Nanocrystalline transition metal (TM=Co, Mn, Ni, Fe) doped zinc oxide powders have been elaborated by a new protocol based on slow hydrolyse of zinc acetate dissolved in methanol and supercritical drying in ethyl alcohol. The powders have a narrow size distribution with an average value of similar to 25nm. Electron microscopy characterization showed that the size of the ZnO:TM particles did not change significantly for the different dopants. High doping levels of up to [TMI] =0.25 have been investigated. X-ray diffraction studies showed the formation of the ZnO wurtzite phase for all dopants but secondary phases are equally detected. High temperature ferromagnetism was observed for Ni and Co doped powders whereas Mn doped powders showed only antiferromagnetic interactions. EPR spectroscopy indicates that the magnetism is related to the presence of extrinsic phases.