Our Ongoing Journey

The Upshot system started in 2012 inside the Football Foundation – the UK’s largest sports charity. The Foundation initially built the Upshot system based on their own needs: to capture data more consistently and have access to this data in real-time.    

A few years later the Upshot system was made available to organisations of different shapes, different sizes and across both sport and non-sport delivery. In 2021, Upshot became an independent social enterprise with social purpose locked into our constitution. Now we work with over 1,400 organisations, 5,000 users and an increasing number of sector partners, all sharing our vision of a global community of impact-led organisations who use data to better serve their communities. 

Exploring new and developing deals

In collaboration with our growing community of Upshot users, over the years we’ve come to encounter and experience the need for new solutions, just like we did in 2012.  

Organisations approach us asking: 

     “How do I plan my Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) approach?” 

Some approach us 5 years into their use of the System asking: 

     “What next, what can we do with the great data we’ve been collecting on Upshot”.

And others have said they are struggling with mind-set change asking:

     “How do I upskill my team on the importance of MEL and increase their confidence and understanding?” 

Meeting the Need - Upshot MEL Services 

Responding to these needs, we’ve expanded our remit by introducing a range of wrap-around MEL Services to help organisations wherever they are on their own data and impact journey.  

These include: 

• Impact framework creation and strategic planning  
• Additional reporting tools and data visualisation - using data from Upshot or any system
• Upskilling teams about MEL in a practical & meaningful way through interactive workshops and webinars

Organisations increasingly need to tell data-driven, evidenced stories about the vital work they do - and we are here to help: pre-system, on-system and off-system too! 

More information on Upshot MEL Services 

Impact framework creation and strategic planning 

We have experience in designing measurement frameworks, whether it be a Theory of Change, Logic Model or Outcomes Framework. We can also help jargon bust and work with you to understand the best framework suited to your needs!

Additional reporting tools and data visualisation

Reporting on and presenting data is a vital part of the MEL process. Whether you need a one-off report created from existing data to share with stakeholders or a bespoke dashboard designed to visualise and present your data, we can help you.

Here is one we did for our own data to share the results of our Upshot User survey – click here for the live version.

Workshops to Upskill your team 

We have a range of workshops that can be tailored to your organisational needs. These include: 

• Introduction to MEL 
• Planning your MEL Strategy 
• Ethics of Data Collection
• Data collection during delivery 
• Communicating your Impact

These can be delivered tailored to meet your requirements and delivered as a one -off workshop or as a series - online or in person.