Cancer Research UK retains top spot in YouGov’s 2026 Charity Rankings

For the second year in a row, Cancer Research UK tops YouGov’s Charity Rankings in the UK, with a donor Consideration score of 44.2. The rankings reveal the charity brands that Brits say they would be likely to donate to tomorrow, based on a full calendar year of responses (January – December 2025).

The year saw Cancer Research UK releasing its Cancer in the UK report, which tracked 50 years of cancer data in the UK. The charity also partnered with Sky Media UK for “The Power of Pledges” campaign, highlighting the role legacy gifting plays in funding cancer research.

Macmillan Cancer Support (41.6) and British Heart Foundation (36.4) retain their ranks of second and third place on the list of most considered charities for donations.  In 2025, Macmillan launched the community-focused CARE Grants Programme to address unfairness in cancer care, while British Heart Foundation released their emotive Every Minute Matters campaign.

The RSPCA gained traction this year, moving up into fourth place with a score of 29.1. Their main campaign warned of a growing rehoming crisis, as record numbers of dogs and other animals entered its care. Just behind, Guide Dogs (29.0) takes fifth place. The charity continued to campaign for safer, more accessible streets through its Streets Ahead agenda. Marie Curie (28.9) comes sixth in the consideration table, slipping two places from last year’s rankings. In 2025, the charity continued to campaign around end-of-life care and the cost pressures faced by people with terminal illness. Alzheimer’s Research UK (28.4) rises to seventh place, up two spots from ninth last year. The charity regularly contributed to national conversations around earlier diagnosis and the urgent need for breakthroughs in treatment.

The RNLI (28.3) holds steady in eighth place for donor consideration, matching its position from last year. In 2025, the charity continued to attract media attention through its frontline lifesaving work. Alzheimer’s Society (27.2) enters the top ten in ninth place this year, having not featured in last year’s top 10 ranking.

Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (27.1) retains its tenth-place position from last year. The charity remained in the spotlight in 2025 as it continued fundraising for its Build it. Beat it. campaign, supporting the development of a new children’s cancer centre.

Most of the top 10 recorded slightly lower donor consideration scores than in 2025. Cancer Research UK’s score of 44.2 in 2026 is down from 44.6 in 2025. Macmillan Cancer Support falls from 42.1 to 41.6, and British Heart Foundation declines from 37.4 to 36.4 year-on-year.

Marie Curie also saw a decrease from 29.7 to 28.9, and Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity dipped from 27.6 to 27.1. At the same time, charities such as RSPCA, Guide Dogs, RNLI and Alzheimer’s Research UK posted modest gains. The mixed picture suggests that while the top brands remain firmly in place for donor consideration, ongoing cost-of-living pressures may be influencing overall donation intent across some of the sector’s biggest names.

The UK's most improved charities in 2026: Dogs Trust tops the table

We also charted the charities with the largest improvement in their donation consideration score compared to the year before.

Dogs Trust saw the greatest increase in donor consideration, improving its score by +1.2 points from 24.9 in 2025 to 26.1 in 2026. The RSPB, dedicated towards the conservation and protection of birds, followed closely behind, rising by +1.1 points to reach 20.2.

Greenpeace and Amnesty International both recorded gains of +0.7 points year-on-year. The children’s charity, NSPCC, also saw its score improve by +0.7 points, moving from 25.2 to 25.9.

Further down the list, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, the National Trust, and Young Lives vs Cancer each increased their scores by +0.6 points. Completing the top ten improvers are the Salvation Army and Parkinson’s UK, both of which saw their donor consideration scores rise by +0.5 points compared to the previous year.

Methodology:

YouGov’s UK Charity Rankings are based on CharityIndex donor Consideration scores, which measure the likelihood of a respondent donating to a charity tomorrow. Scores are reported as net consideration scores among nationally representative samples. To qualify for inclusion in the top-ranked charities list, brands must meet a minimum base size of 300 respondents and have at least six months (183 days) of tracking data available. For the most-improved rankings, charities must have been tracked for a minimum of 18 months (548 days). All scores are rounded to one decimal place, and where charities share the same year-on-year change, ranking is determined by the higher 2025 consideration score. Results reflect performance over the period 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, compared with the previous year.

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