Summer is such a great time of year – the sunshine brings lighter spirits, every weekend welcomes a backyard BBQ and all sorts of fun outdoor activities abound. With Fourth of July celebrations in full swing this week, we thought we’d set a firework display of our own by sharing Social TrendSpotters’ top summer superlatives. In case you’ve missed some of the top blogs from this year, do not fear: your fellow TrendSpotters have cast their votes on the highlights. As you kick back this week, reminisce with us on a few reads that have been this year’s favorites:

Hottest Topic:
Business Planning

Most Popular Blog:
Free Stuff for Nonprofits

Most Popular Guest Blog:
Making Smart Decisions – Amy Gearhart
“Leadership researchers and authors talk about sound decision-making depending on our own attention to psychological traps, cognitive biases, and the lessons and learnings from ‘fabulous’ failures.”

Best Blog for Your Summer Beach Reading List: 
Self-Care for the Social Sector

Most Likely to Succeed – #WayBackWeekend Blog:
From our “Fail Early, Fail Cheaply Blog” – Does your #nonprofit have an intentional process for vetting new ideas? Get tools from our #waybackweekend blog.

Favorite TrendSpotter:
Lorraine Kawecki (recently retired from Interact for Health – Cincinnati, Ohio) who recently sent us a new favorite quote: “The optimist says, ‘The glass is half-full.’ The pessimist says, ‘The glass is half-empty.’ The engineer says, ‘You have the wrong sized glass.’”

Favorite Quote: 
“When the mind is weak, a situation becomes a problem. When the mind is balanced, the situation becomes a challenge. When the mind is strong, that situation becomes an opportunity.”
– Unknown​

Favorite Facebook Post: 

 

Most Retweets:
From our blog 4 Steps to Turn Your Nonprofit’s Volunteers Into Evangelists – Do you know the monetary value #volunteers have on your #nonprofit? It might surprise you! @IndSector

Most Talked About Video:
The Importance of Storytelling to Nonprofits and our blog Why Storytelling is Key for the Social Sector – Three Do’s and Don’ts

Favorite Reader Comment:
On our blog How Nonprofit Niceness Gets in the Way of Progress –“Thanks, as always Suzanne, for your thoughtful comments and helpful perspective. I would add we also miss opportunities to ask for help (time, treasure, talent) because we are too nice. Best to focus on the fact that we are not asking for ourselves but the clients with whom we are privileged to support.”

– Allyson Hewitt, MaRS (Toronto, Canada)

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