2012 overview: Ranking the best fundraising blogs!

We’re baaaaack! Happy new year! And may the fundraising force be with you in 2013!

While you were resting, skiing, wining and dining, the 101fundraising team was busy with their abacus to present you the best fundraising posts of 2012. But first a few words about last year.

If you are a ‘frequent flyer’ of fundraising blogs you have to admit that it’s impossible to imagine a world without 101fundraising. So, before we present you the best of the best, we want to share some 2012 highlights…

• Currently there are 42 active bloggers, of which 15 are new this year. Together they published 96 posts in 2012. Thank you bloggers!
• Almost 80K fundraisers visited our crowdblog. And you viewed 156K pages in 2012. Massive growth compared to 2011… Thank you readers!
• Our readers now come from 184 different countries (top 10: Netherlands, USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Italy, India, France Switzerland and Germany)
• Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are our best referring sites. That makes perfect sense, because we now have 11,723 followers, 2,957 connections and 2,488 fans…
• But also thank you fellow fundraising websites for your traffic: The Agitator, Fundraising Detective, SOFII, Nonprofit Marketing Blog, Fundraising Success Magazine, Osocio, AFP and Institute of Fundraising!
• And obvious a standing ovation to the 101fundraising team for all those hours of volunteer work to keep this blog as good as it is. Thank you team!

So, here they are, the best blog posts of 2012! Read, enjoy, learn and share. We hope to see you back every week in 2013!

1. Social Network Fundraising: The Beginners Guide – Reinier Spruit
2. Cry me a river: WHY and HOW emotions can save fundraising and the non profit world – Francesco Ambrogetti
3. 7 ‘Big bummers’ for charitable trusts and foundations – Vera Peerdeman
4. Where are we going in 2012? A possible and promising new direction for fundraisers. – Ken Burnett
5. 2nd Annual Dutch Fundraising Growth Awards! – Reinier Spruit
6. The 5 fastest growers and their recipe for success – Reinier Spruit and Ramses Man
7. The 7 Bad Habits of Insanely Productive People – Margaux Smith
8. 7 tips for welcoming new donors – Sarah Clifton
9. Retention Song – Reinier Spruit
10.  Unexpected (?) fundraising tool: your ears as your moneymakers – Vera Peerdeman
11.  Connecting with your most loyal and senior donors – Kimberley Mackenzie
12.  6 Things you get with friendraising – Vera Peerdeman
13.  Face: The Future – Jack Ryan
14.  Reader Beware: Contains Dangerous Ideas on How to Motivate (Face-to-Face) Fundraisers! – Jack Ryan
15.  It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark – Reinier Spruit
16.  How my pissed off donor came back… – Gerbren Deves
17.  Climate change needed for donor centric fundraising! – Reinier Spruit
18.  Why Tell a ‘Story’ When You Can Tell The Truth? – Charlie Hulme
19.  A checklist for your acquisition program – Sarah Clifton
20.  How do you keep good people at a nonprofit organization? – Mike Johnston
21.  I Wish I’d Thought Of That – Alison McCants
22.  Get Away From Your Desk And Remind Yourself WHY – Margaux Smith
23.  Creative fundraising: lessons from the frontline – Derek Humphries
24.  It’s you, not me – Rebecca Davies
25.  I wish I’d thought of that – Lucy Gower
26.  Why I Love (And Feel Uncomfortable About Loving) Legacy Fundraising – Margaux Smith
27.  A perfect pitch? – Alison McCants
28.  Too busy to tweet? You’re a liar. – Brock Warner
29.  Charity Crowdfunding: what’s in it for you? – Vera Peerdeman and Ronald Kleverlaan
30.  I’m awesome. You’re awesome. We’re AWESOME…aren’t we? – Kimberley Mackenzie
31.  What’s All This Noise about Not Giving “Thank You” Gifts? – Mitchell Hinz
32.  Un-define fundraising – Brock Warner
33.  A fundraising checklist: Should you consider “Summer Fundraising”? – Patrice Simonnet
34.  Want To Raise More Money? Then Stop Asking For It! – Charlie Hulme
35.  Lack of trust: the key barrier to donating – Julie Verhaar
36.  Dutch legacy fundraising: growth figures! – Reinier Spruit
37.  The best tip of the whole IFC! – Gerbren Deves
38.  Donate! It’s proven to make you happy! – Elsbeth Takkenberg
39.  Can Thank You Notes be BAD? – Karen Osborne
40.  The Stolen Recipe for a Legacy Event – Juan Hendrawan
41.  Ready. Acquire. Aim. – Rebecca Davies
42.  I don’t need to change the world. I just want to change your mind. – Margaux Smith
43.  Storytelling: the most powerful way to get your fundraising message across – Lucy Gower
44.  Crisis? There is no crisis! – Erik van Dorp
45.  Rubbish In : Rubbish Out – Jack Ryan
46.  3 Tips for “Radical” Fundraising Communications – Brock Warner
47.  BSC – the answer to the problem of integration – Bernard Ross
48.  Hire for competencies, train for skills – Karen Osborne

You are more than welcome to re-publish these blog posts elsewhere. If you do, please add that it “has been published prior on 101fundraising – Crowdblog on Fundraising” with a link to our crowdblog. We’d also appreciate it if you inform us. Thanks!

[Source: Google Analytics 1 January – 31 December 2012. Questions? E-mail us.]