St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital: Tracking brand strength behind America’s top-ranked nonprofit

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital enters 2026 as one of America’s strongest-performing nonprofit brands. Ranking at number 6 in YouGov’s Best Brand Rankings 2026 in the U.S. – a list of the top performing brands in the country – St. Jude not only sits ahead of its nonprofit peers, but many household-name brands as well.

Using data from YouGov BrandIndex, we tracked how St. Jude’s brand health evolved over the course of 2025. Index scores, which average perceptions of Impression, Quality, Value, Reputation, Recommend, and Satisfaction, show a steady strengthening in the second half of the year.

The brand’s Index score stood at 45.4 on January 1, 2025, before rising through the summer months to reach 48.6 by August 28, 2025. That higher level was sustained through the end of the year, pointing to growing positive brand health rather than a short-lived lift.

St. Jude’s performance becomes clearer when viewed alongside other charitable organizations that compete for public attention, trust, and donor support. Across individual brand health metrics, St. Jude consistently outperforms peers such as the American Red Cross, American Cancer Society, Wounded Warrior Project, and Salvation Army.

How St. Jude compares across brand health measures in America

• Impression: St. Jude records an Impression score of 61.2, well ahead of the American Red Cross at 47.5, the American Cancer Society at 44.3, Wounded Warrior Project at 41.1, and Salvation Army at 32.4.
• Quality: On Quality, St. Jude scores 54.1, compared with 39.3 for the American Red Cross, 35.5 for the American Cancer Society, 33.1 for Wounded Warrior Project, and 25.2 for Salvation Army.
• Value: St. Jude’s Value score stands at 48.5, notably higher than the American Red Cross at 32.3, Wounded Warrior Project at 28.3, the American Cancer Society at 28.1, and Salvation Army at 22.5.
• Reputation: Reputation scores also favor St. Jude, which posts a score of 49.0, compared with 35.6 for the American Red Cross, 33.2 for the American Cancer Society, 31.7 for Wounded Warrior Project, and 16.8 for Salvation Army.
• Satisfaction: On Satisfaction, St. Jude leads with a score of 20.5, ahead of the American Red Cross at 14.5, Salvation Army at 12.2, the American Cancer Society at 9.5, and Wounded Warrior Project at 8.5.
• Recommend: St. Jude also tops Recommend, scoring 48.6, compared with 34.2 for the American Red Cross, 31.1 for the American Cancer Society, 30.0 for Wounded Warrior Project, and 21.1 for Salvation Army.

Across all measures, St. Jude consistently outperforms other major charitable organizations. That strength is reflected in its position in YouGov’s Best Brand Rankings 2026.

Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Index score is an average of Impression, Value, Quality, Satisfaction, and Recommend scores. Index score is reported as net scores from –100 to +100, based on daily surveys of U.S. adults. Based on scores between January 1st, 2025, and December 31st, 2025. Brands must have a minimum sample size of 300 to be included. For a brand to qualify as a top 10 brand, it must have scores available for at least 6 months (183 days).