The YMCA of the USA, the Salvation Army and United Way of America are the nation’s top-three most valuable nonprofit brands, but other well-known charities might be leaving money on the table because they are not taking full advantage of their significant brand assets, according to the Cone Nonprofit Power Brand.

Top 25 Brands
The top brands, which include many of America’s most trusted and recognizable organizations, were valued based on a combination of consolidated financial data and a nationally representative consumer perception survey, among several other metrics. Among the top three, the YMCA’s brand is worth almost $6.4 billion, the Salvation Army’s brand is worth $4.7 and United Way of America’s brand is worth $4.5 billion.

Brand-Image Leaders
For the survey component of the valuation, Cone conducted a proprietary national poll of 1,000 American adults to gauge the familiarity and personal relevance of each organization. These results, combined with other perception factors, including media coverage and the percent of revenue from direct public support, revealed what Cone terms the “brand image” of each organization. The American Cancer Society stands out with the strongest brand image, in large part because of its standing as the single most relevant nonprofit organization among consumers. In addition to many of the top 10, other organizations who scored well in brand image:

* American Heart Association – #7 Brand Image (Power Brand Rank: #12)

* Special Olympics – #8 Brand Image (Power Brand Rank: #58)

* Make-A-Wish Foundation of America – #9 Brand Image (Power Brand Rank: #35)

* The Humane Society of the United States – #10 Brand Image (Power Brand Rank: #55)

The consumer survey also revealed that nonprofits with a clear mission/issue in their titles (e.g., the National Cancer Coalition) have higher consumer perception rankings than organizations in the same sector whose names are more ambiguous (e.g., City of Hope).

Revenue - Brand Image Disconnect
By examining both a nonprofit’s image and its revenue, the research also uncovered an apparent disconnect between some organizations’ brands and their financial performance. When either significantly outperforms or lags the other, it is an indication that there is unmet revenue-opportunity left on the table. Results indicate that several leading nonprofits - including The Humane Society, Special Olympics and Make-A-Wish Foundation of America - may not sufficiently be leveraging their strong brand images to generate greater revenues. On the other hand, some organizations - such as Catholic Charities and The Arc of the United States - have substantial revenues, but inconsistently low brand images, which may indicate they have occasion to grow their appeal to broader or more diverse audiences.

Sector Insights
In addition to the brand valuation, the study revealed a number of insights into the specific nonprofit issue sectors. For example, at a time when the nation faces an economic crisis and basic human needs are paramount, domestic social needs is the most valuable nonprofit sector.

Other sector findings:

* A majority of the environmental/animal-related nonprofits ranked in the bottom half of the list and had similarly low brand rankings; however, environmental organizations also have the highest growth spikes in revenue of all nonprofits studied.

* The largest nonprofit sector is international needs, which accounts for 30% of the 100 organizations ranked; however, consumers consider this sector to be the least familiar and least relevant.

* The health and education/youth sectors are the most familiar and most relevant to consumers, yet many disease-specific nonprofits clustered indistinctly toward the center of the ranking.

* Health nonprofits are also the most likely to generate revenue from special events earning more than $1.8 billion from events alone.

Today’s nonprofits are on par with the world’s leading companies - generating substantial revenue and competing for the attention of elusive consumers. Valuing their brands gives them a license to demonstrate to companies and other partners that there is an established and justified cost to aligning with their organization.