For the second year in succession, Macmillan Cancer Support was the top charity brand of 2014, new analysis from YouGov’s CharityIndex shows.
The charity retains its position ahead of Cancer Research UK in second (which moves up one place on 2013) and Help for Heroes in third (which falls by one). The rest of the top five is rounded off by the British Heart Foundation in fourth position (which moves up from sixth place last year) and the Royal British Legion in fifth (which drops by one).
Across the top ten charity brands last year only one, the Royal British Legion, increased its average year-on-year buzz score. Its score rose by 0.6 points following the hundredth anniversary of the start of World War One which generated heightened media coverage. One other, Marie Curie Cancer Care, stayed exactly the same. However, all of the other charities in the top ten had lower average scores across 2014 compared to 2013.
CharityIndex measures the public’s perception of charities on a daily basis across a range of measures. YouGov’s 2014 rankings were compiled using Buzz scores from across the year. Buzz scores measure whether people have heard good versus bad news about a charity in the previous two weeks.
YouGov’s 2014 end of year charity brand Buzz rankings (2013 rank in brackets)
1 (1) Macmillan Cancer Support – 18.3
2 (3) Cancer Research UK – 12.8
3 (2) Help for Heroes – 11.2
4 (6) British Heart Foundation – 7.6
5 (4) Royal British legion – 7.3
6 (8) British Red Cross – 6.7
= (5) RNLI – 6.7
= (9) Dogs Trust – 6.7
9 (12) Marie Curie Cancer Care – 6.6
10 (7) Guide Dogs– 5.8
Briony Gunstone, Associate Director at YouGov, says: ‘This is the second year we have released end of year charity brand rankings and Macmillan Cancer Support once again heads the list. It is notable just how stable the top ten is. Clearly these charities are all still engaging in activity that is achieving cut through among the public.
One area that is worth watching over the next 12 months is that – with just two exceptions – there has been a small decrease in the scores across the charities on the list. It could be a small wobble that will right itself next time. If it continues into next year’s figures, though, it could speak to a wider problem among the sector.’
