most successful cohort participants share a few key traits:

A passion for learning and using data to drive impact. They're eager to explore how data can power storytelling, improve decision-making, and advance their mission in meaningful ways.
Executive support from senior leadership. The organization’s leaders understand the value of this partnership and actively champion it internally.
An internal point person to lead the charge. This “data champion” keeps momentum going—bridging teams internally and serving as the primary liaison with UpMetrics. Champions often sit within Program Operations, Monitoring & Evaluation, Data & Analysis, or Development.
A readiness to commit time and people. The strongest results come when multiple team members engage. At minimum, we ask for an Executive Sponsor and a Data Champion to ensure alignment across strategy, operations, and learning goals.

Ultimately, a great partner is excited to invest in shared learning, ready to collaborate, and committed to making the most of the cohort experience.

Who owns the data we collect in the platform?

Your nonprofit will retain ownership of all your data and can export the data out of the platform at any time using the .csv export function.

Can we continue using the UpMetrics platform at the end of the cohort?

Yes! Nonprofits can choose to continue their access to the UpMetrics platform after the cohort concludes by purchasing a subscription directly—with plans starting at just $150 per month.

Alternatively, funders can opt to sponsor ongoing platform access for their nonprofit partners, continuing the momentum built during the cohort.

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