"This ranking celebrates those inspiring confidence and reminds us that every story told helps shape the future of giving"
Polling company YouGov has revealed the UK’s top ‘charity brands’.
It says it has worked out which organisations have the most ‘buzz’ with the public.
This is what YouGov calls its “net buzz score” -meaning the percentage of people polled who have heard positive news about a brand minus those who have heard negative news.
On this basis, Cancer Research UK leads the rankings with a net buzz score of 12.7.
Net buzz score top ten
- Cancer Research UK leads the rankings with a net buzz score of 12.7
- Macmillan Cancer Support (12.3)
- British Heart Foundation (10.9)
- The National Trust (9.0)
- Guide Dogs (8.3)
- British Red Cross (8.2)
- Age UK (7.8)
- UNICEF (7.7)
- RNLI (7.2)
- Alzheimer’s Society (7.2)
YouGov’s UK Charity Brand Rankings 2025 report also contains insight into who is donating and why.
If finds that while 38% of baby boomers say they will leave a legacy donation in their will, only 13% have completed this action.
The report found that of the 42% of people in the UK who have donated to charity in the last three months, over half (55%) are aged 55+.
Charity doners are more likely than average to have middle or higher incomes (62% vs 55%). Over four in five of them (83%) say they donate to charity because they believe in the cause.
Over one-third (37%) of British charity donors made their last contribution via a regular payment and people are most likely to have donated to health and medicine charities in the last three months (34% of charity donors have done this), followed by animal charities (30%) then those dedicated to children and young people (25%).
Ian Neale, key account director at YouGov, said: “Public perception is one of a charity’s most valuable assets. Beyond the work they do, the stories people hear, and the sentiment they carry, can build trust, inspire donations, and strengthen long-term support. In an era of fast-moving news, this ranking celebrates those inspiring confidence and reminds us that every story told helps shape the future of giving.”
