None of the charities named in a top 10 charity brands list has been able to improve its score with the public in the last year, according to a YouGov poll.

The 2015 CharityIndex is made up of rankings compiled using ‘buzz’ scores that measure whether the public had heard good versus bad news about a charity in the previous two weeks.

The latest annual report showed that not one charity had improved its buzz score in the last year. It also showed that scores across the sector had declined. Of the top 10 charities in the Index, only the Dog’s Trust’s score stayed the same.

Briony Gunstone, associate director in public services and not-for-profit at YouGov, said that the controversies surrounding charitable fundraising in the summer played a part in the declining scores.

“For the second year in a row the average Buzz score for the sector as a whole has decreased. This could be for a number of reasons but it is evident that the rolling series of negative headlines in the sector over the past year has been noticed by the public.”

For the third year in a row Macmillan Cancer Support was ranked as the top charity brand. Cancer Research UK and Help for Heroes rounded out the top three, also for the third year in a row.  

For the first time in the index’s three year history, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, the Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK made it into the top 10.

Only one of the charities named in the top 10 – the British Red Cross – has an international focus which YouGov said was surprising given that 2015 was a year dominated by “global crises”.

“In a year dominated by global crises, most notably the situation in Syria and attendant migration crisis, only one internationally focused charity – the British Red Cross – makes the list,” said Gunstone. “This hints at how difficult it can be for aid charities to create a constant noise about the vital work they are doing”.

YouGov’s 2015 end of year charity brand Buzz rankings (2014 rank in brackets):