2013 is the year of the year in review

2013 seems to be the year of "year in review." For the last few days, my Twitter feed has been inundated with "best of" lists and "top [insert any number between 3 and 15]" recaps.

And with so many tools available to help nonprofits keep track of all of the content they've shared, why wouldn't we want to highlight the great work we've been doing as we ring in the new year?

So, in the spirit of the aggregated recap, I've made a list of a few of my favorite lists made by nonprofits to celebrate progress in 2013.

1. World Food Programme

WFP highlights their top 12 photos of 2013 on a single, scrolling page. Each photo represents a different country and month.

Fighting hunger:12 ways we did it in #2013, in pictures. http://t.co/JSy8vY1701 pic.twitter.com/BarAkUOR0s
— World Food Programme (@WFP) December 23, 2013

2. World Vision

World Vision got creative with their list, presenting the top 5 ways to give in 2013.

Their list cleverly provides an array of countries and services they provide, as well as a final unrestricted ask to give your dollars where they're needed most. Really, all of these options are fairly evergreen, but cleverly presented as a year-end opportunity.

What really impressed me was their blog post of five tips to choose your year-end charity. More than ever before, donors are demanding transparency. They're wising up to efficiency ratings and overhead costs - they want to know how charities are spending their money.

5 tips to help you evaluate which charity to send end-of-year donations to for your 2013 taxes. On our blog: http://t.co/Z3yGUMhgMv
— World Vision USA (@WorldVisionUSA) December 30, 2013

They didn't give into the temptation to just talk about themselves, and why they're the right choice. Instead, they provide an informative list of things to looks for when deciding where to spend your money. The  fact that they provide this in the first place, and that it lives on their blog, enhances their own credibility among their readership.

3. Humane Society of the United States

HSUS asks you to check out their biggest animal victories in 2013. Then they do something a little risky - they link to a donation form with an embedded video.

While we've never had much luck embedding videos on our donation form - the engagement seems to substitute for conversions - if HSUS is doing it for year-end, I'm sure they've tested it among their audience with positive results. And let's be honest - how can anyone resist a feel-good video with cute baby animals?

Check out the biggest victories for animals in 2013 and double your impact: your donation will be matched! https://t.co/i98jH84qf5
— Humane Society (@HumaneSociety) December 23, 2013

4. Human Rights Campaign

HRC is the only nonprofit I've come across who published a best-of list that wasn't of their own photos, posts or accomplishments. Though, their list of Best LGBT-Inclsuive Ads of 2013 is highly indicative of the influence of their work, and showcases a victory embodying their core values as an organization.

Check Out Our List of The Best LGBT-Inclusive Ads of 2013 -- http://t.co/nuAWjrh2ep
— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) December 26, 2013

5.  CARE

Not to sound like a middle-school cliche, but I saw that everyone else was doing it so I decided to get in on the action. Using the "campaign" feature in Argyle Social, I was able to pin-point CARE's top-performing posts of 2013 by category (which I assigned when I created the posts), and was therefore able to create the following Storify in just under two hours, which I advertised as the most important things we were able to accomplish with the help of our supporters this year.

While our staff on the ground may not agree that celebrating #GivingTuesday at our Atlanta headquarters or screening a documentary are among our most significant accomplishments, this list is really designed for our online supporters, to give them a sense not only of our poverty-fighting work, but of our community as an organization, which hopefully they'll want to be a part of.