With just 3 days until the new year, I wanted to take a moment (or rather, a blog post!) to reflect on some of the awesome content that we were able to bring you this year, and to thank our spectacular guest contributors for providing such valuable information. The hard work of our staff and the generosity of our guest bloggers enabled us to produce content that boosted our blog views by over 50% for the year and garnered lots of RTs on Twitter and Likes on our Facebook page.
This list is based partially on pageviews, but also on comments and reactions that we got from our readers. I can say confidently that this list represents some of the best posts our blog has to offer, with great information and food for thought for nonprofits, consultants, volunteers, board members, and foundations. Without further ado:
1. Write Your Own Marketing Plan (12-part series)
Susan Burnash, Purple Duck Marketing
Over three months of work on the part of our January/February Expert in Residence, Susan Burnash, produced this masterwork: a series of posts that walks you through writing your own marketing plan, from how to write the executive summary to how to analyze the results of your plan at the end of year.
2. 8 Ways Your Board Can Help Fundraise Without Asking for Money
Amy Eisenstein, Tri Point Fundraising
From the author of 50 Asks in 50 Weeks comes eight simple ways your board members can get involved with fundraising without ever asking for money, including thanking donors, making introductions, and helping you spread the word. This was far and away our most popular single post of 2011.
3. Sustainability: It Requires More than Money, Part 1; Part 2; and Part 3
Kevin Monroe, X Factor Consulting
July Expert in Residence Kevin Monroe introduces the three Rs of sustainability (results, relationships, and resources), and talks about how your organization can harness each one to keep programs running without a funding hitch.
4. To Know Them Is To Love Them: Social Media and Fundraising Research
Gordon Jay Frost, FundraisingInfo.com
A great read from Jay Frost that highlights the importance of using social media to get deeper insights into the giving preferences of potential major donors.
5. 12 Ways to Put Social Media to Work for Your Nonprofit
Elyse Klova, Program Associate, Foundation Center-Atlanta
A follow-up to the class offered by Jay Frost in June, this post summarizes some of the great tips given by Jay to give your organization's presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter a quick boost.
6. 10 Questions for Your 2011 Year-End Review
Kelly Hill, Nexus Research Group
Kelly Hill offers 10 questions to help organizations assess their performance over the course of the year. Even if your organization isn't don't formal performance evaluation, these questions provide a great starting place for reflection and planning going into 2012.
7. Blogs for Arts Nonprofits
Elyse Klova, Program Associate, Foundation Center-Atlanta
The arts nonprofit version of the 50 Best Blogs for Nonprofit Leaders leaders list, highlighting blogs that ask the tough questions and provide great information for arts organizations, with great suggestions from Atlanta PlanIt, C4 Atlanta, David Zoltan, and Jason Parker of Art Relish.
8. Are You Making a Difference?
Kelly Hill, Nexus Research Group
Four questions from Kelly Hill to help you determine your organization’s commitment to real internal assessment. Each question comes with an explanation of terms and ideas central to assessment, and examples to help smaller nonprofits get started.
9. Growing Your Nonprofit Consulting Business
Stephen Sherman, Reference Librarian, Foundation Center-Atlanta
Whether you're exploring your career options or looking for ways to expand your exising consulting business, this is a great list of resources and considerations for those interested in nonprofit consulting.
10. Beyond the Experts: Where Can I Find Sample Nonprofit Business Plans?
Stephen Sherman, Reference Librarian, Foundation Center-Atlanta
Building on the information from Chataun Denis, our August Expert in Residence, Stephen provides resources to help you get samples of nonprofit business plans. Given the popularity of the topic here at the Foundation Center, it's no surprise that this was also one of our top blog posts of the year.
11. How to Answer Your Call to Charity Without Starting a Nonprofit
Rachel Spears, Executive Director, Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta
Rachel provides an absolute must-read for anyone who is thinking about starting a nonprofit organization. She makes the vital point that while many people want to do good for their communities, starting a brand-new organization may not be the best way for everyone.
That's it for 2011! We look forward to bringing you another great lineup of topics and guest bloggers in 2012, but if there's a specific topic that you'd like to see us (or one of our guests) address, please leave your thoughts in the comments; we'd love to hear from you.
Elyse Klova, Program Associate, Foundation Center-Atlanta
Great Job guys! You showed us how essential your blogs are.
Posted by: ccna training | February 23, 2012 at 08:58 PM
These are all awesome posts that offer good advice for Nonprofits. The link below is to a blog about using social media for Nonprofits. I think it goes along well with the two blogs about social media on this list.
http://www.bradaronson.com/22-high-impact-low-cost-social-media-opportunities-for-nonprofits/
Posted by: Eli | May 23, 2012 at 11:02 AM